Aggressor Fleet: "First liveaboard trip in Indonesia was breathtaking!", Oct, 2022,by Giorgio Bonmassar, MA, US (![]() |
|||
No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
|||
Accommodations | ![]() |
Food | ![]() |
Service and Attitude | ![]() |
Environmental Sensitivity | ![]() |
Dive Operation | ![]() |
Shore Diving | ![]() |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
|||
Value for $$ | ![]() |
||
Beginners | ![]() |
||
Advanced | ![]() |
||
Comments |
‪Watch My YouTube Video: [youtube.com link] all the pictures/videos were taken during the trip by me or my fellow diver Tony, nothing was downloaded from the internet. Pros: amazing crew, I felt especially safe with the dive masters/instructors. The food was very good, and the service was outstanding. The diving was incredible as you can see from the movie. Cons: the ship was old, with insects and hygiene issues, which quite frankly distracted from the beauty of the liveaboard. Notes: I enjoyed swimming in the strong currents, but I was the only one aboard that felt this way. Best if you are in great physical shape and an advanced diver! The Komodo Islands are 250 nautical miles east of Bali, word heritage (1980), and a National Park in a region of Indonesia known as Nusa Tenggara. The islands are mainly made of three major islands: Komodo, Padar, and Rinca, and many smaller islands and rocks encompassing 1,817square kilometers. We took the Ondo aggressor at the port of Labuan Bajo (West Flores) after flying for 50 minutes there from DPS in Bali. Divers should expect strong currents. Thus, a reef hook is advised for almost any dive. A camera with a macro lens is also highly recommended, and I had a GoPro 10 with Flip 10 Pro lenses. Expect dive sites with a lot of garbage but still teaming with life so that one should not give up. The description below shows 21 dives aboard the Indo Aggressor in September/October 2022. The diving started the day after boarding on September 27th 2022 (I boarded a Garuda flight at 1130am from DPS to LBJ), with a checkout dive in Sabayour Kecil (i.e., small, I saw many macro sweet lipped fish, winged fish, batfish, etc. - there is a dive resort nearby in Besar) at the north east of Komodo. The next dive site was Tatawa Besar short westward sail (cuddle fish, turtles, sharks), then gold passage next to the island Gillawa Darat (drift dive in a large current of a channel), and finally, the night dive was in the next to Gillawa Laut called Murcky Basin (Spanish dancers and other nudibranchs, shrimps). The next day other dives more centrally in a diving location called Gili Lawa Laut and Durat: 1. Castle Rock (saw sharks, surgeon fish, fusiliers, rainbow runners, jacks and octopi, etc.), 2. Crystal Rock (octopus, stone fish, nudibranchs), 3. Calderon or shotgun (very strong current with a fun drift dive), 4. Crystal Bay/Bow (night dive, one turtle unexpectedly veered towards my camera and hit my wetsuit). On the third day, we dove on the Linta Straight (center of Komodo) in turtle town (next to Siaba Besar Is, obviously large turtles, cuttlefish, etc.), then Tatawa Kecil (next to Tatawa island, I saw a school of jacks), Wainilu (next to Loh Buaya Is, many nudibranchs, tiny morays, cuddle fish, horsefish), there we also did a night dive (saw banded shrimps, moray that darted towards my camera lights, and many nudibranchs). On the fourth day, we stayed in the Komodo’s center area and dove in police point (Siaba Besar Is, nudibranchs) and a new site not on the maps that the dive guide called Pulan Lasa (central Komodo south of Loh Liang), pink beach (Komodo Is, near Loh Liang saw mantas and morays) with a beautiful (once) pink beach, and finally a night dive in a dive site not in the maps called Duian Babi (next to Loh Critter, we saw frog fish – very cute, octopus, unfortunately, we were swarmed by catfish, so we saw little else). On the fifth day, we dove twice in Manta Alley on the very south peak of Komodo called Langkoi, where we saw spectacular manta rays very accustomed to divers. After that Gindang, off the maps on the Loh Liang harbor and the night dive in Gindang (saw pipette fish in anemones). We made only three dives because we visited the Komodo National Park, looked at Komodo dragons, and took plenty of pictures, which took about 1 hour. Last day we had the last two dives in two very famous locations: 1. Batu Bolong (Linta Straight) and 2. Siaba Kecil (both were just like an aquarium). |
||
Websites | Aggressor Fleet [same] | ||
Reporter and Travel |
|||
Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
Where else diving | Whitsunday Islands, Palau, Venice, Cozumel, Palmarola, Cancun, Honolulu, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, La Paz, Florida Keys, Isla Coronado, San Diego, Cape Cod, Cape Ann (MA), Newport (RI), Torre Lapillo (Puglia, Italy), Galapagos, Big Island, Komodo Island. | ||
Closest Airport | Labuan Bajo (LBJ) | Getting There | I flew from Boston to Detroit, to Soul, and then to Bali (LBJ), and finally to LBJ |
Dive Conditions |
|||
Weather | sunny | Seas | currents |
Water Temp | 77-83°F / 25-28°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 5 |
Water Visibility | 3-30 M / 10-98 Ft | ||
Dive Policy |
|||
Dive own profile | no | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | [Unspecified] | ||
Liveaboard? | yes | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
|||
Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | Squadrons |
Dolphins | 1 or 2 | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
|||
Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | ![]() |
Large Pelagics | ![]() |
||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
|||
Subject Matter | ![]() |
Boat Facilities | ![]() |
Overall rating for UWP's | ![]() |
Shore Facilities | N/A |
UW Photo Comments | The crew helped with loading everything, including the cameras on board the dinghies so we only had to walk on the dock latter carry nothing but ourselves! The boat had water tanks and ample space for storing cameras after diving. All cameras were safely brought back to the holding station without any damages or scratches. The boat also had a charging station, which was shut down during the night time for safety. Plenty of books and charts to review UW life and locations. The dive crew was extremely knowledgeable and pointed us during the dive to all of the interesting creatures. |
| Home | Online Members Area | My Account |
Login
|
Join
|
| Travel Index |
Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews
|
Featured Reports
|
Recent
Issues
|
Back Issues
|
|
Dive Gear
Index
|
Health/Safety Index
|
Environment & Misc.
Index
|
Seasonal Planner
|
Blogs
|
Free Articles
|
Book Picks
|
News
|
|
Special Offers
|
RSS
|
FAQ
|
About Us
|
Contact Us
|
Links
|