Ring of Fire - scuba diving in Indonesia´s Banda Sea (4K)

The Banda Sea is like an ocean inside the world of Indonesia. With very deep waters and volcanic islands which are part of the famous Pacific Ring of Fire they offer fantastic moments under water.
In the last couple of years, some divesites in this area have been newly discovered as hammerhead places! That´s what I wanted to see and that is what I could see on my liveaboard tour in November 2018. Enjoy my trip report!

diving provided by Tidak Apa'Pa
https://www.tidakapapa-liveaboard.com/

Panasonic GH5 in Easydive Leo 3 Wi housing
Panasonic G85
GoPro Hero 4 Black edition
Editing Vegas Pro 16

http://steuermann.video/

Many, many thanks to these great composers:
00:00 - 00:40 Scott Holmes - Entrepreneurs
00:40 - 01:55 Ketsa - Days at Sea
01:55 - 02:59 Ketsa - Full Hands empty hearts
03:07 - 03:46 John Bartmann - Interstellar Space
03:47 - 05:08 Ketsa - 3 of us
05:08 - 06:22 Alex Mason - The Inspiration
06:22 - 07:58 Scott Holmes - Entrepreneurs
08:00 - 11:22 Johann Johannsson - Love After Love

The reefs of Indonesia. As colorful as ever. Full of amazing sea creatures. And in the last couple of years, some new actors appeared on stage. The schooling hammerheads in the Banda Sea.

Welcome to Ambon. And welcome onboard the Tidak Apapa. First let´s get into details.

You may find your Queen of Hearts, or the lost time, but You WILL definetely see a lot of critters when your are muckdiving in the bay of Ambon.

You find moray eels, frog-, stone- and leaf fish, different species crustaceans, cuttlefishes and seahorses - and with a bit of luck, you even find some of the elusive rhinopias.

After one night of sailing we reach the waters of Nusa Laut.

In particular a place called The Arche deserves more than one dive only. This vertical wall is full of corals and macro life.

Nailaka. One of the most western islands of the Banda group. The bestplace for just keeping your mouth shut.

Now it´s getting very special. Now we are in the volcanic Ring of Fire and Manuk Island lies in front of us.

Manuk is special for many reasons. Since it is a volcanic place, the sea floor has a built-in floor heating. Making the dark sand much warmer than the water.

Even more special is the huge number of sea snakes that live in this area.

On one dive you may encounter just five to ten specimen, but on the next one you may easily meet more than one hundred.

Leave it or love it as much as some snakes love the dome port of your camera.

That´s all? No. Manuk Island is one of the best places in the Banda Sea to observe schooling hammerhead sharks.

They show up in late afternoon, when cold currents from the deep are hitting the divesite Manuk Ridge.

And yes, this is really a tiger shark. In Indonesia.

Nil Desperandum. Never give up. The southernmost destination of our cruise. Where you hover over the reef like a hawskbill turtle looking for food.

Like Nil Desperandum also Hatta looks like a classic coral reef. Rising from very deep waters, reaching up to the waterline.

Snoop Dogg is in da reef! No, he is not. When sponges are spawning, their eggs and sperm is covering the scenery like smoke in the water. And it happens without any magic.

Close to the Volcano Gunang Api, you find a small rock. Batu Kapal. You dive on three small reefs, which all host host a truely amazing variety of many different species. Here you could meet animals that you don´t find everywhere, like the spotted soupfish or even the very tiny boxer crab.


We are already heading towards Ambon again. But one really great dive site is still to come. And this is it – Suanggi.

Where did these guys come from?
It´s pretty remarkable that just within very few years, so many hammerhead sites have been found in Indonesia´s Banda Sea.

Anyway, let´s hope that at least some of these places will become protected areas in future.