- CAPTAIN'S LOG / Asia
- 3 April 2021
OVER A TWO-MONTH PERIOD IN 2015, we explored Indonesia from Raja Ampat to Cenderawasih Bay, Biak, Misool, Ambon, Banda, Lamalera and Komodo National Park before arriving in Bali.
What struck us most about the cruising in Indonesia was the sheer diversity of activities for our guests and crew – every day there was a new adventure or extraordinary sight. It is like falling headlong into a National Geographic documentary, where fierce Komodo dragons stalk the islands and gentle whale sharks cruise the crystal clear seas.
I strongly recommend having an Indonesian-speaking guide on board as without them, many of the amazing secrets of Indonesia would be missed. We had two different guides join us during the two-month cruise and the knowledge they brought was invaluable.
Made Dwi Suarsana and Jason Williamson communicated with the locals who approached the stern, knew all the dive sites, showed us secret caves with bats and human bones, and had a wealth of knowledge as to where to safely anchor the Dragonfly.
Andy Shorten of the Lighthouse Consultancy put us in contact with Made and Jason, and provided amazing 24/7 shore-based support for the entire time we were in Indonesia.
The National Park of Cenderawasih Bay offers a breathtaking experience to swim with whale sharks. There is a permit called the SIMAKSI that needs to be applied for before you arrive with fees per person, per dive, per camera, per day etc. This was all organised in advance through The Lighthouse Consultancy.
It is best to arrive in the afternoon of the day before so you can complete all the formalities ashore and meet with the ranger to organise the swim for the following morning.
We anchored in Kwatisore Bay (S 3° 15.556’ E 134° 57.469’) and at sunrise the next day, our guide Jason directed us to one of the fishing platforms to find two whale sharks feeding.
Local fishermen were standing on the platforms, throwing baitfish into the open mouths of the whale sharks. We jumped in to swim with the whale sharks, and it was such an incredible experience that we ended up spending the majority of the day there. After each mouthful, the whale sharks would swim around the crew then resurface at the platform for more.
The fishermen would pass down handfuls of baitfish for us to throw – the sharks were so focused on the free meal they weren’t bothered at all by our presence.
We then cruised 75 nautical miles north to anchor off the uninhabited Numari Island where the white sand beaches and crystal clear water make this a must-stop. We scored some fun left-hand waves off the archipelago’s northern point (S 1° 58.179’ E 134° 42.357’) and just eight nautical miles to the south, went for a shallow snorkel over three P47 bombers (S 2° 08.765’ E 134° 44.349’).
Arriving at Banda, you can take in the stunning views of the volcano and lava flows on Banda Neira. Our anchorage was between Banda Api and Banda Neira (S 4° 30.957’ E 129° 53.532’), and while it was very deep, it was well-protected from the WNW winds we experienced in January.
We walked around Banda Town and took a tour of Fort Belgica, the Governor’s Palace, the nutmeg plantation and the Cultural Museum. When we returned to Dragonfly, our guide Made had organised a dragon-boat race between a local dragon-boat squad and our crew, which was a fantastic way of connecting with the locals.
One of the best dives was off the island of Pisang (S 4° 29.187’ E 129° 55.887’). The visibility was incredible, the coral very much alive, and the sea life more abundant than on any dive I’ve done before or since.
The Komodo National Park was incredible. We anchored on the north coast of Komodo (S 8° 29.570’ E 119° 32.094’) to be close to the dive sites of Crystal Rock, Castle Rock and Shotgun. Diving with a local guide is a must due to strong currents. It also gets very windy in the summer with winds of up to 55 knots seen in the anchorage just prior to our arrival.
Andy Shorten warned us that sometimes the KP3 (water police) require yachts to do clearance and pay an anchoring fee of 1,000rp per gross tonne, but we were not approached for this fee during our visit.
While the underwater visibility in Komodo wasn’t as good as we experienced in Banda, the diversity in the sea life made up for it. At Crystal Rock we saw a dolphin teach her calf how to hunt and, after returning from the dive, around 30 mobula rays were swimming back and forth across the bay, feeding at the surface.
The hike on Gili Lawa (drop-off point S 8° 28.519’ E 119° 33.386’) is excellent. It took about an hour all up and has a good mix of solid uphills and some paths. There are spectacular 360-degree views over Komodo and surrounding islands. After the hike, we snorkelled at the southern point of the island (S 8° 28.703’ E 119° 33.330’) finding plenty of fish life and corals.
Another worthwhile hike is on Padar (drop-off point S 8° 40.619’ E 119° 33.320’). We hiked up a steep ridge and took in stunning sunset views of Dragonfly anchored off the east coast (S 8° 40.685’ E 119° 33.736), Rinca Island, Komodo, and Padar’s famous pink sand beach.
Upon returning to the boat, we found out that Padar was being used as an Alcatraz for those dragons that had attacked tourists on Rinca in the past and that these dragons were roaming around the island!
While we didn’t see any and weren’t able to confirm this story, it definitely rattled us and is worth checking on in future.
