Special Edition - DEMA 2007

Welcome to this 2007 DEMA show special edition newsletter.

The DEMA Show is the worlds biggest and most influential international trade-only event for the diving, action water sports and the adventure travel industries. Kararu Dive Voyages will soon be attending for the 8th year in a row, making Kararu one of Indonesia's longest participating operators.

In this PRE DEMA issue of the Kararu Dive Voyages newsletter, we are proud to bring to you “The Evolution of Kararu” written by owner Lisa Crosby who has been with Kararu from the beginning.

Kararu Dive Voyages - The True Story -

How it all started

Many years ago, way back at the beginning of the new millennium, in the vast archipelago of Indonesia, the most beautiful and plentiful marine life of the world was crying out to be visited by divers, in the hopes that it could be sustained and preserved for all future generations.

The big question was, how to get to these incredible places using the simple means and resources of a developing nation while maintaining the service and atmosphere of a 5 star hotel? The answer, according to three local expatriates living in Bali, was the formation of Kararu Dive Voyages.

The three expat founders recognized that Indonesia held some extraordinary diving locations that were way too far off the beaten track and therefore, could only be accessed and dived by a live aboard vessel.

Months were spent setting up the 100% foreign owned company, Kararu Dive Voyages, with mountains of red tape to sort through before finally being given the permit to operate. The three very competent and capable founders, majority shareholders, Canadian, Lisa Crosby, dive master & school teacher and her husband, German, Sascha Dambach, musician and dive instructor teamed up with British Tony Rhodes, a restaurateur and dive instructor.

The three partners combined their considerable experience, cultural differences and exemplary skills to create all that is essential to a first class live aboard dive operation.

The Evolution of Kararu Dive Voyages

- The beginning -

In early 2000, after the permits to operate were issued, Lisa, Sascha and Tony leased and subsequently refitted a customized 42 meter traditional Indonesian wooden schooner called the Sea Safari III. After months of marketing and a complete overhaul Kararu launched her into the diving industry with cruises focusing in and around the Komodo National Marine Park.

Lisa, Sascha and Tony spent the better part of two years rotating on board and manning Kararu’s shore support offices, serving as cruise directors and hosts to the plethora of divers who took advantage of Kararu’s great service and some of the best diving to be found anywhere in the world!

The incredibly successful first years gave credit to each partner who each brought in equal diligence and great enthusiasm to ensure that customers got the very best of what Kararu could offer. These trips proved to be very sought after and the plan had worked! Word was spreading that Indonesia was the latest hot spot amongst divers and underwater photographers!

- Second Phase -

With Komodo now solidly on the map as a premier dive destination, the three owners took the next courageous step to venture further east into a land that appeared, time had forgotten! Together, Lisa, Sascha and Tony alternated running trips, explorations and administration work to make it all happen, thus, developing itineraries in Raja Ampat, Misool, Alor, the Banda Islands and the famous Gunung Api, home to thousands of free-swimming sea snakes.

The infectious enthusiasm shared by Lisa, Sascha and Tony and undeniably, all the staff’s extraordinary efforts to pull off delivering the best diving in these virtually un-touched dive areas proved to be contagious. Divers from all over the world, including some of the biggest names in the industry, joined Kararu’s trips, taking the whole company to another level.

- Third Phase -

With diving in Indonesia becoming more and more popular, bookings for Kararu were booming. Even the Bali bomb, bird flu and SARS didn't stop our top notch clientele from booking a trip! To cope with the growing numbers of divers, Lisa, Sascha and Tony went to work looking to purchase a bigger boat which could offer more space and comfort for divers.

In January, 2005, a bold decision was made to acquire a Norwegian commercial ship which was renamed MV. Voyager. Sascha, with his personal passion for vessels was the first to travel to ice clad Norway to inspect this vessel. Fully frozen, but satisfied that the vessel would suit the purpose; Sascha gave the thumbs up for the MV Voyager and subsequently assisted with the send off from Denmark back to Bali in September.

For three months, MV. Voyager sailed thousands of nautical miles from Norway all the way to Bali. Throughout this time, extensive plans to renovate the twin-diesel steel ship were in action. With Tony away on annual leave 2 days after the much anticipated arrival of the vessel, Lisa and Sascha went to work on the refit working day and night on the conversion of the vessel together with a team of professional ship architects and welders. The hard work paid off when the Voyager passed all International Survey requirements and received certificates of compliance with strict international marine codes, a true rarity in Indonesia.

Another change took place in early 2006 after MV Voyager’s maiden voyage. Tony Rhodes amicably sold his minority shareholding in the company after deciding that the partnership had run it's course and it was time to move on to other ventures.

With Lisa and Sascha now fully responsible for continuing the vision, Kararu Dive Voyages and the Voyager catapulted into even greater success to a position as one of the top ten scuba diving liveaboards world wide.

- Current Phase -

The Voyager worked under the watchful eye of now seasoned live aboard owners, Lisa Crosby and Sascha Dambach, flawlessly for one and a half years bringing the number of divers who enjoyed her services to over 800!!

In July, 2007 a decision was made to make an unscheduled service due to a potential problem with her shaft. To avoid any interruption of the cruising schedule, a temporary replacement vessel, an incredibly gorgeous and enormous wooden Phinisi ship, the Cheng Ho was introduced.

As with all Kararu’s vessels, the Cheng Ho underwent extensive renovations springing into operation in July 2007. Cheng Ho proved to be an instant hit with the guests. She is a stunning vessel, one of the largest Phinisis in the archipelago measuring in at 49 m long and 11 meters wide. She has 4 decks and entirely too much space!

