As traveling divers, we often get wrapped up in the desire to get to the most exotic destination we've heard or read about; it is an issue that I have been a victim of. However, recently I was reminded that excellent doesn't necessarily have to mean far, particularly for us on the West Coast. A recent unexpected invitation to my fiance and me to travel to Maui, Hawaii made the point very clearly to both of us. The short four and-a-half-hour flight from LAX to Maui - Kahului, HI found us in our condo near Lahaina, unpacked and scheduling our dives for the week - easy, peasy!

Though we dived several areas on Maui and the surrounding islands, I am going to focus on one specific site that was so enjoyable that we scheduled several return trips. The site was Molokini , a partially submerged volcanic crater a 45-minute boat trip from Lahaina Harbor. A crescent-shaped part of the rim that extends above water provides shelter from prevailing winds and currents and creates an amazing UW environment that is home to a high percentage of Hawaii's endemic reef species and with a drop-off close by, it isn't unusual to be visited by transiting pelagics. On our three days of diving, we encountered sharks on two days and a curious manta ray on another. Even though we were diving two days after hurricane Ana swept through the area, we enjoyed visibility well in excess of 100-feet and water temperatures ranging from 80° at the wall drop-off to 84° diving in the aquarium-like crater.
I'm not a marine biologist and don't even play one on TV, so my ability to name the myriad varieties of sea life is a bit limited, but those that I recognized include barracuda, cravalle, hawkfish, trumpet fish, goatfish, octopus, squirrel fish, big-eyes, Moorish Idols, spotted grouper, moray eels of numerous types and sizes and more types of butterfly fish than can even be imagined. And from the clouds of juvenile reef fish that swept over us and sometimes totally obscured the coral, it is easy to see just what a healthy, interesting, productive area this is.
So, a suggestion: when you're getting the urge to do some dive travel but are stymied by the cost to get there and be there, consider Hawaii. Consider Maui. And by all means definitely consider Molokini.

Prior to my trip to Scuba Club Cozumel I had heard rave reviews from several buddies who had made multiple trips to SCC. They descriptions had set the bar pretty high so I was expecting an amazing experience and I wasn't disappointed.
Our room was spacious and lovely and with more than adequate space for two photographers to lay out and prepare their equipment and charge batteries. Food at Scuba Club was very good. Mornings were a buffet affair with enough diversity and quantity to satisfy most any taste and the served to order dinners were quite excellent.

But food was not the reason we came to SCC - it was for the diving and again we were not disappointed. Like most dive facilities in the area the reefs at Palancar and the drop-offs to the north are the usual dive locations and they are just amazing with a diversity of critters to keep an UW photog very happy. For nearly all of our dives we enjoyed minimum visibility of 50+ feet, often very much more and water temp of 82°. Palancar Caves and Palancar Bricks were favorites as was Punta Tunich, the wreck of the C-53 and Paradise Reef. Sea horses, morays, eagle rays, barracuda, turtles, grouper and more made every dive something to savor.

We had weather one day that kept the dive boats at the dock and we spent the day very happily diving the House Reef in the rain. Primarily for the macro shooter, the House Reef is amazing enough to be a first choice and not just a fallback dive. Take the time to cruise the warm, shallow waters and discover the myriad creatures willing to have their pictures taken.

So, to sum up, Scuba Club Cozumel is a quality diver's resort. I stress the diver part of that. Though there is a pool and non-divers can certainly find enough to stay entertained, SCC is primarily a resort for divers and many hold the view that is is THE best dive resort in Cozumel and with the experience we had, I certainly wouldn't argue with that point of view.

Site Report: Maluku Divers, Ambon – Aquila, ex-Duke of Sparta

The fact is that 99.9% of the divers who make the trek to Ambon, Indonesia come for the muck diving. That in itself is quite valid as exploring the waters of Ambon Bay with Maluku Divers will provide myriad rare and exotic subjects for the most jaded muck photog. What I found and suggest as not an alternative, but an addition to the muck diving is a dive or two to Ambon’s amazing shipwreck, the Aquila, ex-Duke of Sparta.
The wreck in Ambon Harbor has an interesting history; the vessel was built in 1940 as the Duke of Sparta by William Gray & Co, West Hartlepool, England for the Greek shipping magnate, Stavros George Livanos. Surviving WWII, the vessel was sold in 1951 to the Grimaldi Brothers as part of the post-war expansion of their various shipping concerns and re-named Aquila. The Aquila spent the next seven years carrying miscellaneous freight and cargo to ports throughout Europe and the Far East. In late April 1958, the Aquila was anchored off Ambon City in ballast, awaiting cargo. At this point the Aquila became a pawn in international politics. In an attempt to support right-wing rebels and destabilize the leftist leanings of Indonesia’s President Sukarno, the CIA mounted airborne attacks on shipping in Indonesian ports in the hopes of destabilizing the government. The Aquila along with two other vessels was bombed by a CIA aircraft with the Aquila and the SS Flying Lark eventually sinking. That little foray into international diplomacy (or perhaps a lack of diplomacy) provided divers visiting Ambon today with an amazing diving opportunity. Despite the fact that she was the Aquila when she sunk, the wreck is today known by her launch name - Duke of Sparta.
The wreck is very easy to locate as it is marked by a large rust-covered buoy fastened to its stern. The ship lays on a slope with her stern deck in about 40 feet of water and the jack staff of her bow right at 100 feet. The ship is very intact with nearly all parts of the structure blanketed in life. Of particular interest to photographers is the ship’s mast which is densely covered on both hard and soft coral and more invertebrates than you can imagine. The best thing about diving the Duke of Sparta is that you don’t need to hit the deeper areas of the wreck since the stern area, aft deck house and equipment provides myriad photo subjects at minimal depths. Cruising the stern area we found several reef octopus that had claimed dens in the scuppers and under the aft cargo winches along with scorpion fish, frog fish, several morays, a rainbow selection of reef fish and the ubiquitous lion fish (several species share the aft house).
Because its location is in the harbor the better visibility would probably be found on an incoming tide. But even on one of our visits when we dived it at the end of a low tide we still had 25-35 feet of visibility.
In spite of Ambon’s claim to fame as a muck diving paradise, even a die-hard mucker will find plenty get his attention on a dive to Ambon’s wreck the Duke of Sparta.
Patrick Smith
02/2014

