Diving onboard the Tambora,
Indonesian Archipelago

Cruises to Indonesia’s Richest Underwater Regions and Best Dive Sites

As part of the coral triangle, Indonesia boasts 10-15% of the world’s coral reefs, with amazing biodiversity and stunning fish life, offering real feasts for diving and underwater photography enthusiasts. Indonesia is a large country, and dive operators are still far and few. Chances are extremely high that we will be alone in the water wherever we choose to dive. No crowds under water, and no other liveaboard in sight. And at many spots, we will remain the only divers for days, and sometimes weeks and even months.

Our 2009-2011 programmes take us across the Indonesian archipelago, to the most varied selection of the country’s best dive sites:

• Raja Empat, Triton Bay and Aetna Bay, unmatched in biodiversity and coral life
• The Banda Sea and central Moluccas: Ambon, the Lease group and the Seram Laut group, offering both big fish action and great critter sites
• The islands in the Makassar Strait – Sangalaki, Derawan, Maratua and Kakaban – with mantas, barracudas, turtles, and non-stinging jellyfish!
• World-famous Komodo National Park and its surrounding islands
• Specialized wreck-diving cruises in Bangka-Belitung – exclusively aboard Tambora!

Trips have been carefully chosen, planned and designed taking into account our own experience, seasonal and weather patterns, and a desire to offer our guests great diversity, from wreck-diving adventures in the West all the way to the hidden islands and bays along the New Guinea coast in the East.

Bali’s Little Sisters
Diving the Lesser Sunda Islands from Bali to Komodo

This cruise starts off from Bali and goes eastward along the North Coast of the Lesser Sunda islands into Komodo, ending in the port of Labuhan Bajo in Flores. It is a long-time favorite of many divers and takes us to some of the country’s most famous dive sites.

Dragons & Currents
Diving the Komodo National Park

Our cruise commences and ends in the small port town of Labuhan Bajo on the west of coast of Flores. The whole area is dotted with islands of various sizes and shapes, providing for very short commutes between dive sites and sheltered bays for overnight anchorages. Waters within the Komodo National Park have been protected for a long time, and are home to an endless number of world class dive sites — Current City, The End of World, Pilar Steen, Red Beach, GPS Point, and Tatawa Besar & Tatawa Kecil, to name just a few. Excellent soft and hard coral coverage, macro life, pelagic action — it’s all here!

Rugged Beauty of Flores
From Komodo to the East of Flores

This cruise combines the world class diving in the Komodo National Park with some lesser known albeit equally great dive sites along the north coast of Flores. It takes off from the port of Labuhan Bajo on the west coast of Flores, and takes us all the way to the city of Maumere in the East of the island.

Into the Wild East
From Flores to Alor and Back

This cruise departs and ends in the town of Maumere in the East of Flores, and takes us to some of the most remote parts of the archipelago. We will sail along an endless string of islands and through narrow passages connecting the warm waters of the Flores Sea with much colder ones of the Savu Sea to the South. Excellent visibility, sunny weather, and at times strong currents teeming with fish are guaranteed during this cruise!

Big Fish Country
Across the Flores Sea

This special 9-Night cruise takes us from Maumere on the north coast of Flores, through Taka Bone Rate, the world’s third largest atoll, to the southern shores of Sulawesi. Our cruise area boasts of lots of big pelagic fish, as well as some fine walls.

Pearls of Borneo
Sangalaki, Derawan, Maratua, Kakaban, Samama

This 11-Night roundtrip from/to Tarakan in the Northeast of Borneo takes us to the islands and reefs rising out of the depth of the Makassar Strait. Leaving the Borneo coastline behind, the sea becomes deep very soon. Yet a little further out, a series of large coral reefs and islands rises out of the sheer depth to the surface. They are swept by strong currents, washing up big fish from the depth to shallower waters, where they join in and chase the many reef fish.

Borneo-Celebes Blues
Sangalaki, Derawan, Maratua, Kakaban and over to Sulawesi

This special 11-Night cruise takes us from Tarakan in the Northeast of Borneo across the Makassar Strait to Palu in Central Sulawesi. It allows us to sample three distinct dive areas as part of one and the same itinerary: the islands offshore northeast Borneo; virtually untouched reef structures lining the Borneo coastline; and, the many bays and islands lining the Sulawesi side of the Makassar Strait north of Palu.

Unknown Side of Bali
Dive Forgotten Islands in the Java Sea

This special cruise starts from Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and takes us all the way east to Bali. Although centrally located within Indonesia, with easy logistics for travelers, it covers some of the least dived parts of the country.

Our trip takes us to the dive sites around the Karimun Jawa and Bawean islands in the Java Sea before proceeding eastward to the Kangean islands, a spread-out and little-explored archipelago north of Bali. En route, we will explore wrecks lying in 20-30m of water, and dive some of the many channels, slopes and reefs in the Kangeans. Most dives are a maximum of 20-30m in depth and hence suitable for less experienced divers, too. However, be aware that currents can pick up at times and in some places.

Mystical Moluccas
Dive Ambon, Banda, Seram Laut

This incredible 11-nights cruise takes us along a triangle-shaped route through the Banda Sea, from highlight to highlight. Due to seasonal constraints, it can be conducted only within two narrow time windows. So book early!

We will start things off with some great muck diving right in Ambon Bay, only minutes away from our point of departure. Next day, we will make our way along the south coast of the island, diving cavernous walls with healthy coral coverage. From here, we proceed to the Lease group east of Ambon, definitely big fish country. After an overnight journey, we reach the Banda islands, a volcanic mini-archipelago rising out of 5000m of water. We will dive westernmost Run and Ai islands prior to making our way into the lagoon where Tambora will go on anchorage while we will dive a line-up of world-class sites nearby. We will spend 2-3 days here prior to making our way further east, diving Hatta and Karang Hatta along our way, to the fabled islands South East of Seram, collectively know as Seram Laut. Strong currents and up-swellings from the depth produce an incredible richness of fish, including barracudas, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, and mantas, among many others. From Seram Laut, we will slowly start our journey back westward, along the South coast of Seram, where towering mountains make a perfect backdrop for the many spectacular reefs and walls alive with fish.

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The Tambora - Lapu Suite

The Tambora - Saloon

The Tambora - Dive Deck

The Tambora - Zodiac crew

The Tambora - Front Deck