Dive Review of Dive Damai in
Indonesia/Sorong to Ambon

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Dive Damai, Sep, 2012, by linda rutherford, CA, US ( Contributor 17 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 6777 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	This September we took our fourth trip on the Damai I, and we are happy to report that the boat and the service are still top-notch. Cabins are large, the camera room is convenient, meals are served and cooked to order, gear is completely handled for you, and dive guides are close by your side if you want them. There are no buffet meals, no carrying your own tanks, no hassles. Everything thing is worry-free. Each diver has his own camera rinse tank and storage locker next to his tank. BCs, fins and tanks are carried for you to the dive dinghy. The dinghy is hard-sided with seating designed for tanks. The dinghy ladder has a sufficient number of wide wooden steps, so surfacing from a dive is easy. (Why don’t all dive dinghies have this?) The ratio of dive guides to divers is very good. My husband and I always had our own guide. The Damai crew has sufficient dive guides, that they can let guides rest, and alternate in fresh guides. Their assignment of dive guides to small groups of two or possibly three guests, makes it good for beginning divers, nervous divers, handicapped divers, or for anyone who would like a guide to point out something they might not see. Back on the mother ship, the crew takes your wetsuit, hood, vest, etc., wash it in sudsy water and hang it to dry. Hot tea or your beverage of choice is waiting for you. When you return for the next dive, your wetsuit & stuff has been retrieved, turned right side out, and folded and stacked neatly for you at your dive station. You don’t have to hunt for your wetsuit and turn it right side out. This leaves more time to fiddle with your camera and makes repetitive diving less work. This was our third trip on the boat with cruise director Mike Veitch. Knowing the Indonesian waters as well as he does, he was able to adapt the diving to suit the weather and currents. When arriving at a new dive site, a dive guide took the dinghy out on a reconnaissance mission to a site to check the current, before guests donned their wetsuits. That way, if the dive site needed to be changed, or the boat needed to be moved, it could be done ahead of time. Mike has left full-time work on the Damai to start his own photography workshops based in Bali, but he is also doing charter programs on the Damai and other boats. More information about Mike’s programs can be found at underwatertribe.com. The food is delicious. Elegant napkin-folding designs greet hungry divers. A waiter checks the menu with you earlier in the day and takes any changes or special requests you may have. If you don’t eat fish, for example, something else will be prepared at your request. I usually requested a half portion at each meal, since the portions were too big for me. In short, I highly recommend the Damai I. I know the Damai II is really cool—I’ve been aboard briefly. But I still love the Damai I.
Websites	Dive Damai
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	various worldwide
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	currents
Water Temp	79-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	no unusual restrictions
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or	Mantas	1 or
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Individual rinse tanks for each divers camera. Large outdoor counter for camera drying. Large indoor camera room with electrical outlets for charging. Shelving below for storing cameras safely during ocean passages.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive Damai in Indonesia/Sorong to Ambon

Dive Damai, Sep, 2012,

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 Dive Damai in
Indonesia/Sorong to Ambon