Trip Review: Maluku Divers

I recently had the opportunity to dive with Maluku Divers in Ambon, Indonesia. Located on the eastern end of the Indonesian chain, close to the island of New Guinea it is about 16-18 hours flying time from the Pacific Coast; A long time in an airline seat but worth the trip.

Maluku Divers Resort is just a 10-minute ride from the airport, and a Maluku Diver’s car and driver contacted us immediately on deplaning from our Boeing 737-400 Lion Air flight. On arriving at the resort we were greeted by Emily and Joe, the managers for the operation. Emily sat with us as she explained the “Whats” and “Hows” of the resort. In the meantime the staff had moved all of our luggage and gear into our simple, neat airy and very comfortable bungalow, one of just ten in the resort.

Maluku is obviously designed and built for divers. After a quick lunch in the nicely appointed dining area, we wasted no time in grabbing gear and heading down for the afternoon dive. Boarding of the vessels (Maluku Divers has three vessels – two 10-meter craft and one 8-meter boat, all sporting twin outboards and heavy duty dive ladders) requires wading out in shallow water and climbing the dive ladder to board. All SCUBA and photo gear is carried out by dive staff and carefully placed aboard. Your gear (photo & SCUBA) is tagged with your name so there is no confusion or mix-ups as I have experienced in some other dive operations.

Cindy and I were blessed on this trip to have drawn Samuel the resort’s senior Dive Master as our guide. With over 20-years’ experience in local waters and one of the original dive guides at Lembeh, Samuel would show us a wide variety of creatures we had never seen before. Our initial check-out was actually on the east end of the House Reef – probably a one minute boat ride to the site. Once buoyancy was adjusted, Samuel began pointing out some of the myriad critters that call Ambon home. Cuttlefish, shrimp, pipefish, ghost pipefish scorpion fish and a couple varieties of octopus were all seen on the first jump and the numbers, diversity and variety of creatures just got larger and better through the rest of our visit.

On returning to the resort landing area I began to appreciate how well the resort is designed to accommodate underwater photographers. Our cameras were the first items the crew carried ashore from the boat. All cameras are placed in heavily padded, insulated coolers (provided by the resort for the duration of your stay) and carried up to the rinse tank area. Four large, deep tanks are available with frequent changes of water. While our gear soaked, we stepped to the other side of rinse tank area where there are freshwater showers, soap, gear drying facilities and personal gear boxes assigned to each diver. After a freshwater rinse and hanging our wetsuit and booties to dry, we had to decide whether to work on our cameras in the nearby camera room or in our bungalow. The camera room has about a dozen work stations that include high intensity spotlights for close up inspection of O-rings, multiple electrical outlets, work pads and towels along with trays to hold additional batteries and cords. But if we wanted, we could do our camera work in our bungalow as each unit has two large work areas with multiple outlets and lights.

After that first day, we dropped into Maluku’s daily dive schedule: Grab breakfast at 07:00 (limited by very adequate choices – omelets, egg scrambles, cereals, or more local cuisine such as noodles or fried rice with an egg topper and of course delicious local fruit), check cameras and suit up for an 08:30 departure for the two morning dives. Back in around Noon-ish, dunk camera gear, shower off, lunch (wonderful soups and different entrees everyday) change cards and batteries in cameras, suit up and be ready to load on the boats at 15:00 for the afternoon dive. For those who wanted (and we did) it was easy to schedule an additional evening or night dive as well. Dinner was at 19:00-ish and was cheerfully adjusted to accommodate those of us who did the later dives.

For all the positive aspects of the resort I do have a couple of issues. The first has to do with getting on and off the boats. Depending on the tide, sometimes it is a bit harder to access the boats or return to the shore due to the cobble and larger rocks that span along the beach. This isn’t a big deal, but it does, on some tides require a bit of caution. The second issue isn’t specifically a resort issue, but a national issue. It has to do with the amount of trash – particularly plastics – that find their way into Indonesia’s local waters. Though I never saw excessive amounts on the resort’s seafront on some tides, looking across Ambon Bay immense, wide swaths of plastic and debris were plainly evident. On speaking with the resort managers about the issue, they mentioned how Maluku Divers work with the local villages to curtail stream and ocean dumping, but even with local support, it is a problem that will require national muscle to address this issue.

That said, the staff and crews at Maluku from the managers to the cleaning folks are very accommodating and in many cases anticipatory of their visitor’s needs. If you are a diver looking for pristine waters and huge, blooming reefs, Ambon is not really for you. If you are a macro photographer looking to find tons of rare, amazing creatures, Maluku Divers will make you a very happy camper. Like they say in their literature – “Creatures without Crowds.”

Captain Patrick Smith