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Dive Indonesia Part 1: Ambon Trip Report
This January The Scuba Place visited Ambon, Raja Ampat and Lembeh hosting a group of divers. They stayed at some amazing resorts and saw some amazing things. This is their trip report for the first stop in Ambon at Spice Island Divers.
It seems that I start so many trip reports with “We had a trip scheduled here, but then COVID came…” but sadly, this is true. Two plus years later, and the world has almost returned to a full normal. We had planned a trip to Ambon having heard so much about it in the past, and with two other destinations to check out we bolted on a stay at Spice Island Dive Resort.
Our journey took us from London Heathrow to Dubai, and after a three-hour leg stretch, on to Jakarta. Immigration in Indonesia is Visa on Arrival for 500,000IDR or $35USD. We paid in USD and only our unmarked and undamaged bills were accepted. And we found the same to be true at the currency exchange desks in the arrivals area of the airport when we exchanged our Sterling for Rupiah. The Custom Declaration can be completed ahead of arrival and the QR code is all you need to show.
We arrived in the late afternoon, so we chose to stay the night in a local airport hotel, the FM7. The hotel is about 10 minutes away from the airport, and transfers to and from the hotel are free of charge if pre-booked. After a full day (and night) of travelling, any hotel bed will normally do, but the FM7 has lovely clean rooms, super-comfortable beds, and showers with plenty of power – everything the tired traveller needs! The rooftop bar is the place for cocktails and snacks, and the restaurant on the ground floor has a huge menu, with Thai, Indonesian and Western offerings. Everything we ordered was super tasty, fresh, and incredibly well-priced. A two-course meal with a beer cost about £10 per person.
After a great night of sleep and a huge breakfast (buffet included in the room rate), we took the shuttle back to the terminal to catch our onward flight to Ambon with Garuda Airlines. The 3-hour direct flight is as comfortable as any EasyJet flight and divers get an additional 23kgs of allowance for dive equipment, over and above the standard 20kgs allowance.
Descending over the mountains and rainforest was spectacular – and within just a few minutes of landing, our baggage was arriving on the conveyor belt, and we were straight out into our transport to the resort. And just 10 minutes later, we arrived at our home for the week!
Spice Island Dive Resort is one of just two dive resorts currently operating on the island of Ambon –tourism was non-existent until recently, and many operations on Ambon suffered dramatically during and after COVID.
As one of the survivors, it is safe to say that this is an established operation, but it is still small! A handful of just nine seafront villas and a traditional longhouse with four garden view rooms make up the accommodation. All rooms are air conditioned, have desks and wardrobes, and en-suite shower rooms. They are very spacious, and accommodate two divers with kit, clothes, cameras and laptop. The rooms all have two desks and two wardrobes, a UPS/current stabiliser, and extension leads provided plus drinking water and a kettle with tea and coffee. The beds couldn’t have been more comfortable, and the air-conditioning works very well – a much needed provision for the first day or two until we became acclimatised to the heat and humidity!
Meals are served in the open-air restaurant on the water’s edge, and the food was exceptional – a solid breakfast of eggs, nasi goreng, pancakes, or oats and plenty of fruit and juice too. Lunch is three courses, beginning with a starter, followed by a main, and then fruit for pud. Dinner tended to be a bit of a bigger meal, with a delicious soup or more solid starter, followed by a main, and then a proper pud! The style is very much Indonesian – rice, noodles, spice and flavour, and the kitchen toned it both up and down for us when it came to the spicing. Each meal was freshly cooked, and the chef was very happy to accommodate requests and preferences as well as any dietary requirements. At the end of the day, it was the done thing to sit in the open-air lounge with the bar and watch the world go by with an ice cold Bintang. When in Rome…!
The dive centre is right on site and is equipped with large rinse tanks and outdoor showers, toilets, and benches for getting ready on. There are shelves with baskets for dry stuff that you don’t take on the boat with you. NITROX was included in our package, and 15l cylinders were available to rent. A new indoor classroom and retail shop was under construction, and we expect it will be a nice addition.
The air-conditioned camera room is next to the bar area on your way to the dive centre and has cubbies with power sockets, towels and storage for camera bags. At the dive centre there are camera rinse tanks and air guns.
