From Ambon to Misool, Raja Ampat
This Hammerhead Shark Diving voyage is our favorite cruise in Indonesia. This epic crossing is the best way for Konjo Cruising Indonesia to show you the stunning marine biodiversity of the country. Ambon offers some of the best muck diving in the world. Diving the Banda Sea in October gives you the best chance to spot schooling hammerheads. Ending the cruise in Raja Ampat is the best gift we can make to you. If the visibility is lower at this time of the year, Misool is often under steroids with silversides baitballs attracting numerous predators. Offer you the best hammerhead shark diving cruise in Indonesia.
DISCLAIMER: This Expedition has been made in 2022
In 2022, we completed this exciting expedition focused on Hammerhead sharks in the Banda Sea. If you’re interested in joining similar adventures, we have an upcoming Konjo Expeditions in 2025. This expeditions will also focus on encountering Hammerhead sharks in their natural habitat.
If you are looking for a cruise in the Banda sea for this 2024 season, we collaborate with a large panel of liveaboards in Indonesia. We can find the cruise that suits your availability and budget expectation. Please contact us
Optional Combined Tour | Dive Ambon
A muckdiving Mecca
With the Lembeh Strait in Sulawesi, Tulamben in Bali and Alor, Ambon’s Bay offers some of the best muck diving in Indonesia. Muck diving consists in diving on sandy slope, which are fertil ground for critters and ramping wired animals. In Laa, most of the dives are shallow shore dives.
What you get to see
Hairy frog fish, Pschychedilic frogfish, nudibranches, seahorses, ghost-pipe fish, scorpion fish, leaf and cockatoo wasp fish, flying Gurnard, seamoth, rhinopias, flamboyant cuttlefish, mimic octopus or blue ringed octopus can be seen.
Sign up for our Optionnal Combined Tour
The boat departs from Tulehu, on the eastern side of Ambon island. More than five hours of navigation would be needed to go all around the western peninsula and reach the worldclass muck dive site of Laha. For those who don’t want to miss this Muck diving experience, Konjo Cruising Indonesia organizes an optional 3 nights stay in a dive resort in Laha. The pickup will be organised to get to the boat on the 03th October. It takes an hour by car.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to get to Ambon, and leave from Sorong?
Departure: Tulehu Harbour | Airport: Ambon (AMQ) | Morning of the 30th September or the 03th October depending on the chosen option.
We highly recommand to land in Indonesia the day before you are planning to arrive in Ambon. There is direct flight to Ambon from Jakarta. Coming from Bali a transit in Makassar (UPG). The local Airlines deserving Ambon are LION AIR, CITILINK, BATIK AIR, GARUDA, NAM AIR, SRIWIJAYA. We can arrange all the domestic flights for you and help you to find the suited international flights.
Arrival: SorongHarbour | Airport: Sorong (SOQ) | On the 15th of October. Don’t forget to think about your 24 hours no flight recommandations before booking your flight back. We recommand you to spend a night in Sorong before.
Où se loger à Sorong?
We recommand you to stay in one of those hotel, as they are following the international standarts in terms of cleanliness and service. We can help you with your reservation and organize evrerything for you.
MAMBERAMO MARINA: The closest from any supermarket and restaurants. Provides a good bar and restaurant considering the city of Sorong.
SWISS BEL HOTEL : The more comfortable hotel in town. Close form the ferry terminal for Waisai, but far from any restaurant. Correct breackfast, but avoid the dining. An extra charge will be added for early bookings.
VEGA HOTEL. The closer from the airport, and the more recently built. The best thing is that you can checkin anytime withour extra charge.
KASUARI BEACH RESORT: The fursthest from Town, but good to avoid the hectic harbour of Sorong. Free shuttle can be organized from the airport.
Where to eat in Sorong?
We highly recommand the SUNSHINE BEACH RESTO for a sunset drink on their terrasse, and a followed diner. They are specialize in seafood and fish barbecue, but offer many vegetarian option too. Their Chap-Chay is delicious. Come a bit early if you want to avoid the cheezy and loudy local band, or late to blend in with the local color.
For a coffee and some good snaks before your flight, we do recommand the MISOOL FILLING STATION handle by the Misool Eco resort. Go upstairs to be comfortably seatted, and have a look to their sustainably-made souvenirs.
What is be the water temperature?
An average of 27 degree celsius in the Banda sea, a bit less in case of thermocline. An average of 28 degrees celsius in Misool. We recommand you a 3 mm full lenght websuit.
Which visibility can be expected?
Visibility can reach to 40 degrees in the Banda Sea. But at this time of the year, a 30 meters visibility can be expected. It can drop down with thermoclines bringing greenish and colder waters from the abyss. In Misool, visibility is lower at this moment of the year, with an average of 20 meters. But lot of action…
What diving level is expected?
This expedition is for experienced divers with at least 100 logged dives. Few dive sites can be challenging, and following schooling hammerheads may bring us between 30 and 40 meters. This cruise is not made for beginners, but neither for technical divers. We follow the recreationnal Hammerhead Shark Diving procedures. An Advanced diver certification is mandatory to sign up.
Is there Nitrox onboard?
Yes there is a NITROX membrane system onboard which allow us to stay longer at certain depth if you air consomption allows it. Enriched air is pushing back your decompresion limit, and is less tiring for your organism. Having a NITROX certification is mandatory for this cruise. We can certified you onboard if needed. Please let us know before the departure to arrange materials and logistics.
Why respecting the recreational diving rules?
Diving 3 times a day during 12 days is not the best for experimenting decompression dives. Also, the Banda Sea is an remote area, with the closest decompression chamber is in Waisai, Raja Ampat. We respect the recreationnal diving basic rules for having a safe and enjoyable journey.
