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guest testimonials 2001

A selection of comments from our guests who have joined us over the last few years. We would like to thank all of our guests for coming on board with us and giving us such great company.

what divers are saying about Kararu

Mr Ed Leiter, Scientist, researching Diabetes on mice in the USA had this wonderful comment for us:

Dear Crew of Sea Safari III
Thank you so much for the wonderful diving, the tender care, the excellent food, the great weather, and last but not least, the most memorable birthday cake and celebration, And before I lose sight of it, thanks to Sascha and Lisa for furnishing “ Mr. Magoo” a working set of eyes underwater.
See ya again!
Ed Leiter - February 2001
Aka The Mouse Doctor

Robert Shaklovitz who joined us on the same trip as Ed Leiter wrote to Ken Knezick, from Island Dreams Travel:

Hi, Ken. Thanks again for recommending Kararu Dive Voyages.

Too often dive operations don't live up to the self-serving hype found in glossy brochures and other advertisements. That is *not* the case with Kararu, which "delivered the goods" - on all counts. The boat was exceptionally comfortable and well maintained; the food was excellent in both quality and variety (my only complaint being that there was too much of it!); the crew was superb; the reefs we dove were healthy (no bleaching here); and for underwater photographers, the macro photo opts had to be seen to be believed.

Lisa and Sascha, who managed my cruise, were unfailingly cheerful and energetic, and quick to accommodate any reasonable request (like more frequent changes of water in the camera rinse tank). Both are outstanding "critter spotters" who, time and time again, would locate wonderful photo subjects, including many varieties of nudibranchs, shrimp and decorator crabs I had not previously seen.

The night dives were particularly memorable. Generally, I am not a big night diving fan: I average about one (1) night dive per trip, and unless there is a strong prospect of seeing something really special, I prefer an evening beer to a night dive. I told this to Lisa shortly before the first night dive (at Banta Island), and her response was, "If you're only going to do one, this is probably the one to do, since we usually find stargazers at this site." Yeah, sure . . . but I had not seen a stargazer before (except in the fish books), and the prospect of photographing one was worth delaying the Bintang for a couple of hours. Sure enough, I saw several stargazers on that dive, along with a couple of crocodile fish and mantis shrimp. I was so impressed that I did 5 of the 6 night dives offered during the cruise - and had no trouble shooting a whole roll of film on each one on subjects such as baby crocodile fish (with lovely emerald-green eyes); squid, octopus and cuttlefish; Spanish dancers - with imperial shrimp; odd flounder the likes of which I had not seen before; and several inimicus.

There were a (very) few nits to pick: the dive deck was quite slippery under bare feet when wet; currents were challenging at times, making photography a bit more difficult; and the visibility could have been better (Lisa mentioned that it was sub-par, even for Komodo) - but none of this took any of the edge off my enjoyment of the cruise. In short, the boat, the crew and the diving were the best I've experienced yet, and even now, almost three weeks after the end of the cruise, my post-trip *high* has not worn off. You've found a real winner in Kararu, and I hope to be back on board next year.

Robert - February 26, 2001

February 2001
Cody Shwaiko
Ower of the Komodo Foundation

Many thanks to the Kararu crew for an unforgetable cruise, Special thanks to Tony, Lisa, Sascha for their enthusiasm , expertise and excellent of service. Having done Alor previously, it was eye opening to discover the other side of Alor, the great "critter " diving. Many firsts to see Underwater Harlequin Shrimp, wonderpus, mandarinfish, fire urchins commensels.......I'll definitey be back!!

March 10, 2001
Dos Winkel

Many thanks to the Kararu crew, I like the special "Female Touch" (Lisa) on board (shop, gifts, decoration). The diving was great and special thanks for my "extra" Mangrove dive!
See you again in Oct/Nov!

March 25, 2001
Loan & Teresa Schneil

Sascha, Tony, captain "Pak" and crew. Thank you for a terrific voyage and great diving! The endless enthusiasm and energy from Tony and Sascha was very appreciated. Capt, Pak Yan was always a joy to be around with a great smile & endless tolerance of our humer that had no bounderies, However, I would reccomend a dental plan for Sascha. The crew was always ready & willing to fulfill our endless requests for Popcorn (the greatest on earth) & ice. It's hard to beliave, one can be so far from home but still made to feel "Right at Home" Thank for all the great laugh and everthing from food to service was excellent! A very memorable trip one that will not be forgotten. We feel like we have a new set of friends if you find yourselves in the US look us up.

April 26, 2001
Sandrine, John & Catherine Lewis

We all thank you very much for a wonderful cruise diving the past 11 days. You have all been very helpful and we sincerely enjoyed this holiday. Not to mention the food onboard is absolutely delicious and we are sure to have joined a kilo or two here and there...... thank you chef!
And big thank you to Sascha who had shown us what Komodo can offer as far as diving is concerned............... wonderful diving and truly magnificent albeit the sub zero water temperature-sorry just a joke!!!! It was refreshing none the less, and we will not forget "Temple Wall" and first discovery or who it, second discovery live. Voila - that is all for now we hope to see you and everybody else again in the future.
Thank you (all the crew).

June 06, 2001
Lyn Shwaiko

I'd been hearing about how great this boat was for a while, so when I arrived on board for a weeks trip, my expectations were high to say the least! Well, it's the last hour of a wonderful week and I have to say All of my expectations have been surpassed-the accomodation , the food and above all, the crew were fantastic! Thank you Lisa, Sascha and Tony for putting such a great dive boat together and thank you, Tony for being such a gracious host, and excellent guide and a formidable backgammon opponent!

July 28, 2001
Patricia Werneck Ribas.

A todos do Kararu.
Foi muito bom estar com voces. O servico foi otimo e as pessdas sas super legais. Um super abraco e ate guem sabe, Um dia !

July 28, 2001
John and Kathy Ringrose.

Thank you for wonderful trip. Your crew works so hard ! The diving was excellent as well as the hospitality. Hope to travel with you again.

August 16, 2001
Pierfranco & Renza Dilenge

A Great Trip and A Great Crew
Lisa e Sascha sono veri professionisti ma sopratutto si sono dimostrati compagni di viaggio ideali ci vedremo presto con molti altri amici italiani!

September 29, 2001
Lisa Malacchowsky (www.girldive.com)
Sharon Zoyhofski.

We really missed Lisa and Sascha's harping on sa-harron, but Tony did a good job to make up for it. The company was fabuleus (despite being British) and the boat, crew and diving was great, can I marry him and take him to the us . I'm looking foward to alor (hopefully) and no more Ossama Binladen jokes.

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