The dive boats, each of them taking only 4 guests at a time, are a short stroll down the jetty. Wet-suited and booted up, you make your way to the boat where all your kit and cameras have already been placed – this really is valet diving! We even had to ask to analyse our own Nitrox – the staff really do look after everything for you!
And the diving?? WOW! and WOW! again! We did two dives each morning with a surface interval on the boat where we were fed cakes and teas, and then a dive after lunch too. The dives are a blend of sand, muck and reefs made up of small coral bommies. We didn’t hit a depth more than 25metres but could have if we had felt so inclined! There was so much to see that we didn’t need to go deep or move very far most of the time!
The list of critters we encountered is endless, and we had a checklist of everything that we wanted to see, including Harlequin shrimp, wonderpus, mimic octopus and pygmy seahorses. We saw EVERYTHING, including two Wonderpus mating! Our photos can do the talking, but look carefully at them, especially the octopi – zoom in and you will see a female wonderpus under the stretched skin of the male in the immediate foreground!
The afternoon dives brought on some current, so we opted for more of the reef-type offerings rather than fight currents whilst diving the muck, and we even hit one or two of the piers along the coast too – these provide some shelter, great backdrops, and home to more amazing marine life. Here we found warty and painted frogfish, nudis galore, more octopus, snake eels, morays, ribbon eels and much more.
The visibility throughout our stay, even with a bit of rain, was normally 15-20m and the water temperature was a balmy 29’. Our group wore 1 to 3mm full suits and had no issues in maintaining core temperatures on 70-90 minute dives!
If you want a quiet and relaxed destination that delivers amazing diving with amazing guides, good accommodation, and great food, and you’re a critter-fan, then Ambon is for you!
We loved it and will go back without any encouragement. We would stay happily for a week to ten days before moving on – there is so much diversity in Indonesia that it would be a shame not to make the most of the opportunity to fly on to another island. Which is exactly what we did…. Watch this space for our trip reports on Raja Ampat and Lembeh!!!
Key Facts:
- Getting there :Our flights were with Emirates flying from Heathrow to Jakarta via Dubai. We spent the night in Jakarta at the FM& Hotel just down the road from the hotel for a sleep and breakfast before heading back to the airport for our 3 hour flight from Jakarta to Ambon. We were picked up at the airport for a short 15 minute drive to the resort.
- Air temperature : Tropical – average daily temperature throughout the year is 24-30°C. The warmest and driest months are April and May and the wettest months are usually July and August
- Water temperature :An average of 29°C. A 1-3mm full suit or shorty will suit most.
- Visa requirement : We purchased our Visa on Arrival at the Jakarta airport for $35USD (or 500,000IDR) The visa for an initial period of 30 days. Make sure you have pristine bank notes if paying in USD or exchanged GBP when you get to Indonesia. The bills must be unmarked and undamaged to be accepted. The Customs Declaration must be completed online and the provided QR code is shown to the Customs officers.
- Currency : Indonesian Rupiah(IDR) or US Dollar are accepted most places. We exchanged Sterling for Rupiah at the Jakarta airport for an attractive rate and paid our bill in Ambon with Rupiah.
- Electricity :230V with European style (round pin) two-prong plugs. Our room and the camera room had extension leads with UK plugs so no adapter was needed.
- Internet and Wi-Fi : There is wifi in resort and worked well in our room which was furthest from reception. We were able to email, WhatsApp and post on social media without issue.
Price Guide: Expect from £2650 per person based on two sharing a garden longhouse room for 7 nights with 6 days diving – 3 dives per day offered. Free NITROX and full board with amazing food. International flight. Extras : Indonesian Visa on Arrival, soft drinks and adult beverages, and tips.
Our Advice: Indonesia is an amazing destination. We made our stay in Ambon the first stop of our three-centre trip to take advantage of the travel distance. Go Explore!
We’re heading back to Indonesia in January 2025 and Ambon is our first stop again before Triton Bay and Lembeh. Check out our brochure with full itinerary here.
Packing tips :
Rechargeable fan(s) : If you’ve read any of our recent trip reports we recommend these over and over again. Perfect for warm planes, stuffy transfers and still evenings. We can’t believe we travelled without them for so many years! Join the fan club and grab one off Amazon… you won’t regret it!
Insect repellent : We’ve made a habit of throwing some repellent in our dive bags every trip but with the lovely breezes we didn’t suffer the mozzies much at all!
