Bali to Komodo Underwater Photography Workshop 2024
The 2024 Bali to Komodo photo workshop began with the group meeting in Bali from various locations before boarding the Seahorse, our home on the water for the upcoming trip. This tour would bring us from Bali to Komodo, allowing us the chance to see and dive several locations which would otherwise be difficult to access on the more common Komodo dive itineraries. Once everyone was on board activities began with the safety and dive operation orientation, gear setup, a cocktail hour and dinner before we set off for the first of many days diving as we headed east toward the Komodo national Park.
Day 1 - Lombok's Gili Islands
On the first day, our check out dives began with a nice although quiet dive, and a chance to shoot some macro subjects at Lombok in the Gili Islands. While the dives were nice, they were only a small taste of what was to come as we would continue our journey east. Moving through various sites in Lombok and the Gili Islands we explored Kecinan, Hans Reef and Turtle Heaven. Immediately after dive number three of the day the anchors were pulled up and the boat started his voyage towards Moyo Island, where things would increase in both interest as well as beauty as the dives went on.
Day 2 - Diving Moyo Island
As the Seahorse moved east, the number of boats and divers began to drop. Day two consisted of beautiful dives at Moyo Island, which included stops at Angel Reef, Long Reef and a Moyo, where the group explored macros subjects which included an enormous variety of nudibranchs as well as the various different species of crab, shrimp and more fish than one could count.
Days 3 & 4 - Sangeang Island
A 16-hour overnight transit from Moyo Island to Sangeang Island would have the group waking to a beautiful sunrise at the foot of the volcano which was shrouded with clouds and kissed by the morning sun. Of particular interest at Sangeang was the black sandy bottoms which would be a true highlight of this trip and among the best of the dark sandy bottoms that I've experienced and my years diving.
Bubble reef which was the first dive of the day proved to be very popular amongst the guests with a great mix of both wide angle and macro subjects as well as bubbling steam vents coming up from the ocean floor due to the volcanic activity of the island.
The remainder of the day included dives at Deep Purple, Techno Reef and Blues Reef, all of which had something to offer all of our divers. As is common in Indonesia, most dives have something to offer for both macro junkies as well as those looking to capture beautiful reef scenes with a wide angle lens.
At the end of the day, the group decided that the dives around the volcano of Sangeang were worthy of extending the stay here and doing additional dives for the following day.
Days 5-7 - Komodo National Park
As we approached the midway point of the trip, we entered Komodo National Park for what would be three days of incredible diving. Beautiful conditions met us on our first dive in the park at Crystal Rock. We were immediately greeted by schools of colorful fish, such as anthias, parrotfish, and fusiliers, darting in and out of the coral formations. The coral here was particularly impressive, with healthy soft and hard corals creating a vibrant underwater landscape.
For our second dive we descended into the clear waters of Castle Rock to be met with a brisk current, requiring reef hooks and a bit of persistence to position ourselves in the best spot to watch as the schooling fish mingled with sharks hunting in the current.
Additional dives in the north and central areas of the park included Wainilu, Siaba, Pengah and Lassa Island, all of which had healthy and vibrant reefs for us to explore.
A highlight for all of the guests was a visit to the ranger station to see the famed Komodo Dragons up close. A walking tour through the park under the watchful eyes of trained rangers kept us at a safe distance from the dragons, while being close enough to get an up close view of the amazing animals here.
As we entered the southernmost parts of Komodo National Park, the highlight of the trip would be upon us, diving with Manta Rays at the famed site called Manta Alley. This too bought the first taste of cooler waters. While we had been enjoying temps of 80-83 degrees in the north and central parts of the park, to enjoy the Manta’s would require us to contend with water in the middle 70 degree range...cool but certainly not cold. Once we were in the water the only thing on everyone’s mind would be the incredible number of Manta’s that put on a show for us. In some cases as many as 12 Manta’s would be circling the groups. So great were the conditions and the wildlife, we decided to extend our stay at Manta Alley for three dives instead of the usual two that most boats make here. Our third dive would have us alone at the site with all of the Manta’s to ourselves.
Day 8 - Nusa Kode and Padar
As we began our trip back towards the central parts of the park, we had one last chance to dive the cooler waters at Cannibal Rock, Yellow Wall and Secret Garden. While the visibility on these sites were less than ideal, they were teeming with life and beyond healthy, benefitting from the influence of the cooler waters that the Indian Ocean’s currents provide.
This was also a spot for us to visit a beach at Rinca Island well known for its wild population of Komodo Dragons. We kept a safe distance in the boats as we approached the beach where two large adult dragons met us.
Day 9 - North Komodo
The final day of diving brought us back to two sites we dove earlier in the week. Crystal Rock and Castle Rock, which were challenging dives just a few days earlier, greeted us with gentle currents. The difference between these sites from one day to another was incredible to see. Both days offered something different...one is a high intensity dive in strong currents, the other was a relaxing and easy dive well suited to take in the incredible scenes of healthy reefs loaded with fish. Two excellent sites to complete the trip.
The final night of the trip had the crew of the Seahorse prepare a massive feast and beach party for the guests at Bididari, a small white sand beach. The crew put on a show of live music, dance lessons and a dinner to celebrate the great week of diving. So many things come together to make for a great liveaboard experience, one of which is the quality and capabilities of the crew. The Seahorse and its crew did an incredible job all week of keeping the guests well fed, safe and entertained as we made our way through some of Indonesia’s most beautiful regions.
Two of the guests from the trip have created a personal blog and videos from their experience on the Seahorse while in Komodo. Please feel free to have a look at the scenes from this four part look into Komodo, so generously provided by Hank and Cindy Kratzer here.
