Sailing Across The Banda Sea

Nigel Marsh · Issue 136, Jan/Feb 2024 · pp. 50–54

Products mentioned: Cheng Ho liveaboard, Nikon D500, Nikkor 18-300mm lens, Tokina 10-17mm lens, Nikkor 60mm lens, Isotta Housing, Inon Z330 Strobe

The islands of the Banda Sea were once the most famous group of islands in the world. Known as the Spice Islands, this area was once the only known source of nutmeg, mace and cloves, and attracted traders and raiders from across Asia and Europe. Today these remote islands of Indonesia are better known among divers for their rich coral reefs that are overloaded with fishes and invertebrates, and at times, schools of hammerhead sharks. The Banda Sea is a wide body of water in the east of Indonesia, located between Raja Ampat and Sulawesi. There are a few shore-based dive operators in this area, mostly around Ambon with its great muck diving, but with the best dive sites well beyond Ambon the only way to explore this area is on a liveaboard vessel. Dozens of liveaboards ply this area, with most trips departing from Ambon. However, I recently joined a very different liveaboard trip on the Ch…