Sunscreen : Don’t forget to protect yourself when you’re in the sun and on the water!!
Come Dive with Us!
The Scuba Place designs and builds custom scuba diving holidays. With personal knowledge and experience diving in many of our destinations, there is no one better to help build your dream dive holiday. Come Dive with Us!
Call us at 020 3515 9955 or email at reservations@thescubaplace.co.uk
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The World’s Premier Underwater Photography Competition Announces Stunning Winners for 2024
The Ocean Art Underwater Photography Competition, widely regarded as the pinnacle of achievement for underwater photographers, has revealed its winners for 2024. With record-breaking participation from over 90 countries, the competition set a new standard for creativity and technical excellence. From mesmerizing macro shots of marine birth to dramatic wide-angle scenes of cenotes and reefscapes, the winning photographs highlight the beauty, fragility, and diversity of underwater ecosystems while inspiring global conservation efforts.
Honorable Mention, Black & White: Brittany Ilardi,
“Fevered”
Winning photos can be seen at the Underwater Photography Guide at https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2024
Best In Show
The coveted Best in Show ranking was awarded to Eduardo Labat for his breathtaking image, “Dancing White Tips,” (see main image) taken at Roca Partida, Revillagigedo, Mexico. Labat’s photograph captured a synchronous ballet of white-tip reef sharks in black & white.
Category Highlights
This year’s winners excelled across 14 categories, two highlights included:
- Black & White: This category was highly competitive this year, celebrating the dramatic interplay of light and shadow in underwater photography:
- Conservation: This category featured the dramatic plight of Floridian springs as well as an image of a shark captured in a ghost net. This image symbolized the devastating impact of abandoned fishing gear and underscores the competition’s ongoing support for Ghost Diving, a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing marine debris.
4th Place Portrait: Ariel Gliboff,
“Family Portrait”
Behind the Lens
Every winning photograph tells a story of perseverance and connection to the ocean. These are just a small selection of the incredible stories and experiences told throughout the competiiton:
- Born from Mouth: Yoichi Sato recounts an incredible moment with a male Cardinalfish releases a swarm of freshly hatched babies from its mouth.
- Hunting: Kyungshin Kim’s recounts a captivating moment of squid cannibalism while floating in the open ocean at night.
- Fevered: Brittany Ilardi’s dramatic image of mobula rays off Baja California reflects the unique choreography of this species.
Organizers and Sponsors Speak
“This year’s Ocean Art competition was nothing short of extraordinary,” said Nirupam Nigam, organizer of the contest and President of Bluewater Photo & Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide. “The talent and vision displayed by our participants have set new benchmarks for underwater photography. These images do more than win awards; they captivate hearts and minds, reaching millions globally and reminding us of our shared responsibility to protect the ocean’s beauty. It’s an honor to see the competition grow in scope and impact every year.”
This year’s judging panel included world-renowned experts in underwater photography including Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman, and Mark Strickland. A special thanks goes to Canon and Marelux Ambassador Ipah Uid Lynn, who joined as a new judge to bring fresh perspectives to the Underwater Digital Art and Underwater Fashion categories. Ipah is an inspiring woman who has pushed the bounds of underwater photography in a male-dominated field. Marelux also played a key role in supporting the competition by sponsoring the top prizes for underwater camera gear.
Over $60,000 in Prizes
The Ocean Art Underwater Photography Competition has always been known for having a massive endowment – this year over $60,000 in prizes! Ocean Art prizes are provided by some of the world’s top scuba diving resorts, liveaboard dive yachts, and underwater photo gear manufacturers. Grand prizes include a 7-night dive package at Anthony’s Key Resort in Roatan, Honduras; an 8-day dive trip to the Galapagos aboard the Aqua Liveaboard; a 10-night liveaboard dive trip aboard the MV Oceania in Papua New Guinea; a 7-night liveaboard dive trip aboard the Bilikiki in the Solomon Islands; a 14-night dive trip to Ambon, Indonesia with Spice Island Divers; an 8-day/7-night dive package (12 dives) for two at Meridian Adventure Dive Resort in Raja Ampat, Indonesia; a 10-day/9- night dive trip aboard the Liveaboard Mermaid I or Mermaid II in Raja Ampat or Komodo; a 7-night dive cruise aboard Coralia in Indonesia; a 4-night dive trip for two divers (4 dives each) at Atmosphere Resort & Spa in the Philippines; a 5-day/4-night stay with 7 dives for two people at Akaya Bali & All 4 Diving; a 6-night dive package at Aiyanar Dive Resort in Anilao, Philippines; a 7-night dive package with El Galleon/Asia Divers in Puerto Galera, Philippines; a buy-one-get-one-free 10-dive package with Sea Saba; two Marelux Apollo III Strobes with Lumilink; two Marelux Apollo S Strobes with Lumilink; a Marelux SOFT Lite Snoot with Dock; Marelux Auto Pumps; Marelux Flexibouys; an Ikelite DS-230 Strobe with a modeling light; a $300 gift certificate with Ultralight Camera Solutions; and a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel.
