Maiden Voyage of the Cheng Ho

On July 21st, 2007 our newest vessel, the Cheng Ho left Benoa Harbor, Bali for its first cruise under the Kararu Dive Voyages’ banner. With our first guests aboard we set out for our maiden voyage to the Komodo National Park. As the sun set on Nusa Dua we set sail, passing Kararu’s other vessel, Voyager on the way out, a strange feeling indeed.

Since leaving Benoa that day we’ve had 3 fantastic charters, exceptional diving, and fabulous weather. For those who haven’t done a Komodo National Park dive tour before, let me set the scene…

Komodo National Park lies in between the islands of Sumbawa to the west and Flores to the east. The park itself is made up of two large islands, Komodo and Rinca, as well as several smaller ones. The Indian Ocean sits at the south end of the park and the Pacific borders the north. The Wallace Line runs between Bali and Lombok to the West.

Diving ranges from the critter intensive black sand beaches of active volcanoes, fish covered open water pinnacles, walls bursting with life, to perfect sand beach slopes that hide amazing shallow reefs at their feet.

Sangeang Island, a must stop on all Komodo cruses boasts a 2000m high active volcano whose slopes meet the sea at black sand beaches. Around the north side lies “Black Magic”, where a small river feeds into a picturesque black sand bay. “Magic” has been an understatement for this site as of late.

We have yet to NOT find multiple ornate ghost pipefish living amongst the large black coral bushes or hiding among the rainbow colored crinoids. Frogfish have made daily appearances from small white painted, to red and white warty, and even a large black giant with a penchant for mounting cameras and their users.

A pair of leaf scorpion fish (taenianotus tricanthus) also sit amongst the bronze sweepers on reef ledges waiting for their next meal to swim by. In the shallows numerous Spiny Devilfish (Inimicus didactylus) scurry about between burying themselves in the sand and looking for lunch. A few pygmy seahorses (hippocampus bargibanti) pass their days on the large sea fans that populate the deeper parts of the reef. Nudibranchs of innumerable different species pass their time inching along the sand or munching on the ample supply of tunicates on the reef.

In addition to the stunning variety of macro life the picturesque reef provides enough color and variation to make even the well traveled diver comment on its exceptional health and diversity.

Not to be outdone, the southwest side of Sangeang also contains a Macro-Vegas; as soon as the lights go out, the house reef at Bontoh Village comes alive, providing more amazing creatures in less than 15 feet of water than you could possibly see and photograph in two back to back hour and a half night dives… trust me, Steve Fish and I tried. Last night’s dive here yielded Steve video of at least 9 different species of Nudibranch, three of which he’d never seen before…anywhere (and he’s been just about everywhere). I myself came up with some shots of a group of FIVE ornate ghost pipefish lounging together in between some black coral and a rock.

So far this season we have had boxer crabs (also called “pom-pom” crabs for the small anemones they carry on their main claws), amazingly diverse variations of flat worms, juvenile frogfish (at times multiple types on the same rock), to large aggregations of stingrays and lionfish “getting jiggy with it”.

After getting in our macro fix it’s time to work out the muscles and do some high energy pinnacle dives. Stopping at Gili Lawa Laut (literally “small island that faces the sea”) we drop in on two of our favorites, “Crystal Rock” and “Hard-to-Find Rock”. Lying just off the north shore of the island it offers the beautiful crystal clear (and warm!) Pacific Waters filled with fish, beautiful hard and soft corals, and pelagics to boot. Hard-to-find has given us great shark diving this season, with multiple grey and white-tip reefs playing in the currents with the ever present rainbow runners and jacks. After “hooking-in” to watch the show, the sharks decide to ignore us and focus on what the current may bring their way.

The usually skittish white tips come close enough to touch, sometimes sitting a meter away, watching us with what might be curiosity. The large grey reefs come swimming by less than 2 meters away, oblivious to the current that keeps us hovering above the reefs, posing for pictures and videos. A lone dolphin also made his presence known, joining us on almost every dive for at least a few minutes, riding the bow of the tender boat and making some close passes during the dive. Anthias and Damsels swarm here around the ample table corals, parting like a river for the approaching diver or large jack.