The very positive feed-back from guests having done a trip on her was overwhelming.

It appeared that Kararu’s now 10,000+ customer base clearly missed the charm and romanticism of a wooden vessel. Many divers asked – will our cruise be on the Cheng Ho, please?

Why not? After all, The Voyager, has a long history of a more commercial nature (her last project being ROV work scanning the seabed for potential artifacts and ship wrecks in the Atlantic Ocean in Norway) could easily return to her roots as an on hire charter vessel.

The outcome? Cheng Ho now runs all of the scheduled trips listed on the Kararu Dive Voyages official website. The Voyager supports the Cheng Ho and Kararu for overflow cruises during the most popular times of the year. During the rest of the year, the Voyager is on hire to the likes of aid corporations, filming projects, ocean bed surveys, etc.

- Our Staff -

Kararu Dive Voyages is a large enterprise by any liveaboard standards. The ever popular cruise directors, Hergen Spalink a fully qualified captain and instructor and Kerri Bingham an ex restaurant manager and dive instructor have now got over 40 trips under their weight belts.

Trained entirely by the expert hands of Sascha, from Komodo through the Banda Sea and up to Irian Jaya, Herg and Kerri have, to date proven to be the most popular cruise directors ever employed by Kararu. Their attention to detail, friendly manner, great humor and overall professionalism has been a real asset to ensuring the great reputation of Kararu is standing strong.

Add the 20 years of experience brought in by spotter extraordinaire, Gusti together with Nyoman, (Mr. Wish List finder), together with the 42 Indonesian crew members serving on both ships - some of whom have even reached dive master status themselves after the dedicated training by Hergen and Kerri - and you get a true team to be rivaled! Let’s not forget the photo pro, Steve Fish who is on board to assist underwater photographers in any way possible and Rozmat, our Russian engineering supervisor who makes sure all those engines are getting you to your dive sites!

Last but not least, who is doing all the work behind the scenes? And who deals with all the quirky issues prevalent in a developing nation such as Indonesia? The ground handling offices in Bali, that’s who! Drum roll please!!

Owner, Lisa is at the helm of the “shore support ship”, with over 12 years experience living, diving and working in Indonesia. General Manager, Norwegian, Stein Zahl heads the office ensuring that all reservations are being handled with the utmost of care. Agung from Bali handles hotels and flight reservations as well as guest relations. Sri from Bali and Yanti from Java handle invoicing and accounting, Slamet from Java and Nyoman from Bali take care of the operational management of the vessels. There are 20 outside contractors assisting with general maintenance of both vessels bringing the grand total to 75 employees!

Kararu Dive Voyages, has earned the impeccable reputation she holds today due to the hard work of her dedicated employees (too long a list to mention here!), hard working owners, Lisa Crosby and Sascha Dambach and the passion for scuba diving and adventures held by all team members involved in this amazing operation. And last, but of course not least, may we say thank you to the over 4000 divers who have joined a liveaboard cruise under the experienced hands of the Kararu team!

- Environmental Support -

In an effort to ensure that the initial mission statement of the founders, to sustain and preserve the incredible reefs of Indonesia, is kept in check, Kararu Dive Voyages is a generous sponsor of many NGO’s like Worldwide Fund for Nature, The World Wildlife Fund, Raja Ampat’s Coral Reef Alliance and the Nature Conservancy as well as the Department of Fisheries of Indonesia.

Kararu is also sponsor to the following organizations: Wetpixel, The digital shootout, Australasia Magazine, NCUPS, Underwater competition, Northern California Underwater Photographic Society's beach dive competition, Dive Photo Guide International, Underwater Images competition, International Coral Reef Symposium Underwater Photography, EPIC photo competition and Scuba Diving Magazine.

Kararu believes live aboard diving operations contribute a great deal to bringing environmental awareness to the world by showing divers just what wonders the seas hold and why we must endeavor to protect them in every way possible.

Lisa Crosby
Owner

Available Trips in 2007

Diving in Irian Jaya 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 Skype or contact us at info@kararu.com or kararudive@gmail.com for direct booking inquiries. 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!

29-07 – December 14 – 23 , 2007 – Join Kararu Dive Voyages for the best of Irian Jaya. Departing from Sorong, this trip will take you to the many incredible dive sites around Raja Ampat. This trip ends in Ambon, take advantage of the excellent conditions which December normally bring.

There is only a limited amount of space left on this trip, including a last minute discount so place your booking now!

Featured Team Member - Stein

Featured this month is Stein, he has been with Kararu Dive Voyages since the beginning of 2007. Stein is originally from Drammen in Norway and is working as Kararu's General Manager, based in Bali. Stein started diving at the early age of 9, and diving continues to be his biggest passion.

Having developed a taste for action and adventure, he decided to do a stint in the Norwegian army. This eventually brought him to Southern Lebanon working for the United Nation peace corps as a professional para-trooper. Returning to Norway 1 year later armed with unforgettable experiences and the Nobel Piece Price which was awarded to the UNIFIL troops in South Lebanon during his stay, he decided to attended the University of Oslo, Norway. Stein graduated with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and Marketing. His true passion was not with computers, but with scuba diving. Starting diving at an early age, Stein decided to make scuba diving his career instead.

Stein has more than 18 years experience from the international diving industry, previous work includes both training Instructors as a PADI Course Director, to managing large scale dive businesses.

Next Month’s Issue

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

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