Exhibition and Global Recognition
Winning images will be showcased in over 250 global media outlets, including prestigious print, online, and TV publications. These images continue to inspire audiences, reinforcing the importance of marine conservation and the incredible artistry of underwater photography.
Complete list of winners:
Best in Show
“Dancing White Tips” by Eduardo Labat
Wide Angle
1st Place: Hwanhee Kim
2nd Place: Julian Gunther
3rd Place: Todd Aki
4th Place: Mehmet A. Gungen
5th Place: Julian Gunther
Honorable Mention: Eduardo Acevedo
Honorable Mention: McKenzie Spalding
Macro
1st Place: Adam Martin
2nd Place: Imogen Manins
3rd Place: Claudio Zori
4th Place: Jeongin Kim
Honorable Mention: Dr. Tom Shlesinger
Honorable Mention: Suliman Alatiqi
Marine Life Behavior
1st Place: Yoichi Sato
2nd Place: Reiko Takahashi
3rd Place: Kirsty Andrews
4th Place: Suliman Alatiqi
5th Place: Keigo Kawamura
Honorable Mention: Ines Goovaerts
Honorable Mention: Shuo-Wei Chang
Portrait
1st Place: Stefano Cerbai
2nd Place: Eduardo Acevedo
3rd Place: Martin Broen
4th Place: Ariel Gliboff
5th Place: Ilaria Mariagiulia Rizzuto
Honorable Mention: Olivier Clement
Honorable Mention: Földi László
Coldwater
1st Place: James Emery
2nd Place: Kat Zhou
3rd Place: Jeongin Kim
Honorable Mention: Massimo Zannini
Honorable Mention: Jill Crosby
Nudibranch
1st Place: Borut Furlan
2nd Place: Jenny Stock
3rd Place: David Pleuvret
4th Place: Ken Keong Chong
Honorable Mention: Mark Chang
Blackwater
1st Place: Kyungshin Kim
2nd Place: Kat Zhou
3rd Place: Yoichi Sato
4th Place: Steven Kovacs
Honorable Mention: Enrico Somogyi
Honorable Mention: Bo Pardau
Underwater Conservation
1st Place: Kimber Greenwood
2nd Place: Tom Vierus
3rd Place: Dawn McDonald
Honorable Mention: Olivier Clement
Underwater Digital Art
1st Place: Unkoo Kim
2nd Place: Jenny Stock
3rd Place: Lorenzo Terraneo
Black & White
1st Place: Eduardo Labat
2nd Place: Sylvie Ayer
3rd Place: Borut Furlan
Honorable Mention: Brittany Ilardi
Honorable Mention: Xaime Beiro
Underwater Fashion
1st Place: Lucie Drlikova
2nd Place: Anna Aita
3rd Place: Claudia Weber-Gebert
Compact Wide Angle
1st Place: Marco Lausdei
2nd Place: Enrico Somogyi
3rd Place: Marco Lausdei
Honorable Mention: Jack Berthomier
Honorable Mention: Nancy Berg
Compact Macro
1st Place: Naomi Springett
2nd Place: Enrico Somogyi
3rd Place: Jayson Apostol
Honorable Mention: Kathrin Landgraf- Kluge
Compact Behavior
1st Place: Naomi Springett
2nd Place: Nemer Chua
3rd Place: Wendy Biscette
Honorable Mention: Grzegorz Krysiak
The Underwater Photography Guide is the #1 destination for all things underwater photography. Featuring highly-regarded tutorials, technique tips, in-depth gear reviews, amazing international workshops and breaking u/w photo news, UWPG is here to help divers around the world achieve their photo and video goals. For more information, please visit http://www.uwphotographyguide.com
Op-ed by Beth Brady, PhD, Senior Science and Conservation Associate, Save the Manatee® Club
Recent news articles and broadcasts have claimed that manatees are not native to Florida or only arrived on Florida’s west coast in the 1950s. These claims, based on limited anthropological records, point to where manatees were historically exploited by humans and assume that a lack of evidence means manatees were absent from certain areas. However, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence—it’s like looking for stars in the daytime; just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. Moreover, genetic and fossil evidence indicate manatees have been present in Florida for the last 12,000 years.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which manages Florida manatee populations, has created a manatee timeline highlighting key dates and notable information about manatee presence in Florida (https://myfwc.com/education/wildlife/manatee/timeline/). Historical records suggest that manatees have been observed in Florida as far back as the 1500s, with some details presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife timeline aligning with evidence presented in the publication.
