As we near the end of September, the Jaya’s season in Komodo is coming to a close. After September she heads to Raja Ampat, and makes a few long range expeditions along the way. However, that’s not to say it’s over by any means. The next Jaya trip set sail to the National Park on 21st September with a boatful of guests and high expectations. We were leaving around the full moon, which means a beautiful night time sky and strong currents. Strong currents mean awesome marine life and that’s what we were searching for.Joining us were Hugh, Richard, Ross, Jas, Ian, Courtnay, Anastasia, Rob, Sophie, Toby, Louis, Rosa and Tim. The dive crew consisted of Steve, Pit, Carl and Jo and the Jaya super crew Achmad, Suleman, Heri, Marwan, Dullah, Ahmed and Dede made up the final integral piece of the puzzle.
The trip began with a check dive at Sabayor. This was a sunset dive, which meant fish super highway as all the fish made their way to bed...this showed itself in the form of a huge school of bumphead parrotfish which cruised past all the groups on the reef. Also on the site we spotted eagle rays, flounders in the sand, leaf fish and teeny weeny boxfish. It was then time for dinner and a chance for everyone to get to know one another better. We chatted and exchanged a few stories and when Steve informed everyone that wakeup call was at 7am, most people then headed to bed to catch some important zzzzzs before the busy day that was planned.
We started the next day in style, hitting up Batu Bolong for our first dive. Beforehand, our guests learnt a little bit about the currents in Komodo, and also how to dive in them. Very important at all times, especially around a full moon. The conditions were perfect; a great lee area for all divers to cruise around in and very fishy. We saw allsorts here; napoleon wrasse, sleeping whitetips, hunting trevally, huge dog tooth tuna and some smaller things too such as the famous Batu Bolong ‘rave’ nudi , morays and scorpion fish. This dive site was a great taste of what was to come and everyone was pretty taken aback by the beauty and variety of species. Why stop there we thought, so we headed to Karang Makassar and kept our fingers crossed and said our prayers. The conditions were just right, so with careful planning and a little bit of luck, all groups were lucky enough to see multiple mantas, some seeing 11 or 12. One group even got very lucky when they witnessed mating behaviour towards the end of the dive. All of the information was logged and some divers managed to get ID shots too, all of which will be sent to our conservation partner, The Manta Trust. After this we headed up to the north of the park to dive The Cauldron. The briefing was give, current checked and people were ready to rock and roll, and rock and roll they did. The Cauldron lulled us into a false sense of security as we started on the easy sheltered reef and then the current started to pick up, pushing us into the cauldron itself and then spitting us all out of The Shotgun at great speed! What a crazy ride, like a rollercoaster. This is one site where the experience of the dive, and the dramatic scenery is really what sticks in divers minds. However, the marine life is pretty awesome too which white tips sharks gliding, giant trevallys sheltering with schools of surgeon fish in the fishbowl, turtles in the soft coral gardens at the end, and even a manta for some lucky groups, playing around in the back currents!
The diving day was over, then it was time to head to the beach and everyone joined us for our super quick and super effective 10 minute Extreme Beach Clean. We filled the bags and then enjoyed the sunset knowing that we’d all done our good deed for the day! On return to the boat, it was time to chill out a little bit before dinner and most people opted to get an early night to prepare them for the following day!
The second morning was an early start as 4 dives were planned. The first location was the beautiful reef around Lighthouse. It was a nice pleasant start, as currents were mild, however the temperature was cold, with some people reading 24 on their computers. The dive started with lots of lovely stingrays in the sand and small creatures like nudibranchs, moray eels and cuttlefish, some lucky divers saw sleeping white tips and everyone enjoyed the beautiful corals. Next up, we stepped up the pace a bit with Castle Rock on a strong rising tide. The divers split into teams, some hitting the currents at their strongest point, in the split, with others opting for the easier lee side. However, both groups had a great time. Sharks were out in force, with 3 grey reefs circling in the current and plenty of white tips to be seen by all. Turtles ambled around the reefs and giant sweetlips, barracuda and giant trevally were sighted all over the site, not to mention the odd friendly batfish. After that it was time for lunch, relaxing, and then on to China Shop for a 3rd dive. This was a really pleasant dive – relaxing for all with a chance to take in more of the macro delights of the National Park; nudibranchs, morays, scorpion fish, many turtles were also seen again, always a crowd pleaser. Then after some snacks, sun bathing and napping, we headed out for the final dive of the day, which was a night dive at Gili Lawa Darat reef. The full moon meant we had plenty of light down there to find all the cool critters such as Spanish Dancers, lobsters, flatworms, spider crabs, eels and cuttlefish. Not only that, but the reef was electrified with the phosphorescent plankton that reacted to our flashlights.The next morning, was also the last dive for 6 of our guests, who were leaving the trip. We planned an awesome site for them to remember Komodo with – Steve’s favourite – Tatawa Besar. The vis was incredible, temperature warm and the fish were active. Not only that, but the current was really pushing. We hurtled along the reef at full throttle, with flashes of colour and fish out of sight almost as soon as we got a look at them. It was a great dive and everyone definitely earned their breakfast afterwards!
After eating, it was time to drop some of our guests, who were staying for the second portion of the trip, at tropical paradise, Kanawa. They would spend the afternoon there sunbathing, snorkelling and generally relaxing. We all said our goodbyes and got a nice photo of the group before we left. Then it was back to Labuan Bajo for everyone else. It was a fantastic trip with a fun loving group of people and awesome diving – what more could you want! Thanks so much for joining us on board the Jaya and we hope to see you again soon.
-Wicked Diving Komodo
No comments:
Post a Comment