BANDA, INDONESIA

Sep 10-20, 2026

The heart of the Ring of Fire, and close enough to Raja Ampat to get similar biodiversity without the mushrooming tourism and… HAMMERHEADS and WHALES!

Banda is unique in the sense that it falls within the same coral triangle region as Raja Ampat (so you get a similar level of bio-diversity), but is also in the middle of deep waters, so you get a lot of big pelagic that aren’t as common in Raja.    And because it is way, way, WAY off the tourist track, you will have most dive sites all to yourself.    And for additional fun, the island that we will be based off is actually the caldera of a volcano.   Ring of Fire indeed!

 

Vinnie first discovered Banda while on a liveaboard that stopped there for a night, way back in 2018.     And since then, he’s been keen to return and spend more time exploring the waters there than afforded by a typical liveaboard itinerary.   That’s what led to our 2 trips in 2025, and despite spending 20 days there, we didn’t

nearly have enough.  

 

So we are coming back.

 

 

Make no mistake – this place is remote.   And that is what makes it worth diving!

 

Overview

Banda Niera, the island where we will be based, is actually part of the caldera of a dormant volcano, Banda Api.   

 

It’s a small, remote island 5.5 hours by boat from Ambon – one which is still getting used to the idea of tourism.   Our group in 2025 was the first group from India and within 2 days, the entire island knew about us and we got regular smiles and waves as we walked around.

 

And the diving here is very unique – because Banda and the nearby islands are all volcanic, they are essentially sea mounts, with deep waters around them.   That means frequent whale sightings and, of course, hammerheads, as well as more infrequent sightings of threshers and tigers.     “Expect anything” is the motto here.

 

But because this is also at the periphery of the coral triangle, you get very high biodiversity – colorful corals cover the surface and top of the walls, and you get a reasonable percentage of the variety of Raja Ampat as well.

 

That makes for a very balanced diving, catering to all interests.

The trip itinerary is as follows: Sep 10 –  Transfer from Ambon to Banda via the 9am ferry from Tulehu Harbour (5.5 hour ride) Sep 11 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 12 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 13 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 14 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 15 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 16 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 17 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 18 – 3 dives, with lunch on the boat Sep 19 – free day.  Folks can choose to hike the volcano, relax or do additional dives Sep 20 – Early morning (8am) departure from Banda to Ambon, arriving by 1:30 or so, and then transfer to hotel or airport The plan is to do 3 days in Suanggi, 1 day in Rhun, 1 day in Hatta, 1 day diving Batu Pohol (Vinnie’s favourite site possibly of all time) and for the other 2 days, play it by the ear.   But of course, all of this is subject to change, depending on the group’s preferences and prevailing conditions, more of which in the next section.

First thing firsts – while hammerheads can be seen throughout the September-November period, earlier is better.    But the downside is that the monsoons in the area run till August and so there is the risk of weather playing spoilsport.

For this trip, we are going for a home run:  early in the season, before the liveaboards park themselves at Suanggi.      We are also giving ourselves a reasonable margin for safety in terms of weather – by September, the seas should calm down and make it ok to go out to the far sites.     But fair warning:  climate change being what it is, no guarantees (that applies for other times of the year as well – even our November 2025 trip had a couple of days where we were forced to a plan B because of weather).

So in short-  we are hoping for good enough weather to be the first to see the big schools of hammers, and expect the weather risk to be low:  but even if weather does play spoilsport, we still have some amazing diving we can get to.    It’s a judgement call, and we feel good about the odds (enough that Vinnie is trying to figure out a way to get from Banda to Galapagos in 2 days) – but of course, no guarantees.

 

 

The diving itself is mostly wall dives (with a couple of pinnacle dives).   The typical profile is drop down along and slightly off the wall to look for hammers for a while and then shallow up and spend the rest of the dive on the reef, enjoying the colors and the coral.

 

So in terms of diving skills, this site is suitable for intermediate skill levels or higher:   we’ll recommend Advanced/Deep certification, good buoyancy skills, the ability to do a safety stop without a line and the ability to ascent and descend in the blue without supervision or intervention are essential.  

 

The guides are very helpful but also give divers a lot of freedom – so you need to be aware of your own air and NDLs, and not be reliant on someone else to watch over that for you.    Lastly, the ability to deploy your SMB is important.

