Dive Review of Seven Seas in
Indonesia/Southern Moluccas,Banda,Ambon

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Seven Seas, Nov, 2010, by W Szaniawski, CT, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 5851 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	A 23-day special itinerary, partly exploration. Spectacular, rarely visited islands, some with active volcanos. Lot of walls, many awesome, down to hundreds feet, covered with very good coral, especially gigantic barrel sponges. Chilly on 2 dives only. Some v. strong currents = drifting. Upwelling. With our group of experienced divers - no problems. Coral excellent, especially in the shallows, but in areas destroyed by explosives (illegal but impossible to enforce). Tropical fish quality outstanding. Also, frequent encounters with dogtooth tuna, giant trevallys, barracudas, Napoleon wrasses, large groupers. A few huge schools of jacks, barracudas, black snappers, rainbow runners, large bumphead parrotfish, diamondfish (I have never seen them before). Occasional turtles and stingrays, an eagleray. Few sharks, nurse and whitetip; one great hammerhead, one whaleshark, schools of dolphins, a manta on the surface. Excellent muck dives. Special stuff: flashlight fish on night dive, mandarin fish, a crocodile (a real one, not a croc fish). The boat is a traditional Indonesian design, ironwood and teak, handsome and comfortable. Each cabin with head and shower, adequate space for storage. Our cabin was quiet, we slept very well. There was a well-supplied medical box for unpleasant possibilities. It is a happy boat, with enthusiastic, friendly, skillful and hard-working crew, competent divemasters, always ready to help and point to small (and large) things that could be missed. Mark Heighes, the transplanted Aussie with huge diving experience was the trip planner and leader. Very professional and safety concerned, carefully scouted every scheduled divesite, especially exploratory and followed with no-nonsense briefing. Despite ample freedom allowed to divers we were always picked up promptly by excellent surface crew in two tenders plus zodiac. The gear was handled by the crew. Everybody was on Nitrox, available for additional charge. Three dives a day were a standard, plus occasional night dives - the schedule was flexible and accomodated varying interests and requirements of divers. Several interesting land trips to rarely visited places. The food was good, sometimes too good (gained few pounds), wines paid extra, outdoor dinners enriched by spectacular sunsets, moonlight and by sea-stories exchanged by divers, and a born story-teller - Mark. He, along with filmmaker Nancy McGee organized this special trip. Mark has been diving Indonesian waters for some 20 years and he knows his backyard really well. And Nancy was a gentle and friendly host. A memorable experience.
Websites	Seven Seas
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Eastern and Southern Pacific, Carribeans, Western Atlantic
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	78-84°F / 26-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-120 Ft/ 12-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Few, if any. Self-imposed courtesy to divers already on surface - not to sit for, say, 2 hrs at 20 feet taking pictures.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
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	Ample space for equipment and battery charging. Lot of cameras and video equipment accomodated on a large outdoor table and an indoor smaller table off the dining area. Have not heard complaints from divers.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Seven Seas in Indonesia/Southern Moluccas,Banda,Ambon

Seven Seas, Nov, 2010,

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 Seven Seas in
Indonesia/Southern Moluccas,Banda,Ambon