Banda Sea & Ambon
The Banda Sea in Indonesia's Maluku province combines three very different kinds of diving. Ambon Bay, next to the airport at Laha, is one of the best-known muck-diving areas in Indonesia, with frogfish, Rhinopias and the endemic psychedelic frogfish on dark volcanic slopes; Ambon's south coast adds arches and caves. About 200 km to the south-east, the small Banda Islands (the historic nutmeg 'Spice Islands') are ringed by deep, clear walls with huge sea fans and barrel sponges, plus the hard-coral garden that grew back on the 1988 lava flow of Gunung Api. Further out, liveaboards visit isolated volcanoes and reefs such as Manuk, Serua and Nil Desperandum, known for sea snakes, schooling fish and seasonal scalloped hammerheads. Ambon is kept in this region on purpose: it is the gateway port for every Banda trip and most liveaboards dive both.
Dive sites
- Air Manis
- Akoon
- Amahusu
- Ameth
- Banda Jetty
- Batu Belanda
- Batu Kapal
- Batu Payung
- Batu Udang
- Batu Wali
- Duke of Sparta
- Goa Hatta
- Gunung Api (sea snake volcano)
- Hukurila Cave
- Karang Hatta
- Karnobol
- Koon
- Laha
- Lava Flow
- Nil Desperandum
- Nutmeg Drop
- Pantai Kecil
- Pintu Kota
- Pohon Miring
- Pulau Manuk
- Pulau Suanggi
- Rhino City
- Serua
- Silale
- Twilight Zone