Also north of the park, lies Banta island. A picturesque bay that faces north to Sangeang, it harbors sites like “GPS point” and the perpetually entertaining “Small World” night dive. For those with a desire to drift, a gentle trip through the super-size bommies at “Star Wars” will leave you satisfied. A reef that slopes away from Banta’s eastern shore, “Star Wars” is made up of healthy hard coral gardens with towering soft coral, black coral, and crinoid covered bommies. Turtles and white-tip reefs often make a casual pass or stop and rest under the ample table corals.

Large cuttlefish mate and lay eggs in the shallower regions where the staghorn coral is rampant. Away from the beach lies GPS point, a deepwater pinnacle loaded with life. A dive of GPS typically yields a couple of sharks, turtles, and big schools of jacks or rainbow runners. Some large trevally also course through on their meanderings of the archipelago. A school of about fifteen juvenile grey reef sharks typically makes at least one pass to see who came for a visit. One lucky day we even had spawning sponges making the reef look like Pittsburgh 75 years ago…with pretty corals and fish of course.

Not to be left out of the great north Komodo National Park dives, the small island of Wainilu lies just outside of Loh Buaya, the Rinca Island Ranger Station. When all the staff are the last ones up from a dive, you know it was a good one. When the staff skips dinner, put on fresh tanks, and go again…it was an unforgettable dive. We’ll just leave it at that…you want to know what we saw you’ll just have to come join us on a trip.

Our Ranger Station visits have been packed with Dragons, from big to small to ones living in trees. Lately we’ve been stopping in both Loh Buaya (on Rinca) and Loh Liang (on Komodo) taking the extra opportunity to stretch our legs and see a little more of the “countryside”. With stunning views of Loh Liang bay, the Komodo walk provides a nice mix of wildlife (deer, wild boar, and dragons) and also a nice hilly walk. Rinca provides a more arid and grassy alternative, with usually a better chance for Dragon encounters.

Also on the island of Rinca is Horseshoe Bay, a rather large bay shaped after its namesake by the separation of Rinca and Nusa Kode islands. Located well below the Wallace Line and in Indian Ocean waters it provides one of the most rich environments in all of Komodo National Park.

With well documented sites like “Cannibal Rock”, “Yella Wall O’Texas” and “Torpedo Alley”, Horseshoe Bay always deserves at least two days of exploration. “Cannibal Rock” is a frenzy of activity when the ever present currents stir up the wildlife. Running from a promontory just on shore, it forms a large underwater peninsula that reaches within feet of the surface at low tide and drops down to more than 40 meters on its sides.

The top is covered in gorgonians, soft corals, and anemones. Frog fishes, fire urchins filled with zebra crabs and Coleman shrimps, and nudibranchs of every shape and color fill the crevices between the bommies dotting the slopes. “Yella Wall O’Texas’” soft coral covered walls light up in the Indian Ocean current. A small painted frogfish made an appearance for our photographers, posing on the edge of a sponge for pictures.

The yellow bargibanti pygmy seahorse at “Grandma Bang’s Bommies” also made an appearance. When the sun goes down the fun continues at “Torpedo Alley” with stargazers and the electric torpedo-ray. With Dragons roaming the beach, the topside photo-ops are as plentiful as the underwater ones. A fight between a wild boar and dragon over some scraps left by local fishermen made for quite the surface interval entertainment.

Not to be left out, the Mantas of neighboring Komodo’s Manta Alley also made a strong showing, coming out in numbers as big as twenty or twenty-five with some members approaching 3 meters in width and a few all-black juveniles and adults. Playing on the surface they even gave our non-diving guests a good showing of breaches and close passes.

All in all our season in Komodo has so far been nothing short of spectacular. Komodo has managed to, yet again, raise the bar for itself. Even our repeat guests have said this was their best season ever in Komodo. I can’t disagree. Having had the opportunity to dive all over the archipelago last year from Bali to Sorong, I can definitively say that Komodo still has to be one of the top spots for a great mix of macro and big-animal action as well as some of the healthiest, most diverse reefs around.

