KOMODO DANCER TRIP REPORT

Date: 11th – 18th November 2013               Alor, East of Flores

Dive Crew on board:

Cruise Director: Fin                 Dive Master: Komang                              Dive Master: Seno                                     Special Guest: Micheal Wijaya                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Guests on board:

Date: 6th—16th April 2013

Day 1: 11th Nov

                For this seven day Alor, East of Flores trip we invited on board two groups. One brought together by Peter from Asia Divers and another for a photography workshop with Stephen Wong and Takaka Uno.

                For the first night we travelled 90 miles east to Lebaleba Bay between Adonara and Kawula Islands.

Day 2: 12th Nov    Lebaleba Bay, Kawula

1)       Ice Factory, rubble slope dive.

2)       Ice Factory, rubble slope dive.

3)       Ice Factory, rubble slope dive.

Temp: 29C                                                Viz: 6-12mts

Seen: Smooth & weedy rhinopias scorpion fish, many ornate (one pregnant) & robust ghostpipe fish, thorny seahorse, winged pipefish, leaf scorpion fish, inimicus demon stinger, flying gurnard, fingered dragonet, harlequin swimming crab, squat shrimp, skeleton shrimps, ribbon eels, juvenile barramundi and sweetlips, orangutan crab.

Day 3: 13th Nov    South Pantar Island

1)       Alcatraz, wall dive.

2)       Alcatraz, wall dive.

3)       Beangabang Bay, sandy slope dive.

4)       Beangabang Bay, sandy slope night dive.

Temp: 27C                                                Viz: 8-12mts

Seen: Hairy octopus, hairy frogfish, mobula ray, ornate & robust ghostpipe fish, peacock and tiger mantis shrimp, thorny seahorses, juvenile giant frogfish, bobtail squid, nudibranchs (nembrotha, chromodoris, blue dragon, T-bar), longnosed hawkfish, ornate ghostpipe fish, coconut octopi, leaf scorpion fish, juvenile cowfish & pufferfish, lots of raggy scorpion fish.

Day 4: 14th Nov    Pantar, Pura & Alor

1)       Beangabang Bay, sandy slope / coral block dive.

2)       Crucifixion Point, wall drift dive.

3)       Pak Yan Village, wall / slope drift dive.

4)       Mucky Mosque, rubble night dive.

Temp: 27C                                                Viz: 8-15mts

Seen: Painted frogfish, Wonderpuss, scorpion leaf fish, nudibranch (nembrotha, chromodoris, green melibe, marionia, halgerda), napoleon wrasse, banded sea krait, schooling fish (ribbon sweetlips, twinspot snapper, various butterflyfish), velvet, halimeda, ornate & robust ghostpipe fish, juvenile Spanish dancers, clown frogfish, emperor shrimps, zebra crabs, thorny seahorse, harlequin shrimp eating.

                On the way to Alor we stopped off at Lebaleba Bay, Kawula Island and two areas on south Pantar Island for macro diving. These sites gave up all the special benthic fauna that people hope to see from the area; from seahorses and mantis shrimp through to various nudi’s and octopus with highlights being Rhinopias, Hairy Octopus, a whiskered Winged Pipefish, various frogfish and a Wunderpuss.

                Then it was time to venture into the Pantar Strait for a taste of the famous wall diving and currents. The day dives were beautiful with some current to test some of the guests but the night dive took the award with a great abundance of different varieties of ghostpipe fish, a feeding pair of harlequin shrimp, a micro clown frogfish and various nudi’s including a green melibe with the emperor shrimp.

Day 5: 15th Nov    Pura, Panta, Ternate & Komba

1)       Clown Valley, anemone drift dive.

2)       Red Wall, current-wrestling wall dive.

3)       Babylon, wall dive.

Temp: 27-30C                            Viz: 20mts

Seen: Dogtooth tuna, napoleon wrasse, pygmy seahorse, schooling fish (wide-mouth mackerel, sweetlip & yellow snapper), sea apples, nudibranchs (chromodoris, glossodoris, flabellina).

                Another day in the Pantar Strait took us to Clown Valley, a dive site on East Pura carpeted with various species of anemones and Clark’s anemone fish. The next dive reminded us all of how fast the currents can change here with a roller coaster ride on Red Wall. Then to end the diving in Alor we parted the area for Mount Komba after a wall dive on Babylon with overhangs and great coral growth.

                The cruise to Komba took 9 hours but was well worth the wait as we all fought sleep at midnight to watch the erupting volcano in the middle of the Flores Sea. Quite spectacular! For the rest of the night we journeyed to Serbete, East Flores, for wall diving and then further west for some dark sand macro/micro diving. Highlights were Spanish dancers avec emperor shrimps, bobtail squid and solar powered nudibranchs.

Day 6: 16th Nov    Serbete & East Flores

1)       West Wall, wall dive.

2)       West Wall, wall dive.

3)       Coconut Tree, dark sand macro dive.

4)       Coconut Tree, night dive.

Temp: 30C                                Viz: 12-20mts

Seen: Schooling bumphead parrotfish, whitetip and black tip reef sharks, hawksbill & green turtles, marble stingray, ribbon eel, ghostpipe fish, nudibranchs (Spanish dancers, solar powered, notodoris, nembrotha, chromodoris, hypselodoris), flatworms, adult & juvenile scorpion leaf fish, tiger mantis shrimp, bobtail squid, attacking reef squid, emperor shrimp.

                Moving on still further west were arrived at local fishing islands and an atoll just north of Maumere for our final two dives of the trip.

                After lunch it was time for a leisurely cruise back into Maumere port where a couple of birthdays were due to be celebrated.

Day 7: 17th Nov    Permana & Gosong Boni Atoll

1)       Permana Kecil, wall dive.

2)       Gosong Boni, wall dive.

Temp: 30C                                Viz: 22mts

Seen: Whitetip reef sharks, eagle ray, dogtooth tuna, cuttlefish, nudibranchs, orangutan crabs.

Thanks goes out to all guests on board making this trip a fun and enthusiastic one. Alor and east of Flores is all about the macro! Hopefully see you again soon.

Thanks to Jane and Judith for the photographs.