We then moved to anchor on the north-eastern side of Kima Bay on Rinca where we took the tender ashore to the ranger station to see the Komodo dragons. It was an amazing, slightly unnerving experience to get so close to these fierce creatures. The only thing preventing us from being an easy lunch was the long sticks the guides were carrying to shoo the dragons away.
The approach to Horseshoe Bay on the south side of Rinca is incredibly scenic. We anchored near the Cannibal Rock dive site in the south of Rinca (S 8° 47.238’ E 119° 39.933’). In the SE corner of the anchorage, the dragons laze about on the beach and you can approach within a few feet of them while remaining in the tender. A safe way for kids or elderly guests to see the dragons up close.
We visited this area to do a hike to a spring water lake. The passage up Waigeo channel toward the anchorage is spectacular. It’s a requirement to pick up a local villager on the way who will act as a guide and allow access to the spring water lake hike (village location S 0° 19.246’ E 130° 55.211’). Payment is Rp105,000 per guide.
Transiting the channel should be done inbound on a slack or ebb tide, and outbound on a slack or flooding tide. We experienced a current of two knots from an ebb tide (inbound) and a current of 5.5 knots on a flooding tide (outbound) a couple of days before spring tides. I’d recommend stemming the tide when transiting the 90-degree turn by the entrance to the fresh water spring (S 0° 18.396’ E 130° 55.191’).
There’s a safe anchorage at the NW end of the passage in approximately 30 metres, and it is only a short distance to the spring (S 0° 18.105’ E 130° 53.630’). There is plenty of swinging room in this anchorage, which is needed as it is affected by at least five knots of current.
It was not recommended to swim in the anchorage due to crocodile sightings nearby. The only exploring in the area should be done on the wave runners and tenders, although swimming in the spring water lake is apparently safe and was done by all our crew and guests.
On a high tide, the tender can make it all the way inside the channel to the trail leading to the spring (S 0° 18.199’ E 130° 55.457’). On mid to low tides (or a dropping tide), it’s best to have the tender drop you at the entrance to the channel with SUPs. We arrived on the low tide and paddled up the channel toward the spring, although there was at least one occasion when we needed to carry our boards across shallow sections.
Where the river splits in two, we left our boards on the bank and walked the 300 metres to the freshwater spring.
The sight of the iridescent blue water and the green canopy growing over it was extremely enticing and we jumped in, swimming with the strong current back to where we’d dropped off the boards.
There were several occasions when we needed to swim under and through fallen trees. The entire tour took approximately two hours and I recommend taking a mask and snorkel to make it easier to swim under the fallen logs.
We then went to visit the nearby Bat Caves (S0° 18.483’ E 130° 55.151 and S 0° 18. 353’ E 130° 54.958’), which would have been impossible to find if it weren’t for our guide. Getting to each cave requires some semi-sketchy climbing up a loose rock wall. The larger cave has large fruit bats and an opening to the sky at the top. After both cave tours, we jumped off the rocks into the water to swim back to the tender.
Even after our two months of incredible cruising in Indonesia, we felt that the islands to the east of Misool offered some of the most scenic anchorages, amazing diving and unique shoreside activities that we experienced during our time in the country.
Tomolol Cave is on the northeastern side of Misool. The anchorage nearest to the caves should only be used as a temporary stop-off location and approaching during daylight hours is recommended as there are pearl farms that span the width of the bay and can be difficult to detect on radar.
Tomolol Cave is an approximate 15-minute tender ride from the anchorage. You wind through the pearl farms and numerous limestone islands to get to the entrance to the cave. The cave is epic! It’s approximately 40 metres high and about 200 metres long, with numerous smaller caves leading off to one side.
There’s a section where you can jump off the rocks in to the water, which was deepest near the entrance to the cave.
We anchored in a small bay on the southern bay of Gamfi Island (S2° 01.284’ E 130° 40.080’), where we dropped both anchors to minimise our swing circle as the anchorage is reasonably tight and is affected by the current. You could anchor at any one of the numerous and equally spectacular anchorages nearby.
We enjoyed exceptional paddle boarding around the small islets, great diving off Razorback Island, an awesome dive through a huge natural arch and two nice beaches a short tender-ride away.
Gelu Island is located 10 nautical miles to the south of Gamfi, and although deep and exposed to the west and north-west wind, it offers the closest safe anchorage (S 2° 10.637’ E 130° 35.832’) to the Misool Eco Resort. The resort exists to protect and revitalise the natural surroundings and the community, safeguarding the reefs through sustainable tourism. Calvin Beale from the resort came on board for a presentation of his Manta Project, which was well-received by both crew and guests.
The diving in this area is probably the best we saw in all of Indonesia, with the mantas at Magic Mountain a true highlight. Boo Rocks is another amazing dive where we saw masses of sea life, but unfortunately we ran out of time to experience any more of the dozens of dives in the area.
You could dive a lifetime in Indonesia and never run out of things to discover.