Add into the equation Kararu’s newest vessel, the Cheng Ho which has been converted into one of the most spacious and functional liveaboard platforms around and all we can say is “Wow!”. Boasting a top-notch crew, including several of Kararu’s original expert Phinis Ship seaman - even Captain, Pak Yan, who spent five years with us cruising the archipelago in our early years. Adding in a top-tier photo-pro like Steve Fish. Offering an incredible amount of deck and cabin space, spacious aluminum tenders, class leading cuisine, and the best dive staff around (if I don’t mind saying so myself) we are setting the standards for liveaboard diving in Indonesia. Take all these points and back them by the most hard-working crew we’ve ever had, we invite you on-board for a truly unique diving and travel experience.

In memory of Jim Watt

In loving memory of a true friend, Jim Watt

True friends in this world are becoming increasingly hard to find. When we do find them, we mourn and miss them even more when they pass away. Jim Watt, who sadly succumbed to a long battle with cancer, was Kararu Dive Voyages’ best friend. He came, year after year to us, not only with his incredible talent of underwater photography, but moreover as the pure, honest and pleasure of a human being that he was.

Since Jimbo’s first trip with Kararu in 2001, a special, personal friendship between owners Lisa and Sascha developed and flourished over the years. In 2002, Lisa wrote to Jim with a brilliant, new, idea – to conduct a digital seminar on board Kararu – other countries are doing it, why can’t we? Within a month, Jim and Lisa had signed on the ever talented digital photography master, Berkeley White of Backscatter and Dan Baldocchi of Light and Motion and the first ever live aboard digital shoot out in Indonesia was in place for 2003 in Komodo. The trips focused on teaching amateur photographers the secrets in mastering digital photography. Deemed so successful by all involved, the digital seminar month 2004 filled up in one week!

Jim’s following brought only fabulous friends who shared his insatiable zest for life’s adventures. His ever present humor and easy going attitude made cruising with him an incredibly fun adventure. Kararu’s most loyal and fierce supporter, he was bar none, a true professional who took pride in giving only honest opinions with no ulterior motives. Let’s all take our dive hoods off to Jim Watt, not only for being at the top of the world’s list of most gifted, professional, underwater photographers but more over, for constantly keeping in check the values of true friendship.

Sascha and I and the rest of the team at Kararu will truly miss you, my friend. Your efforts on our behalf will never be forgotten and your memory lives on in our hearts. Thank you so much for everything.

Images of Jim’s amazing photography can be viewed on his website at www.oceanstock.com

Images of some of our digital photography seminars can be viewed at http://www.kararu.com/gallery/seminars/2003/01/index.html

Images of some of the work Jim did on our vessel at http://www.kararu.com/gallery/pros/jim_watt/index.html

Available Trips in 2007

Diving Komodo is an absolute “must” and if you haven’t witnessed first hand the underwater wonders in this area, here is your chance! Don’t forget to contact us at info@kararu.com or kararudive@gmail.com for direct booking inquiries. You can also look for us on Skype, our handle is kararudive. We are looking forward to assist with your booking.

Please quote, “newsletter” to receive our very special discounts for these Komodo trips. NB: valid for new guest bookings only!

21-07 – September 08 – September 15, 2007 – Join Kararu Dive Voyages for the best of Komodo National park. Departing from Benoa, Bali, this trip will take you to the many incredible dive sites around Komodo. This trip ends in Bima, take advantage of the excellent conditions which August and September normally bring. There is only a limited amount of space left on this trip, including a last minute discount so place your booking now!

We are now also offering a special "last minute price" for this cruise. Limited amount of space left on this trip, so place your booking now!

Featured Team Member - Nyoman

Featured this month is Nyoman, he has been with Kararu Dive Voyages since the very beginning in 2000. Nyoman is from Denpasar in Bali and has been a very valuable and supportive member of the Kararu team.

He is Kararu’s operational assistant and he is responsible for ensuring that both the vessels and supporting ground units are fully supported. He oversees all maintenance issues and ensures that all work has been done according to safety regulations with our Operational Manager. Assisting with hiring and recruitment of new professional crew on the boat is also done by Nyoman.

Next Month’s Issue

We will be featuring Tim Rock's trip report in next month’s issue as well as some amazing guest comments on our new vessel!

Please visit www.kararu.com/gallery/pros/tim_rock/ to see some of Tim Rock’s images taken during earlier Kararu trips. You can also visit his personal website at www.doubleblue.com

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 2007 and 2008 cruise schedules at our web site. www.kararu.com/schedules