News

Indonesia-based luxury Pinisi liveaboard MSY WAOW will be operating two new Banda Sea itineraries for 2018 and 2019. The “Best of Banda” itinerary begins and ends in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, visiting Pulau Suanggi, Pulau Ai, the Banda Islands, Manuk Island, Dusborgh Reef, Nil Desperandum, and Lucipara Atoll. The “Total Banda” itinerary plies the waters between Ambon and Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands, at the eastern end of the Lesser Sundas, visiting a similar selection of dive sites.

With depths over 15,000 feet, the Banda Sea is the deepest of Indonesia’s seas, but there are several tiny islands sprinkled across the huge stretches of deep blue water that provide some amazing dives, with clouds of reef fish surrounding massive barrel sponges and slopes and walls blanketed with hard and soft corals. But it’s pelagic creatures emerging from the vast depths that offer the most exciting encounters on these voyages—giant schools of tuna and jacks, barracudas, and Spanish mackerel, as well as a variety of different shark species, from gray reef sharks, silkies and silvertips to threshers, tigers and hammerheads.

While most of the dives are dedicated to the search for pelagics, there are still opportunities to shoot macro along the way, and if sea snakes are your thing, photographers can capture these in large numbers at Manuk Island. Guests also have the chance to enjoy the topside history and scenery of the Banda Islands, once famed for their spices.

For more information and pricing, check the WAOW website.