Banda Sea Liveaboard Diving Guide

Hard coralCalm5 to 25 m

A slope of table and plate coral that has grown on lava from the 1988 eruption of Gunung Api. Scientists have used it as an example of how fast coral can recover on new rock.

VolcanoSea snakes5 to 30 m

An uninhabited volcanic island whose steep, sulphur-stained slopes are home to hundreds of sea snakes. Snakes hunt along the reef and surface to breathe beside divers. They are not aggressive if left alone.

PinnaclePelagics10 to 40 m

A remote island where liveaboards look for scalloped hammerheads in the blue during the autumn season, along with dogtooth tuna and schooling barracuda.

PinnacleCurrent5 to 35 m

A rock rising from deep water with schooling fish, Napoleon wrasse and sharks, best when the current is gentle.

WallVisibility5 to 40 m

Vertical walls with sea fans and big sponges in very clear water, on the island that was one of the most fought-over nutmeg sources in the 17th century.

WallHard coral5 to 35 m

Some of the healthiest hard coral in Maluku, with turtles, reef sharks and schooling fish along the eastern walls.

Dusk diveMandarinfish2 to 10 m

A shallow dusk dive in the town harbour where mandarinfish come out to mate among the rubble at sunset.

MuckCritters3 to 25 m

Ambon Bay's best known muck site, where frogfish, rhinopias and ghost pipefish are common. Ambon is also where the psychedelic frogfish was first described in 2009.