Dive Review of Amira in
Indonesia/Banda Sea

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Amira, May, 2013, by Frederick R. Turoff, PA, US ( Top Contributor 35 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 7017.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I boarded the Amira in Ambon after two dive days at Maluku divers, where I checked out my gear and started acclimating to the 12-time-zone change from Philadelphia. Our group of 13 divers was separated into three groups of 3, 4, and 7 to fit the three dive tenders. Dive guides rotated each day. The first day, when we were to depart, the harbor master wouldn't give us permission to leave, so we did two dives in Ambon harbor. This allowed me to revisit the site Rhino city, where I did get to see both a yellow lacey scorpionfish and a purple weedy scorpionfish, two rhinopius I hadn't seen before. Once we got underway the next day, we did one dive at the SW end of Ambon harbor, then headed out to the Banda Sea. Our later departure meant we couldn't visit Bandanera, but other sites gave us plenty to see and photograph. Reaching the Lucipara group on day 3, we saw many turtles plus some large fish - dogtooth tuna, bumphead parrotfish, mackeral. With water temp 84-85, I was quite comfortable in my 3mm suit with hood. We next hit Gunung Api, the snake island. It lived up to its name, as scores if not hundreds of curious olive sea snakes swam around us without a hint of aggression. Anemones of various colors dotted the sea floor. Heading next to Wetar Island we found healthy walls and more colorful anemones. Before the next morning dive, my 1st stage O-ring blew, but the crew quickly fixed this for me so I could join the dive. Heading to Alor, the water got much colder so I had to rent a second 3mm suit to wear over mine, which made me just barely comfortable (I'm a thin guy). This area has a dive site called anemone city which features a sea floor literally covered with anemones, with no place to put a hand. There were so many that few had anemonefish in them, but there was quite a variety of colors of both anemones and corals. We also dived a site called Mandarin condos, where mandarinfish shuttled around in the piles of dead staghorn coral in the daytime, allowing us many photo opportunities. The next day at South Pantar the water remained cold but we had some excellent muck dives. at Tanjung Wili we had a beautiful wall but had surge both side-to-side and up-and-down. When we moved to Pulau Kambing next we had the strongest current of the trip, a ride that didn't allow any photography, just watching the leather coral forest go by. After that we returned to warm water (84) and beautiful walls. Several spotted eagle rays cruised by, and I spotted a white tip shark, only the second shark I saw on our trip. If this is the result of the shark-finning trade, it's decimating our oceans there and removing those magnificent apex predators. Sadly, two of our group got DCS after our second dive, so we had to scrap our last two dives and head to Maumere for medical assistance at DAN's direction while they breathed oxygen kept on board for such purposes. The trip lasted overnight so we were offered a final muck dive in Maumere harbor which two of us took in 20' vis. Still we found several octopi including two in containers and one that ran from me on two legs. Eels also occupied many bottles and we found an Ambon scorpionfish plus several sea horses. The DCS divers departed the day after we arrived in Maumere, with diminished symptoms but not gone completely. The US victim, with DAN insurance, was flown by DAN travel assist to Singapore, where he had recompression treatments which resolved his symptoms. He returned home to the US shortly afterward. Each day featured four dives generally. Nitrox is free but not required. Breakfast orders were taken before each day's first dive, as we ate breakfast after that dive. After each morning dive, we were greeted with a cup of ginger tea, which warmed us quickly. After night dives, hot drinks were also offered. Lunch and dinner usually had several main course choices plus salads and desserts. Lunch was buffet style, while dinner was served. We ate outdoors whenever weather permitted. Food was varied enough that I was able to avoid spicy food and get plenty to eat. A final night buffet of 9 kinds of sushi plus other main courses filled us all easily and quickly. We lucked out having mostly calm seas for diving and travel. On at least two traveling occasions the seas were nearly glass. Night time temperatures were so pleasant that I often took my mattress on deck and slept under the stars (if clear) or under the large awning (if cloudy). I had to retreat below deck to my cabin only once due to rain. Captain Bruno Hopf gave clear, concise and detailed dive briefings at each site. All dive guides were terrific at finding photo subjects. Anyone who takes a trip on Amira will have a great time.
Websites	Amira
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	BVI, USVI, Saba, St. Lucia, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Costa Rica, Coco Island, Revillagigedos, Sea of Cortez, Palau, Yap, Red Sea, Sipadan, PNG, Indonesia, Philippines
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, surge
Water Temp	73-85°F / 23-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	try to be back at boat with 500psi
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera room was a bit crowded with 6 of us having large housed cameras and several having small housed cameras. Tools, electrical supply and towels available for everyone's use. Camera room was adjacent to dive prep area, with two large rinse tanks dedicated to cameras in the rear dive prep area. Staff handled cameras with care.

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Dive Review of Amira in Indonesia/Banda Sea

Amira, May, 2013,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Amira in
Indonesia/Banda Sea