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Photo credits to MSY Seahorse, Jim Watt and Kararu Dive Voyages.

Warm greetings to all readers of the Kararu Dive Voyages newsletter. In this issue we are pleased to announce the arrival of our new flagship vessel, the MSY Seahorse. You can also read about the current Raja Ampat (Irian Jaya) diving season, and we have some great last minute deals on offer, exclusive to our newsletter subscribers.

Special Announcement - New Liveaboard Vessel

We are proud to announce the new addition to the Kararu fleet, the MSY Seahorse.

The Seahorse is Indonesia's fastest Phinisi liveaboard with a top cruising speed of 12 knots. Built in 2004 with speed, safety and comfort in mind, the ship spans an impressive 33 meters long and 8.5 meters wide, all powered by a 380 hp MAN marine engine.

The elegance of her solid iron wood hull and teak wood interior combined with luxurious air conditioned cabins and modern safety, navigation and diving equipment make her the superior choice amongst liveaboard dive vessels in Indonesia.

The Seahorse is currently operated by PT. Indocruises, however from March 2010 the vessel will be under the management of Kararu Dive Voyages. All of Kararu's regularly scheduled cruises from 23rd March, 2010 onwards, will be conducted on the MSY Seahorse.

Our guests will continue to receive the same high standard of cabin facilities, food & entertainment, diving and customer service which people expect from Kararu Dive Voyages.

All cabins come with en-suite bathrooms, ample hot water, desks, TV and DVD player, are fire wired for email and have individual air-conditioning units. The 5 standard double cabins measure 12 m², with two deluxe cabins at 13.5m² and a master suite at 15 m².

The main salon is fully air conditioned and features a comfortable lounge area equipped with a sound system, Plasma TV, Video and DVD player, an onboard shop and a quiet library corner. There is plenty of space for storage and relaxing in between dives.

All other features such as E6 processing, spa, camera stations, charging stations, individual dive deck stations, Nitrox and our luxurious staterooms with private computers will all be available on the MSY Seahorse.

We are confident that guests will find their cruises onboard our latest vessel a very pleasurable one. We are looking forward to introducing you to MSY Seahorse's traditional design, modern comforts and fast speed.

To view full details of the MSV Seahorse on our website, please visit www.kararu.com/sea-horse

The Cheng Ho

Due to it's fast cruising speed the Sea Horse will be our liveaboard of choice for regularly scheduled cruises, while due to it's size the Cheng Ho will be available for group bookings only.

The Cheng Ho, Kararu's current flag ship will remain in the Kararu fleet and will be used for special occasions when divers, group leaders or agents alike need to accommodate 18 - 20 divers.

The Cheng Ho will follow the same schedule as the MSY Seahorse and can be booked when groups are guaranteed at 18 minimum. The crew on the Cheng Ho look forward to continuing to serve you well into the future.

Trip Report From Irian Jaya

Warm greetings from Irian Jaya, where here on the Cheng Ho, we're three voyages into the Raja Ampat dive season. What do we have to report? Nothing short of exceptional diving, unusually stunning visibility both the north and the south sections of the Raja Ampat National Park and to put the cherry on top of the cake, the skies have been mostly sunny.

For those lucky divers that have already experienced diving in Raja Ampat, you will recall with fond memories, the pearl farm in Waigeo. This dive site just seems to get better and better with more pygmies, more nudis and large schools of fish leading the way. Normally renowned as a critter site, this area is now becoming home to countless numbers of shark life as well - woebegongs, white tips and black tip sharks, go figure!

Next on the agenda are the mantas at Arborei which have been reliably amazing and out in full force. To experience the grace and ease of these creatures alongside them should definitely be on all divers top "to do lists". Raja Ampat is the perfect place for this with about 90% success of seeing them on every cruise.

Everybody's favourite zone, Misool is as fishy as it's ever been most likely thanks to the recently installed "no fishing zone" law, which leaves the area strictly under the protection of the local authorities. Great news for us divers as it means it is just going to keep getting more marine life moving into the sanctuary.

Raja Ampat is a very large area and Kararu has been diving in and around it for 8 years now, we know the zone almost as well as the fish themselves! On a few trips this season, we have decided to go exploring a little further beyond our normal run and have found some incredibly amazing muck sites on the south side of Batanta. These sites we will keep a secret for as long as we can, only to be shared with our valued customers, and believe us, you'll be blown away by the beauty of it all.

Traditionally, diver's come to Raja Ampat to see gorgeous healthy reefs, large schools of fish and pygmies. These past few trips, what has got us real excited is all the new critters we've been encountering. In the past, it's been unusual to see frogfish, leaf scorpionfish or ornate ghost pipefish in Raja Ampat. But we are seeing more of them on dive sites where we've never seen them before. These aren't new places either, these are sites we've dived dozens of times before.

The variety of nudibranch seems to be on the rise as well. Just on this last trip we saw two nudi's that neither the divemasters nor the guests had ever seen before, perhaps we have discovered the latest new species? At any rate, macro versus wide angle has become a difficult decision for a lot of the photographers this season.

In closing, with so many new critters to see, combined with stunning reefs and fish life, every dive has new possibilities. Come join us soon and see what we're talking about.

Safe diving,
Peter Fratesi & Kristine Hobson
Cruise Directors, Kararu Dive Voyages

Red Hot Last Minute Deals in 2009 & 2010

Our last great discounts of 2009 and a couple of last minute specials for the start of 2010. These are voyages to truly great diving destinations, so if you can travel on a whim, book fast and receive attractive discounts!

26-09 AMBON/SORONG (NOV 28- DEC 07, 2009)

Departing from Ambon and it;s stunning macro and critter life, you will head towards Irian Jaya's Raja Ampat islands, which boast an enormous variety of creatures on the reefs and have recently become a world heritage site. Marine bio-diversity is evident everywhere rivaling any tropical rainforests in species density. Extreme bio-diversity and untouched landscapes rivaling those of the Pacific combined with world class dive sites make these islands one of the world's last scuba diving frontiers. Contact us for a special deal.

28-09 SORONG/SORONG (DEC 23- JAN 03, 2010)

Imagine celebrating the New Year in possibly the best dive area in the whole world. This cruise will take you to the best of what Raja Ampat has to offer! This special 11 night xmas cruise will start and end in Sorong. Dive the best of Raja Ampat North, the fantastic Island of Misool and Raja Ampat South, all in one cruise. Walls, wide-angle, big fish, fantastic macro and beautiful un-touched coral reefs awaits you! Limited space available, contact us directly for great deals on this trip.

01-10 SORONG-AMBON (January 4-15, 2010)

The Raja Ampat island group of Irian Jaya is currently one of the hottest diving destinations on the planet. Diving the exotic and remote Raja Ampat area should be on every divers "wish list". Join us for a great trip to this much talked about destination. Limited space available, contact us directly for great deals on this trip.

02-10 MAUMERE - BALI (January 18-28, 2010 )

Join the Cheng Ho on her last trip back to her home port in Bali! Departing from Maumere, you can enjoy all the great diving the Komodo National Park is famous for as well as the 3 day journey through the incredible islands of Sumbawa, Satonda, Moyo, and finally Bali! Limited space available, contact us directly for great deals on this trip.

Please contact us for more information about these special deals

The Kararu team and management looks forward to welcoming you on board our vessels for the liveaboard scuba diving expedition of a lifetime. Please feel free to contact any of us at any time or see the 2009 and 2010 cruise schedules at our web site. www.kararu.com/schedules