June 2010    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 25, No. 6   What's this?

Archipelago Adventurer II, Indonesia

Raja Ampat: where one feels like a king

from the June, 2010 issue of Undercurrent  

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article

Dear Fellow Diver:

Within an hour of arriving at Ambon Island airport in Indonesia’s South Moluccas, I was whisked from Maluku Divers’ new resort on the outskirts of the harbor to the Adventurer II and to one of this area’s famous muck dives. Called Air Manis (a.k.a. the Fishing Factory), it’s a pier loaded with strange and amusing creatures. Observing a beaky dragon sea moth waddling on its winged pectoral fins, a pair of harlequin shrimp dragging away a sea urchin, and a variable neon slug with an intense red-orange margin that seemed to have its own power source, I knew I’d arrived at a world-class diving destination. I was ready for my 10-day itinerary from Ambon to Sorong.

The Adventurer II is a traditional Indonesian two-masted schooner, 35 meters of rich, lustrous teak and mahogany, which in yesteryear could have appropriately flown the skull and crossbones. Its sails are only raised for show or when the craft’s single screw stops turning. It’s kept spotless by 22 pleasant, courteous and hardworking crewmembers who ensure it runs like an upmarket Swiss watch. Even with the full complement of 18 handpicked Americans, dive and meal schedules went smoothly.

My buddy and I enjoyed a larger-thanusual liveaboard cabin with a tiled shower, three windows (no portholes here) and individually controlled AC that could bring the temp down to 65 degrees, a blessing given the relentless equatorial heat and humidity. By the time I had completed my first dive each day, my cabin was clean, and fresh sheets and towels in place. However, several cabins leaked (not mine) during the episodic heavy rains, not unexpected in a wooden boat. The crew got most leaks under control quickly. Dan, the boat’s majordomo who was fresh from the hospitality industry in Orlando, was a relaxed, funny and obliging chap of 25 who easily could be mistaken for an instructor at a skateboard park -- pull a wallie, dude....