Dive Review of Dive Damai in
Indonesia/Ambon to Triton Bay

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Dive Damai: "Great Boat/Crew with Challenging Dive Conditions", Oct, 2015, by Michael J. Millet, CA, US ( Top Contributor 96 reports with 59 Helpful votes). Report 8575 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The original itinerary for this 12 night live-aboard trip was to start in Ambon then on to the Banda Islands, next diving the Forgotten Islands and finishing in Triton Bay. However, weather conditions forced a change in the itinerary so that the boat did not reach the Forgotten Islands. Instead we returned to Eastern Seram after diving the Banda Islands and also hitting Nils Desperada for 2 dives. After diving Koon Island, we headed east to Mommon on Papua then down to Triton Bay. The Damai Dua is a very spacious boat with large cabins, dining area and salon. My cabin had both a queen and single bed plus a desk. It had lots of storage space and several wall hooks. The lighting in the cabin was generally inadequate. The head included a large shower with plenty of hot water. When the boat was underway, the toilet did not always flush properly. The cabin was kept clean and tidy by the crew. The trip fare included laundry. The Damai Dua is the typical Indonesian live-aboard design with no keel. The boat tended to roll quite a bit even in moderately choppy seas. Some guests became a bit seasick. The boat offered free wifi that did not work consistently even within range of cell towers. The dining area is large enough to accommodate 12 guests plus the cruise directors. Then food was generally tasty and plentiful with the kitchen very flexible in satisfying special requests. A nice variety of Indonesian and Western foods were served including tuna, steak and chicken. The trip included beer and a glass of wine at dinner. The salon area is quite comfortable and offered a large library of marine life books. Up top is a large sundeck with plenty of lounge chairs and bean bags. The Damai Dua has a very spacious and complete camera room with several stations accommodating even large camera rigs. Both 110 and 220 power is provided in a well lit, no A/C in camera room so that outside ambient temperature is maintained. The dive deck is spacious with each dive station having its own camera rinse tank. After and adequate dive briefing, the crew loads the dive gear on to the skiffs. After a short skiff ride, dive gear is donned then a back roll into the water. 10 dives were divided into 3 separate dive groups with its own dive guide. Dive guides were rotated daily. 2 of the 3 dive guides were excellent critter finders. Upon return to the big boat, the crew unloaded the dive gear from the skiffs, rinsed, dried and folded wet suits, gloves, hoods, etc. The dive conditions were a bit challenging and somewhat unexpected with relatively cold water, generally 73˚f-76˚f, and low viz. I wore a full 3mm wetsuit on top a full 3mm wetsuit with a beanie and there were some dives where I was still cold. All U/W photography was macro due to the poor viz and very hazy, smoky skies. The haze was due to fires burning all across Indonesia. The photo subjects were generally: nudibranchs, flatworms, pygmy seahorses, crustaceans, eels, mandarinffish, pipefish, cuttlefish and glimpses of hammerhead sharks. Because of the very hazy, smoky skies, the air strip at Kaimana was closed indefinitely. So guests would not likely make their international flight connections. However, cruise director, Gerry, did a truly remarkable job of arranging flights from Sorong to Jakarta. The guests chose to forego the last 1 1/2 days of diving so the boat could motor up to Sorong in time to make the flights that had been pre-booked. The total distance travelled on this trip with the re-routing was over 1100 nautical miles. The Damai Dua is a very nice boat with a great crew. The diving was a bit less than hoped for due to unexpected conditions. I will definitely seriously consider another trip on the Damai Dua.
Websites	Dive Damai
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu, PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport	Ambon	Getting There	From Denpasar, must connect thru Surabaya and Makassar
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, cloudy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents, no currents
Water Temp	72-80°F / 22-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	6
Water Visibility	20-60 Ft/ 6-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No Deco
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	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	Damai Dua has a very spacious, well-equipped camera room. Each dive station has its own camera rinse tank. Crew does a good job handling camera gear with care.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By linda rutherford in CA, US at Mar 04, 2016 16:49 EST

I prefer shorter routes for travel via boat, so that extra time is embedded to accommodate unforeseen events. If the route had been shorter, then perhaps there would have been time for more diving.

By linda rutherford in CA, US at Mar 04, 2016 16:51 EST

I prefer shorter routes for travel via boat, so that extra time is embedded to accommodate unforeseen events. If the route had been shorter, then perhaps there would have been time for more diving.

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Dive Review of Dive Damai in Indonesia/Ambon to Triton Bay

Dive Damai: "Great Boat/Crew with Challenging Dive Conditions", Oct, 2015,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Dive Damai in
Indonesia/Ambon to Triton Bay