Dive Review of Seven Seas in
Indonesia/Forgotten Islands

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Seven Seas: "Still good 7 years later", Nov, 2023, by Karen York, WI, US ( 1 report). Report 12732.
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	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My partner and I dove the Forgotten Islands with Seven Seas back in 2016 and considered it one of the best trips ever, so when we had the opportunity to do it again in 2023 we were eager to find out if it was still as good as we remembered. The flights are long and tedious, requiring 3 changes and over 24 hours of travel time from the US. The ship was as comfortable and well appointed as we remembered, but last time we had the upper deck cabin and this time we were below deck. The upper deck cabin was much quieter and more comfortable. Our cabin #6 below was adjacent to the engine room and since most nights were travelling, the engine noise and vibration did interfere with good sleep. In spite of this, the crew was great, the food superb, the cruise director and dive guides very knowledgeable. We did find some differences in the diving. The reefs are still very pristine with healthy corals and fish life. The currents are another story. On the 2016 trip currents were very slight and the diving was mostly easy drifts along stunning walls. Most of the diving this time was on pinnacles that were not visible above the water. These tended to have steep walls and limited reef tops. This time currents in general were moderate to strong. On one dive the current became so strong we were hanging on by our reef hooks and literally had to abort the dive and ascend without a safety stop to avoid being swept out to sea! Luckily, we were near the end of the dive and had been about 25 foot depth so there was no ill effect. The visibility was not nearly as good as we remembered, likely due to the stronger currents. The dates of our trip this year encompassed a full moon and this may have had some effect on the currents and definetly on the tides. We were allowed to dive our own profile in 2016 with no requirement to stay with a guide. We were given a full briefing prior to each dive and deployed our safety buoy to alert the dinghys to our location when we ascended. The boat crew watched the divers bubbles and were never very far away. This time we were instructed to stay with our guide. We still had a very thorough briefing. The dive profiles were deeper than I generally prefer as we were looking for sharks and rays and larger creatures. I often experience ear issues with the deeper dives and after a discussion with the guide for our group (there were only 3 of us and we all discussed this together) he agreed to limit the deep dives and spend more time in the 50 to 70 foot range enjoying the color and the smaller sea life. I should note that there were only 7 divers on this trip. The ship has capacity for 16, so our small group came to feel like “family” during our 15 day cruise. Another difference this trip was with the dinghy crews. Often when we ascended the boats were far away. Sometimes we could barely see them! Safety buoys were a must in order to be found. We did enjoy the trip but it certainly did not measure up to the 2016 experience. I would recommend it to experienced divers who enjoy going deep to find large pelagics. I realize the ship crew have no control over currents and visibility, but I felt the entire dive profile had changed.
Websites	Seven Seas
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	To many to list in 50 words
Closest Airport	Bali	Getting There	A connection somewhere from the US to DPS-Bali. Then domestic flights within Indonesia to the Island where the cruise departs.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	81-85°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	We were required to stay with a guide, but he was flexible to our requests.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Seven Seas in Indonesia/Forgotten Islands

Seven Seas: "Still good 7 years later", Nov, 2023,

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):

Dive Review of Seven Seas in
Indonesia/Forgotten Islands