Maumere or SMY Ondina or??

We will be in Bali in March, and are planning a dive trip, hopefully to somewhere fairly out of the way.

Have any of you been either to Maumere (Flores) or to South Sulawesi on the SMY Ondina?

Basically, we can't seem to find anyone who has been to Maumere recently (post 92 Tsunami) or been on a liveaboard with the Ondina.

Any suggestions of alternative places within easy access of Bali would be welcome too.

(other than Bali, Manado/Lembeh, Gorontalo or Komodo).

Many thanks

I was on Ondina starting off in Maumere in September. We did not spend a whole lot of time around Maumere and went toward Ambon rather than up toward South Sulawesi. I can recommend the boat and crew -- they run a good operation. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Mike

Although it's been a few years, I dove the Maumere area whilst awaiting delayed luggage before going to Alor. It was unthrilling. The Tsunami ravaged the area quite badly, and the locals were very much into dynamite fishing. It wasn't bad for "muck" type diving, but Alor is so much more spectacular, I'd go there instead given the choice.

Cheers,

Marli

I did a trip last year from Maumere to Wakatobi and then a trip from Maumere to Alor to Komodo. I thought the diving around Maumere was probably the worst diving of the trip. The diving around the other areas is much better. We did some nice dives east of Maumere on Flores while going to Alor, but Maumere doesn't have much to offer in the way of good diving. I did however really enjoy 3 days on land at Maumere. Lots of interesting people watching in the small towns around Maumere. There was one dive in Maumere which was good. We dove one of the piers in town and found some facinating creature living under the pier. Of the places I've listed my favorite place would be Alor or Komodo, for the diversity of nice corals and fish life. If you're talking out of the way places, I'd sure consider Raja Ampat. I was there last year and am going back next month. The area is considered to have the highest biodiversity of fish and corals in the world. Here's a link to a Conservation International article: Conservation International

Yes, the diving around Alor wsa better, though we got in a bit of a tiff with the locals there. A few of us did a night dive and the local villagers threw rocks, BIG rocks, at us while we were underwater and once we surfaced very near the shore. The boat Captain complained loudly to the local authorities because he had paid their fee to dive in the area. Apparently he had been generous to another village in the past and these particular villagers had become jealous and wanted their own personal fee as well. Now there is a local government that is supposed to handle this stuff centrally but . . . Unfortunately, things like that happen out in those out of the way places ;-). In any event, I'd agree with the others that there are better places to dive than Maumere (thought our one mucky dive there did have some nice critters). However, Flores does have a couple nice opportunites for land excursions (Kelimutu being probably the most famous (see picture below of one of the volanic lakes)) and nothing says the boat has to stay there more than one day before heading someplace better. Oh, and I'd heartily recommend Raja Ampat as well, thought everyone seems to be doing it now ;-) . . .

Many thanks for all the replys. Seems like Maumere is not really the best place.

Next possibility is Kri island. Have any of you been there?

Many thanks for all the replys. Seems like Maumere is not really the best place.

 

Next possibility is Kri island. Have any of you been there?

Kri Island has some good diving around it (I dove there two years in a row, but not from the resort), but I have heard wildly different opinions about the operator there. Some like him, others hate him. Personally, I would prefer to do Raja Ampat on a liveaboard anyway as you'll get a much better variety in your diving. There are quite a few nice liveaboards out there now. Just my two cents.

Also, I just looked at SMY Ondina's schedule. They are not diving Maumere in March (unless the schedule on their website is out of date). They are doing the area around Wakatobi, then going to the area around Ambon and the Bandas. Either of those would be good, out of the way diving.

Mike

Kri Island has some good diving around it (I dove there two years in a row, but not from the resort), but I have heard wildly different opinions about the operator there. Some like him, others hate him. Personally, I would prefer to do Raja Ampat on a liveaboard anyway as you'll get a much better variety in your diving. There are quite a few nice liveaboards out there now. Just my two cents.

 

Also, I just looked at SMY Ondina's schedule. They are not diving Maumere in March (unless the schedule on their website is out of date). They are doing the area around Wakatobi, then going to the area around Ambon and the Bandas. Either of those would be good, out of the way diving.

 

Mike

Thanks Mike

Sorry, should have said where the Ondina was going. I guess we prefer to be land based rather than liveaboard, but the big problem with liveaboards to the Raja Ampat is the dates. We are a little inflexible as we are going to a wedding beforehand and could not find anthing with a suitable departure date.

Thanks Mike

 

Sorry, should have said where the Ondina was going. I guess we prefer to be land based rather than liveaboard, but the big problem with liveaboards to the Raja Ampat is the dates. We are a little inflexible as we are going to a wedding beforehand and could not find anthing with a suitable departure date.

If you need to be land based, then it is a different story. When you mentioned South Sulawesi, were you thinking of Wakatobi? That might work . . .

Maumere actually has some great dive sites, Pomana, South Pangabatang and Babi are all excellent dives for soft coral scenery with some great critters on them as well, pigmy sea horses, leaf scorpionfish and more... The scenery on Pomana is very stunning, though only in one main area, this area has been heavily impacted in certain areas though there are really gorgeous spots. There are always quite a few reef sharks, large Napoleon wrasse and good schooling fish action on a few sites as well. Then for critter diving, there is onyl really one place to head for Wodong, this area has excellent critter diving and a very interesting little wreck too! If you go with someone who knows the critter site you will really enjoy this dive and want to dive it over and over again. The main issue with Maumere is one of accommodation, all the hotels there have been left with little or no income for a long time, they are all very run down. The only operator worth diving with their for land based diving is Anchermi, thoguh this is kind of primitive, simple grass huts, thoguh great friendly and realxing vibe, they use local fishing boats, diving there is fairly cheap. The main thing do not expect 5 star service or comfort. Oh yeah in season they even have dives where that regular see hammerheads as well!

The best trip in this region is Flores and Alor combined, there are fantastic reefs on the far northern area and islands north of Flores and to the east Lembata has a place where I have personallu been seeing lots of big fish action, hammerheads and plenty of other sharks, the reef scenery is outstanding, so much so that on the last trips through here divers requested to dive the site again. Then you get into Alor, the big issue with ALor is one of operators going to the sites in "The guide book". This is now very out dated, Sharks Galore and Kals Dream do not always perform and for shooters are next to useless, I ahve yet came across a shooter who ahs taken any decent images of any big fish or scenery from these sites. For me the real essence of Alor is critters, wonderpuss, mimic's rhinopias, frogfish and ghost pipefish in numbers you loose count of, check outhttp://www.diving4images.com/flores_alor-gallery06.html to see a very recent gallery from this route.

Check out the new resort on Alor, I know the guy who runs it and he has very good reputation from his time up in the Togian Islands, Sulawesi area where he directed a small live aboard. His site can be viewed at http://www.alor-divers.com for more about a good operator on Alor, he is not really mad into his critters, though he really knows the best reefs for fish and scenery.

I did an Ondina 12-day liveaboard from Maumere to Raja Empat (Alor, Gunung Api, Banda Sea, Ambon and Raja Empat) and absolutely loved it. We never found any other divers except in R4 where it´s impossible to avoid if you go to classic spots. We did the check dive in Maumere´s pier and really liked it...