Explore the biodiversity of Komodo and Alor on a 13-night Special Photo Cruise with Pascal Kobeh

  • - Alor-Komodo 13N Cruise: Embark LABUANBAJO, 7 July 2013 - Disembark MAUMERE, 20 July 2013

On this trip, join Pascal Kobeh as we explore the rich waters of Komodo and Alor, learning from his skills and experiences as a professional underwater photographer. Komodo dive sites are famous for critters, pelagics and stunning reefs, plus Alor is a hidden gems for unusual and rare finds, making this cruise itinerary packed with great opportunities for keen photographers. Make the most of these moments by getting your best shot, with the help of our onboard pro.

Pascal Kobeh biography


Pascal escaped the 'rat race' in Paris to become a diving instructor in the Maldives. Turning professional in 1996, he went on to publish several photography books and then in 2005 was the principal photographer on the 'Oceans' movie project, which was released in cinemas in 2010. Pascal has won several awards, including the Underwater Festival of Antibes silver award in 1997 and then gold award in 1998, as well as a prize at the 2010 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.


Dive Komodo & Alor with Pascal Kobeh

7 ~ 20 July 2013


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CRUISE OVERVIEW

Set sail from the port of Labuanbajo on the west of Flores island - on a 12-day/11-night cruise, to explore all the famous dive sites of Komodo, ending at Maumere on the eastern side of Flores island. The Komodo National park offers excellent muck diving, but also outstanding pelagic action. Alor is not only one of the best kept secrets for diving in paradise, including rare finds like the beautiful and rare rhinopias, but this area also boasts stunning topside scenery and impressive volcanoes.

This famous dive destination is located within the Coral Triangle, an area that boasts the world's highest marine biodiversity. Situated 200 nautical miles east of Bali, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Komodo National Park has a total land area of 75,000 hectares and encompasses a number of islands, the largest of which is Komodo (34,000 hectares). A total of 112,500 hectares of the surrounding waters is also under the jurisdiction of the park rangers, allowing for the protection of over 1,000 species of fish and hundreds of different corals.

Komodo's dive sites stretch from the warm waters of the Flores Sea in the north to the chillier waters down south in the Indian Ocean and vary from gentle coral slopes to heart-pounding adrenaline thrill rides. The underwater terrain presents many contrasts as well, with sheer cliff walls, pinnacles, sandy flat bottoms, underwater plateaus, slopes, caves, swim-throughs, channels, all with differing colours, sizes and types of both hard and soft corals. In Komodo, diving is all about diversity: exhilarating drift diving, interesting muck diving, encounters with pelagics (mantas, sharks, whale sharks, sunfish), macro attractions (pygmy seahorses, blue-ringed octopus, frogfish, ghost pipefish), shallow reefs, walls, pinnacles, seamounts, pristine hard/soft corals. We also visit the famous Pura Island villagers, who splash out of their wooden dugout canoes and dive underwater with home-made goggles fashioned from wood and glass bottles.

In terms of water temperature and recommendations for wetsuits, on the Komodo cruise you can expect 25C+ (80F+) so usually a 3mm wetsuit is fine but the southern dive sites in Komodo can drop down to 20-25C (70-75F) so some guests prefer a 5mm with hood.

Although there is diving year-round in Komodo, the best period is considered to be April through November.


SAMPLE CRUISE ITINERARY "ALOR-KOMODO"

14 Day/13 Night Labuanbajo-Maumere Cruise


Day 1 Embarkation in Labuanbajo

Day 2, 3, 4 Loh Liang or Loh Buaya (walk with dragons)/Komodo-Flores Channel

Loh Liang or Loh Buaya (walk with dragons)

Your day begins with an exciting visit to Komodo National Park, as you take a stroll with the famous dragons! As you walk along the paths, local guides will point out wild deer, boar and bird life, but keep a careful lookout for the giant lizards which have made this region their home. Don’t forget your camera, as there are usually good opportunities for close-up shots when you get to the ranger station.

Takat Makassar

An exhilarating drift dive along the shallow flat bottom interspersed with patches of coral reef teeming with life. There are chances to see manta rays, turtles, eagle rays and white tip and black tip reef sharks.

Batu Bolong

Underwater this rock is covered in a huge amount of soft and hard corals and full of fish life. In the shallows, watch the busy anemonefish and look out for turtles munching on the corals. Giant trevally, white tip reef sharks, snappers and emperorfish tend to congregate here. This site offers particularly good opportunities for both macro and wide-angle photography.

Tatawa Kecil

The west side of this small rocky outcrop presents a fantastic underwater terrain with enormous slabs of rock that have been worn down to form channels, canyons, caves and swim-throughs. On the north plateau crocodilefish lie on the scenic reef among a whole host of reef fish and schooling fusiliers.

Tatawa Besar

This is a thrilling drift dive, starting at the north-western tip of Tatawa and continuing down the western side, reaching about 15 to 20 meters of depth. The fish life here is abundant and you will see an endless field of stunning orange soft corals as you glide along. Swim past coral heads inhabited by schools of sweetlips and batfish, and look out for turtles feeding on the reef. Mantas have been encountered here as well.

Wainilo

This night dive is situated off the north of Rinca Island. In the shallows, the hard coral reef is home to many different critters, including juvenile harlequin sweetlips and batfish. Away from the reef, the sandy slope is scattered with pulsing soft corals which hide demon stingers and starry night octopus, plus a moray eel which has not yet been classified by scientists and is only found here in Wainilo.

Day-by-Day Itinerary