East of Flores on Steroids

East of Flores on Steroids
Trip Report by Mark Heighes. Photos by Bill McGee, ZB Indelak & Robert Delfs.
October is without a doubt one of the best months to be underwater in Indonesia. The dry season is
drawing to an end. The fact that it has not rained for the last 4 or 5 months means that we're having
very little "run off effect". The easing of South East Trade Winds delivers calmer seas in general, and
all this contributes to the fact that the underwater visibility is about as good as it's going to get all
year.
Topside is another story as I look out into the haze. Right now everyone ashore seems to be setting
fire to their islands and the whole country seems to be on fire. An annual event that I'm still
struggling to understand, and probably never will.
The good news is fires don't burn underwater!
Right now the underwater environment is at its peak. All the inhabitants seem to be out and about
busily preparing for the wet. The coral seems more vibrant and healthy and there just seems to be a
lot more going on. Unusual critters seem more abundant at this time of the year and if you are into
watching behavior and interaction it's all happening now.
It feels good to be back onboard in what must be the World's most amazing destination for divers,
Indonesia. Due to a recent ear operation and doctors orders I am not permitted to enter the sea
myself for another 4 weeks, so everything you are about to read regarding the diving on this trip is
feedback directly from all divers onboard.
This trip we once again have the pleasure hosting a group put together by Nancy McGee. Nancy and
her brother Bill are back for their 5th trip on Seven Seas along with their friends, most of whom have
done multiple charters with us over the last 10 years.
It was largely due to Nancy and Bill that we discovered the now famous Forgotten Islands region of
Indonesia a number of years ago. It was a 23 day trip that took two years in the planning and covered
over 1200 nautical miles of mostly unexplored terrain. All that started with one question over
drinks."Where would you go if you could go anywhere to explore in Indonesia, and how long would it
take?"The rest is history.
This trip is an expansion of the Western part of that epic itinerary of the first Forgotten Islands
exploration. We all met in Bali and flew out to Maumere, catching up along the way as you do when
reuniting with people you like and haven't seen for a few years. Everyone was excited and ready for a
new adventure. Our 3 dive guides for this trip would be Irwan, Jeffry and Franky, all excellent divers
and some of the best spotters in the business. And as everyone was armed with cameras and ready
to shoot, I had a good feeling about this trip.
The first day we spent diving in the bay of Maumere due to a strong storm from the East that would
not let us pass the northern most tip of Flores. So I guess you can disregard what I've said above
about the calmer seas in October. Anyway, diving Maumere bay is not a bad thing. There is actually a
lot that can be found in Maumere Bay. Here is a comment I will never forget after the first dive of the
trip. It was our checkout dive and upon returning back after the dive I heard someone say "I saw
more on that dive than I saw in two weeks of diving Bonaire".
The storm passed and that evening we continued diving our way along the north side of the island
chain of East Nusa Tengarra, before heading south, to a very productive area that we have been
exploring over the last 5 years. During the last 2 trips in this area the Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) had
been sighted here repeatedly, so we were hoping to get lucky and encounter this most unusual,
mysterious creature. Upon arrival we noticed that the water temperature had dropped from a warm
29 degrees Celsius to a cool 23. This was a good sign as what little we know about these fish indicates
that they do like cool water. The other thing we noticed was also a solid 2-3 meter ground swell and
a good current running which would make photography a little challenging.
The visibility was excellent so on went the wide angle lenses and the first dive was stunningly
beautiful but uneventful for as far as the Mola mola was concerned. So we decided to move to
another location and try our luck again.
This next site is a pristine uncharted underwater ridge we call Raindow Ridge. Here we had a little
more luck, in that, a short time after the grouper entered the water the crew standing by in the
tenders saw a Mola mola swimming around on the surface above the divers who were all looking for
one down deep. None of the divers saw this Mola mola but we had established the fact that there
was at least one in the area. So back we went again, to the same site with high hopes.
The current and swell had picked up. Undeterred, the divers jumped into the washing machine, and
only lasted 30 minutes with a few aborting earlier. No sightings of the Mola mola were recorded
however upon returning to the boat, the somewhat exhausted divers were informed that a Mola
mola had swum right past the Seven Seas. They were no doubt teasing us, at least that's what it felt
like! I decided to stay the night close by hoping conditions would improve and we could have one last
attempt at 6.30am the next morning.
We awoke to much improved conditions however the swell was still running. The ridge looked ok. In
the divers went and much to my delight were successful in finally encountering Mola mola along with
some images to prove it. The only down side was that a few members of the group had missed it.
