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Best of Indonesia - build your ultimate Indonesian dive trip!
A week in Raja Ampat combined with a week in Ambon, Lembeh or Bali
Combine the richest reefs in the world in Raja Ampat with the weird and wonderful creatures of Ambon or Lembeh, or an encounter with the Giant Mola Mola in Bali.
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Mantas (Scotty Graham) and Tasselled Wobbegong (Bonnie Jackson) in Raja Ampat |
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Week 1 - Raja Ampat - the richest reefs in the world!
Raja Ampat is home to the world's greatest reef diving! From our Raja Ampat resorts you can do Manta dives, amazing night dives with the Papuan ‘Walking Sharks’, explore the richest reefs in the world, visit a Jellyfish lake, see ancient Petroglyphs and if you're lucky encounter an endangered Dugong. The house reefs at Raja's resorts are highlights in themselves, with patrolling Blacktip Sharks, huge schools of Jacks, and Tasselled Wobbegongs. In the North of Raja Ampat the currents produce high adrenaline dives, whilst in the South the diving has a more relaxing feel. Our resorts in Raja Ampat cover both the Northern and Southern regions and cater to a full range of budgets, from the rustic, back-to-nature feel of Kri Eco Resort to the eloquent beauty of Misool Eco Resort.
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Hairy frogfish in Lembeh (Peter Lange - Courtesy of Lembeh Resort), and new frogfish species Histiophryne Psychedelica
in Ambon (Rod Klein) |
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Week 2 - Ambon, Lembeh or Bali
A weeks diving in Raja Ampat is easily combined with diving in either Ambon, Lembeh or Bali.
Option 1: Ambon
In Ambon the critter diving produces surges of adrenaline in even the most seasoned diver. Divers who visit the expanse of the muck sites in the Laha region, have long been astonished by the sheer number of species muck diving in Ambon can produce. Critters both rare and unique choose to make a home in the rubble and muck on the slopes of Ambon's expansive bay. In 2008 a new species of Frogfish was discovered in Ambon and scientists that were informed about the fish named the new species Histiophryne Psychedelica (see picture above). On our recent trip to Ambon we saw new creatures on every dive, including countless Ornate, Robust and Velvet Ghost pipefish, Bumble Bee shrimps, Leaf Scorpionfish, Paddle-flap and Lacy Rhinopias, Giant free-swimming frogfish, Mimic octopus, Ribbon eels, Mandarin fish, Coral Cat sharks, Thorny seahorse, Pygmy seahorse...and many more. Ambon's other great dive sites include the beautiful Hukurila Caves and the Ambon Shipwreck. The Ambon Shipwreck was recently identified as the Duke of Sparta, a huge 137 metre length vessel, which was bombed by the Americans in operation Haik in 1958. This clandestine operation is still denied by the CIA, but it's apparent aim was to prevent Indonesia becoming a communist country. This dive is not to be missed, and on our dives we found giant jellyfish, pufferfish, morays and with a little penetration we could easily explore the insides of the wreck.
Option 2: Lembeh
Open up any coffee table book featuring macro critters and you can be sure Lembeh's name will appear again and again. The list of critters that can be encountered at Lembeh is endless and includes hairy frogfish, blue-ringed octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, mantis shrimp, pygmy seahorse, rhinopias scorpionfish, harlequin shrimp, gurnards, ornate ghost pipefish, coleman shrimp, boxer crab, mimic octopus, leaf scorpionfish, robust ghost pipefish, sea moths and stargazer. You can also find the magnificent Wunderpus which was first discovered in Lembeh. We work with many resorts in Lembeh, covering a range of budgets and all with excellent guides who can help you find and photograph Lembeh's amazing critters.
Option 3: Bali
The diving highlights in Bali include Mola Mola and Mantas at Nusa Penida, great macro diving at Seraya and North Bali (PJ and Secret Bay) and the famous USS Liberty shipwreck in Tulamben. The Mola Mola, or Oceanic Sunfish, host their migrations to Nusa Penida, off Bali’s South-East coast each year and there really is no other place on Earth with such reliable sightings. The best way to explore Bali's diving is on an overland dive safari. Our bespoke Bali Dive Safaris include accommodation on a half-board basis, all overland transport and diving at Bali's best spots.
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Mola Mola in Bali (Blue Season Bali) |
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Bespoke Itinerary
Our suggested itinerary starts with an overnight stay in Jakarta. The next morning you fly to Sorong and check-in to your chosen Raja Ampat resort. After 7 nights of amazing reef diving in Raja, you board a flight to either Ambon, Lembeh or Bali to continue your adventure, whether it be with macro critters or giant Mola-Mola! After 6 nights in your chosen location you fly back to Jakarta and connect to your international flight back home.
Example itinerary
Week 1
Friday... fly UK to Jakarta (arrive Saturday)
Saturday... overnight in Jakarta hotel
Sunday... fly to Sorong
Sunday-Sunday... 7 nights diving in Raja Ampat
Week 2
Sunday... fly to Ambon, Lembeh or Bali
Sunday-Saturday... 6 nights diving in Ambon, Lembeh or Bali
Saturday... fly back to Jakarta, overnight in Jakarta hotel
Sunday... fly back to UK (arrive Monday)
To get a quote for this trip or to design your own bespoke diving holiday please
contact us on 0161 442 7703 or by email at info@equatordiving.com
 Feb 2012 Issue - 'An Indonesian Odyssey' - Download article
"Bonnie Jackson, from Equator Diving set up the trip for us and organised all of our accommodation, diving, internal flights and the group trip. Bonnie is Indonesian, and a passionate diver herself. Importantly, she was able to navigate the local airline booking procedures that can be a bit difficult, and also get the best deals and schedules. Often the first port to enter Indonesia is Jakarta. Who knows that you can do some diving there? So, as a warm-up, Bonnie arranged for us to dive with a local dive club based in Jakarta. We spent a long weekend diving Pramuka Island, part of the Thousand Island chain in Jakarta Bay. We then fell in love with Ambon, where there is some of the most-amazing muck diving in the world. Our next stop was Kri in Raja Ampat, where we met up with 15 Frogfish Photography club members for fabulous diving with huge schools of fish and wonderful reefs. Our final destination was to be Bali, where we travelled the island with our own personal local dive guide, who took us to some of the very best and least-known dive sites."
A testimonial from Cave Diving Legend Martyn Farr (www.farrworld.co.uk)
"Over a two week period in November and December 2011 we visited Raja Ampat in Indonesia on a trip set up by Equator Diving. Given the remote location of the island chain we are deeply indebted to Equator Diving, who, it must be said, are clearly most qualified in this area due to the fact that director Bonnie comes from Jakarta. The trip was fabulous, indeed all of our party saw it in the same light. The diving was the very best that any of us had ever undertaken and no one could fail to be extremely impressed by the sheer profusion of marine life. Raja Ampat is a site that I would recommend to anyone as a "must do" site. And the million dollar question: would we book a trip with Equator Diving again? Definitely; Bonnie and Ben couldn't do enough for us; it was a truly wonderful experience for everyone involved."
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