This is a guest posting from our very own Komodo Divemaster Trainees - Kit and Venisha!
We are about 3 weeks into our Dive Master course here at Wicked and we’ve been having a blast. On this trip,
our second liveaboard on the Jaya since beginning our course in August, we had the opportunity to assist the
staff in preparing for the trip. We were also more involved during the trip, in leading dives, giving dive briefings
and doing current checks.
This trip to the Komodo National Park had onboard guests Leroy, Portia, Steven, Evelyn, Ostilio, Arun and
Melanie, as well as returning guests Ole, Derek and Christopher. Melanie was onboard to complete 4 open dives
for her Open Water Certification while the rest of the divers from all over the globe travelled here to enjoy the
best of what Komodo had to offer.
The Wicked Staff who made the trip a great success were Amanda, Jo, Mariza and Calle and they were
supported by the resident dream team onboard the Jaya, Captain Amed, Sulaiman, Heri, Marwan, Dullah, Joss
and Ardy.
We started the trip with a check dive at Sabayor’s wall. Kit and I took turns assisting both Mariza and Amanda
while they guided their groups of divers. We mostly kept an eye on the group from the back while the dive
guides led the way and pointed out great finds underwater like schools of bumphead parrotfish, a few reef
sharks, turtles, huge schools of fusiliers, hunting trevellies , moray eels, scorpion fish and sweetlips, to name a
few. Oh and the Manta Train. But more on that later.
The next day, we dived Gili Lawa Darat, Castle Rock, The Couldron and Karang Bintang. Castle Rock was at its
best and we really enjoyed the busy fishy traffic. Aside from doing current checks at the various sites, Kit and
I had the opportunity to guide the night dive at Karang Bintang, a beautiful reef which is ideal for night diving
because of the bioluminescence that can be seen in the water. Kit led Ole and was assisted by Jo while I led
Derek and Christopher with Amanda. There were a few nerves, but it turned out to be an enjoyable experience
for the both of us leading our respective divers. They were calm in the water and enthusiastic about our finds
which included a juvenile shaded batfish, red flat worm, cuttlefish, juvenile lionfish, moral eels, porceline crabs
and shrimp.
The next day, we dived The Passage, Karang Makassar and Wainilu, the muck diving paradise with its ribbon
eels, mantis shrimp, banded pipefish and nudibranchs. In between dives, we headed to Gili Lawa Darat for a
relaxing morning walk up a remote hilltop. At around sunset, we headed off to watch the bats leave the
their day time residence for a massive night out in town. For over hallf an hour, thousands of bats flew over the
Jaya with a perfect sunset in the background. It was a great way to end a dive day.
On the last day of the trip, we dived Karang Makassar’s northern end. Both Kit and I did a tag team dive briefing
and collaborated in drawing the map for the dive site. We went through a dress rehearsal with Jo, who was very
supportive, before briefing the guests.
This was one of our best dives. We were lucky enough to see the reef manta rays as they came around in the
Manta Train. We even got to see the mantas dance and play with each other in the water and at the surface.
There may have been more than 40 mantas in the area and they were flying in from all directions towards
the end of the dive. In fact, we had a hard time getting back onto the boat at the end of the dive because the
mantas were just everywhere. It was an awesome end to the trip and we will definitely remember this dive for a long time.
Thanks guys!!!! Glad you had a good time and thanks for giving a fresh perspective on our Komodo diving liveaboard trips
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