We decided to move on and head over to dive Alcatraz where I knew we would be protected from
the persistent ground swell. Much two my amazement the group returned happily from the dive
chanting"Mola mola"!
They had encountered another Mola mola on Alcatraz. Wow! From all reports it was on the sand in
20 meters and the only people who did not see it were the 2 divers it swam directly over while they
had their heads buried in a crinoid shooting ghost pipe fish! We did another two incredible dives on
Alcatraz hoping we might find the Mola mola again but this weird fish, that has no tail, had obviously
satisfied its curiosity and moved on.
Later on that night during dinner I overheard one of the guests casually talking about some
hammerhead footage. I asked where he shot it and to my surprise he replied "oh, I got that at
Rainbow Ridge earlier today". I was absolutely astonished he had not mentioned it earlier. I guess he
was a quiet achiever!
Next stop was Beang Abang. A black sand beach located on the South East coast of Pantar that slopes
down into very deep water. This site was discovered by the late Larry Smith in 1997 and has been a
very productive critter site ever since. It's actually the cleanest muck dive I've ever seen. Once again,
the black sand here was alive with critters and here is a list of what our 3 dive guides found on the
very first dive:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coconut Octopus
Long Armed Octopus
Wunderpus Octopus
Poison Ocelate Octopus
Frog fish
Dragon Sea Moth
Ornate Ghost Pipefish
Robust Ghost Pipefish
Pigmy Pipehorse
Thorny Sea Horse
Flying Gurnard
Bobtail Squid
Pigmy Cuttlefish
Cockatoo Wasp Fish
Rhinopias Scorpionfish
Mantis Shrimp
Harlequin Shrimp
Snake Eels
In all we did 8 dives in on the black sand of Beang Abang. To our amazement we kept finding more
stuff each time. Three of the 8 dives were night dives and on our last night dive we found the
Flamboyant Cuttlefish in both adult and juvenile stages. I don't think I have ever seen the site as
productive as this. Many of the group would have been happy to spend the rest of the trip in the
sand but it was time to move on.
We spent the next 3 days diving the slopes, ledges and walls of the 3 islands that lie in the straits
between Alor and Pantar. These volcanic islands and the friendly, carefree people that inhabit them
have a very unique feel that is like nowhere else in Indonesia.
Everyone loved the diving in the Pantar Strait and a good time was had by all. But on we had to go,
and we sailed overnight to the small island of Komba, which is actually the top of a huge volcano,
rising 4000 meters from the bottom of the Banda Sea, about 35 miles north of Lembata. We were
awoken very early the next morning by loud thunder that shook the whole boat as the Volcano
erupted. The show was spectacular with red hot lava flying everywhere in the pitch black night sky.
As the sun rose we had Komba in the twilight, erupting in all its glory. To the east we had a perfect
sunrise, with the volcanic fireworks to the west. One was not sure exactly which way to look. We
have been visiting this island since it started erupting in 2005. The first visits were fleeting glimpse of
the power of Mother Earth. After 2 years we had decided that it might be safe enough to hang
around and dive...
Not only spectacular topside, Komba has some great diving indeed. The reef is in surprisingly good
shape, and with some current it can be very fishy too. Not unusual to have schools of tuna, giant
dogtooth and sharks buzzing you during the dive. At the same time you can hear the eruptions under
water. A very dramatic location and while I'm still not 100% sure how safe it is to spend the day, it is
worth the risk, I think, as I sit here writing this, only just clinging to our anchorage at the foot of this
growling mountain of fire. On numerous occasions the Seven Seas been dusted down by Volcanic
ash.
All it takes is a little change of wind direction to send us running for cover. It can take the crew up to
three hours to clean the boat down after a good dusting from Komba.
We had a great day of diving then returned to the crater for another fireworks display at dusk before
sailing most of the night towards our next destination. The group wanted more critters so we
dropped into a site called the Brewery in Lembata to pick up a few more critters for our list and then
sailed for Maumere. A last dive along the way and then we stopped for another one of our famous
farewell sunset beach barbecues.
And that concluded 15 days of fun in the sun, diving the fabulous "East of Flores" itinerary, which
keeps on getting better year after year. Nancy, Bill and their friends were a pleasure to have onboard
once again and have already booked their next charter with us. All of us onboard Seven Seas are
looking forward to our next adventure with them exploring more of Indonesia's 15,000 islands.
Mark Heighes
East of Flores, October 2015