 

Nitrox is actually not recommended, despite the 3 dives a day – the main reason for that is that sometimes, you want the flexibility to go a little deeper if the hammers are lurking there.   You can always shallow up on the wall once you run low on NDL, and still get a nice, long dive in.

Our stay will be at the Baba Lagoon hotel, with a great view of the volcano directly across the bay.  

To set expectations – this is a fairly basic place.   The rooms are clean, there is aircon, the dive shop is on the premises and the setup makes for a great place to hang out after dives.    But fancy, it is not.    And there is no hot water (which isn’t the end of the world – it is pretty warm out there!).

 

As far as food goes, breakfast is either fruit or eggs and toast.      On diving days, you will get a tasty, vegetarian rice-based meal on the boat (included).

 

Dinner is not included to give us flexibility on dining options.   Divers can order ala carte at the resort, or we can arrange a buffet via advance order or folks can choose to go out to eat at a few restaurants nearby (or even try some street food – which is basically home food sold off stalls by Bandanese ladies).

 

A word of warning here as well – don’t expect a lot of variety.   Nasi or mee, chicken or fish… that’s gonna be the bulk of your options, although the hotel does a decent burger.     Surprisingly, there are a good amount of vegetarian options for divers and the hotel’s dinner buffet is really good.

 

So there’s a theme – simple accommodation, simple food but great vibes and most importantly, excellent diving.  

Visas:  Indonesia offers visa on arrival.   Visitors can also apply for an eVOA prior to arrival, which can save them some time standing in line at immigration on arrival.

Flights:  As far as international flights go, the fastest option is to fly into Jakarta by evening/night and then take a connecting flight to Ambon in the early AM, landing by 6:30am.    But if possible, try to arrive in Ambon a day earlier, which gives you more flexibility with flights.
For the return, you can choose to fly back on the same day – we are assured that a flight out of Ambon at 1600 or later is generally safe, but this would be at your own risk:  because of connecting flights, we would recommend giving yourself a larger margin of error here.
We will coordinate flights on the Whatsapp group so that people can choose to fly together.
Insurance:   Dive insurance is strongly recommended.    You can buy using the following links: DiveAssure all plans: https://app.diveassure.com/da2/en/registration/main/process/0/int/0/17014 DAN Annual plan: https://apps.dan.org/join-dan/?do=dw&rc=3209485 DAN Short-tern plan:  contact us

Price:    $1700 per person sharing,   $1900 per person single occupancy

 

INCLUSIONS:

  • 24 dives
  • 10n stay with breakfast
  • Lunch on the dive boat
  • Car transfers between hotel/airport in Ambon and the ferry harbor on the way in and out
  • Ferry tickets Ambon-Banda and back in the highest-quality cabin (Premium)
  • Fuel surcharges for 3 Suanggi trips, 1 Rhun trip and 1 Hatta trip

EXCLUSIONS:

  • Dinners
  • Gratituies/tips ($100-150)
  • Gear rental:   see chart below
  • Park Fees @ IDR 50k-100k, depending on location visited 
  • Fuel surcharges for additional remote trips (70k-90k IDR per person per day, approximately), if applicable

GEAR RENTAL:

  • All payments are non-refundable once made.   However, if we can get someone to take your place for you, we will carry over your deposit to them and have them reimburse you.   And of course, you are always welcome to get someone to take your spot if need be.
  • A deposit of $400 is needed to confirm the booking, with the balance payable by April 15, 2026
  •  Please read the section on Diving Info on what to expect at this time of the year
  • To keep things fair to all the divers, we reserve the right to ask divers who do not meet the skills requirement outlined in the group to either sit out a dive, or take additional training or go to a different dive site.      To be clear, a Bangalore Scuba pro is on the trip and will help divers who need assistance and provide buoyancy trips/additional supervision, of course.   But we also don’t want one diver to monopolise the attention of a guide or limit the choice of dive sites that we can go dive.   So this is mostly in extreme cases, but we want to have this out there in the interest of full disclosure.
  • Please discuss any special needs or requirements with us in advance, prior to booking.   Banda, especially, is a very remote location.
  • As always, we have a Whatsapp group for participants to join to discuss/plan the trip
  • Dive insurance is mandatory – links are also provided in the section above.   Please contact us for a link to short-term DAN insurance, if you want.
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