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Photo credits to Hergen Spalink & Steve Fish.

New Season 2008

A warm welcome back to all readers of the Kararu Newsletter.

In this first edition of the 2008 season, Kararu is proud to bring you our first impressions on the largely unchartered area of Fak Fak, the latest and much hyped dive destination in Irian Jaya (West Papua) located south-east of Sorong.

One of our favorite group leaders and true industry professionals, Mr. Chris Newbert and his lovely wife Birgitte were back again as group leaders on our virgin (pardon the pun) expedition to Fak Fak!

Read on for our exciting trip report and amazing discovery of a possible new frog fish species during these exploratory trips. There are also a few spots left on some upcoming trips in May so if you can travel on a whim, book fast and receive attractive discounts!

Instant online trip review

Since February 2008 we have added a dedicated page listing all recent comments from actual guests from the different trips onboard the Cheng Ho. Furthermore, guest will have a possibility of posting a portfolio of their underwater shots on-line.

For recent guest comments, please visit this link: Recent Guest Comments

Cheng Ho – Trip report

Fak-fak.... Mention that name on a dive boat and you are sure to turn heads. Mention it on at a cocktail party and you’ll have the same reaction but you probably won’t be asked back. The Fak-fak peninsula is not a position from the Kama-Sutra nor a new pet name for your spouse, it’s one of the many unexplored regions of Indonesia that is yielding fantastic diving and stunning topside views.

This February we had the pleasure of taking world renowned photographers Chris Newbert and Birgitte Wilms, along with their guests on a 21-day excursion to Fak-Fak’s Triton Bay and Selat Iris.

The best way to start a trip is finding a species unknown to science. Off Ambon’s Laha peninsula we discovered a strange type of frogfish. After a quick email of a photo to Helmut Debelius and Jack Randall we were informed it was definitely “unknown”.

Laha is definitely one of our favorite muck dive sites in all of Indonesia. With repeated flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ring octopus, frogfish (over five different varieties), seahorses, various nudibranchs, blue ribbon eels (all phases), wonderpus and mimic octopus, and stonefish sightings it can’t be beat. With macro like this we had to stay for at least four days to make sure we had good shots of all these critters for the slide show.

After a smooth as silk crossing from the fish-packed reefs of Nusa Laut, we made our way to the mainland of Papua at a bay called Mamon. Flanked by a beautiful waterfall and lush mountain slopes, the bay was a good indication of what Triton Bay had in store for us. The following day we arrived at the target of our trip, the southern entrance to the Selat Iris, the straight separating the mainland of Papua from Aiduma Island.

The water in Triton Bay is generally one of many shades of green. This makes identification of a potentially good dive site from the surface difficult, if not impossible.

Using our well-honed skills of deduction (i.e. guessing) we managed to find a few sites that quite literally “blew us away”. The currents running through the Strait are breakneck at full bore and “invigorating” at their weakest. Again, Mother Nature has given us something to marvel at. In this case she gave us Saurenus.

To say the least, we had a unanimous vote by all the guests that this is the most amazing and overwhelming coral/fish environment they have ever encountered underwater. The large boulders that lay around Saurenus, some as shallow as ten feet of water, are literally covered completely by wildly varying shades of soft corals. Colorful crinoids cling to any available surface, fighting for space with sea fans and cup-corals.

Off the northern tip you enter into a stand of black coral trees; not bushes, but trees. Sweepers, turtles, and the unique blue-ringed angelfish share the black corals with turtles and wobegong sharks. In the channel separating Saurenus from Aiduma, a literal carpet of candy-colored soft corals covers every available inch from one side to the other.

Across the Straight lie another couple of Rock Islands, with similar underwater features to Saurenus, but a little less “intense”. Well worth the trip across the often standing waves formed by the ever present current, are the yellow pygmy variants that sit in as shallow as 35 feet, protected from the current by a large boulder. With the green tinge to the water and the ever-present yellow sea cucumbers you would almost think you’re in Rica’horseshoe Bay, but then you notice that your extremities have not yet gone numb and you’re only wearing a 3mm suit.

Despite the unbelievable diving at Saurenus, the region was not completely untouched by human hands. We saw multiple local boats with shark fins drying on their foredeck's; reinforced by the noticeable lack of sharks on the dives (except wobegong and leopard sharks). Turtle carcasses were also seen in some of the local fish camps, and a fish collection boat was moored in Triton Bay during our stay.

Despite this disheartening display (all too common in all countries these days), we still saw what we feel to be one of the richest and most awe-inspiring underwater environments yet found.

Not to be outdone, Raja Ampat decided to roll out the red carpet for us on our return trip to Sorong from Triton Bay. Stopping at Boo and Fanjet we were graced with near-perfect vis, beautiful sunshine, and soft-corals galore. And, as if to reinforce the benefits of Raja Ampat’s new “protected” status, grey and black-tip reef sharks even made a few appearances.

Well, it's time to go back to diving, I hear a bell ringing. With another season of Raja Ampat, Komodo, and Fak-Fak diving ahead of us we hope to see you all again…until then, happy diving!

Captain Hergen Spalink
Kararu Dive Voyages

Available Trips in 2008

Diving in Alor & Komodo is simply fantastic! An abundance of dive sites to choose from, short cruising distance between dives and excellent diving conditions during the summer month's make a trip to Komodo an absolute must for serious divers. We have selected a few trips below where we still have limited availability.

10-08 Maumere/Maumere (May 27 - June 07) The best of Alor, contact us for a special deal.

11-08 Maumere/Bima (June 01 - 17) The best of Alor & Komodo, contact us for a special deal.

15-08 Bali/Bali (July 20 - 27) Short on time? Join us for this special 7 night trip to Komodo

Please contact us for specific trip details.

Featured Team Member - Agung

Featured this month is Agung, he has been with Kararu Dive Voyages since October, 2007. Agung is from Karangasemnin North Bali and graduated from Udayana University with a BA in Tourism & Travel in 1998.

Agung is the head of our reservation department, and is responsible for ensuring that your flight, transportation and hotel reservations have been done correctly, with ease and efficiency (quite a feat when dealing with travel in Indonesia!).

He is also the friendly face checking you into the airport when departing on a domestic flight on your way to meet the Cheng Ho. Please feel free to email or Skype Agung and talk to him live if you have any questions regarding reservations!

Next Issue

We will be featuring Kirsten Treais from Amazing Adventures and Travel on her trip to Raja Ampat in the next issue. Don't forget to check out some of the amazing guest comments on our new dedicated guest comment page.

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 2008 and 2009 cruise schedules at our web site. www.kararu.com/schedules