Manatee species, such as the African manatee and the Antillean manatee, continue to be poached by humans (Marsh et al., 2022). As a result, these species are difficult to observe in the wild and may adapt by foraging at night to avoid human encounters (Rycyk et al., 2021). This behavior could help explain why historical Florida manatee populations that were hunted by humans are absent from middens and rarely mentioned in historical accounts.
Further, the publication only briefly touches on the paleontological record and genetic evidence, which indicate that manatees have existed in Florida for a much longer period. Fossil and genetic evidence reveal a rich history of manatees in Florida. Manatees belong to the order Sirenia, which includes the Amazonian, African, and West Indian manatee species. While Sirenian fossils have been found globally, only Florida and the Caribbean contain specimens from every epoch over the past 50 million years (Reep and Bonde, 2006). The modern manatee, as we know it, emerged in the Caribbean about 2 million years ago (Domning, 1982).
The evolution of manatees during the Pleistocene epoch provides valuable insights into how environmental changes shaped their distribution and genetic diversity. During the Pleistocene epoch (2.59 million to 11,700 years ago), there were roughly 20 cycles of long glacial periods (40,000–100,000 years) followed by shorter interglacial periods lasting around 20,000 years. At the start of these warmer periods, Caribbean manatees migrated northward with the warming waters (Reep and Bonde, 2006). Water currents and thermal barriers isolated these manatees from populations in Mexico and the Caribbean, leading to genetic divergence. Fossil evidence indicates that Trichechus manatus bakerorum lived in Florida and North Carolina about 125,000 years ago but did not survive the last glacial period, which began 100,000 to 85,000 years ago (Domning, 2005). This subspecies was eventually replaced by modern Florida manatees.
This evolutionary theory is further supported by genetic evidence. Research indicates that Florida manatees trace their evolutionary origins to Caribbean ancestors that migrated northward over the past 12,000 years (Garcia-Rodriguez et al., 1998). A 2012 study by Tucker et al. reinforces this theory, showing higher genetic diversity in manatees on Florida’s west coast compared to those on the east. Over time, core populations migrated northward, with some groups moving south and east along the Florida coastline before heading north along the Atlantic. This migration pattern left the west coast population with greater genetic diversity, while the east coast population retained only a smaller subset. These findings suggest that the founding population of Florida manatees—arriving approximately 12,000 years ago—originated along Florida’s southwestern coast, which became the center of the state’s manatee population (Reep and Bonde, 2006). The process of vicariance further supports this hypothesis; as geographic and ecological barriers emerged, they likely isolated the Florida manatee populations from their Caribbean ancestors. This isolation likely limited migration back and forth between regions, fostering the establishment of local populations in southwestern Florida.
Manatees are not only a cherished symbol of Florida’s natural heritage but also a species with deep evolutionary and historical ties to the region. In sum, despite recent claims questioning their nativity, extensive fossil and genetic evidence confirms that manatees have been present in Florida’s waters for thousands of years, with ancestors dating back over 12,000 years. We agree with the authors of the published article that protecting these iconic creatures and their habitats is essential to preserving Florida’s unique ecological identity for future generations
Beth Brady is the Senior Science and Conservation Associate at Save the Manatee Club whose work focuses on manatee biology and conservation. She has her PhD from Florida Atlantic University and her Master’s in Marine Science from Nova Southeastern University.
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