I came to this part of Indonesia, near Komodo National Park, to get a scuba divemaster certification with instructors Sylvain (French) and Samira (Swiss), whom I met last year on a dive vacation. The park, a World Heritage Site consisting of islands and surrounding seas, is a spectacular dive area. Rich coral reefs and marine life thrive in strong currents surging through the narrow straights that connect the Pacific Ocean to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. In this post I’m going to share photographs of dive boat scenes from the last two months. Most mornings I’m up by 5:30 to get to the nearby harbor and help the daily divers onto the boat by 7:00. The days are long, as the trips from Labuan Bajo to the areas in the park where we dive take 1.5 to 2 hours. The days go by quickly, though, for the dive instructors and divemaster candidates, as there is a lot that goes on – setting up equipment, drawing dive maps for each of the three dives, dive briefings, getting in and out of dive suits and equipment, studying and doing training exercises, eating, and, of course, visiting.
Each dive site has its own characteristics, and the experience of diving each one is quite different every time you descend into it. Currents, temperature, visibility, and the marine life you see all vary every time you go down. A dive site can be exhilarating even if you’ve been there a dozen times before. Manta rays, sharks, moray eels, and beautiful large schools of fish all generate excitement, as do sightings of smaller things such as nudibranches and mantis shrimp. One particular dive at Batu Bolong featured dolphin and several small white-tipped sharks hunting for prey in the reef wall just feet away from us. The experience completely changed the way I felt about the site.
I didn’t anticipate how much I’d enjoy visiting with the daily divers who come from all over, and are frequently on extended trips of their own. These folks are often thinking expansively about their lives and life options, and it’s great to compare views and experiences. When the third dive of the day is done, by the middle of the afternoon, it’s time to rinse the dive equipment and head back to the harbor. That last stretch of the day is a time for continuing conversations, or quiet reflection, or just rest. The sun is usually setting behind us in the west by the time we get back, throwing warm light on the rounded peaks of the small islands, the returning boats, and the harbor.
Dive boats jostle to get away from the wharf early in the morning. Often the boats are tied two or three abreast overnight, which requires crossing another boat or two to get to yours in the morning.
The harbor’s biggest wharf hosts boats of all sizes in addition to the dive boats, including large ferries and freighters, as well as big wooden commercial boats like these.
The wooden working boats can be surprisingly large.
The Labuan Bajo dive boats can be colorful, and usually have upper decks for relaxing and sunning. They almost all have a distinctive regional shape – narrow, with a sharp rising prow.
An unusually glassy surface. Mangroves often fringe the edges of the islands in Komodo National Park.
Samira draws a map of a dive site name the Cauldron – strong currents can shoot divers through a channel between two islands, beginning or ending with a stretch call the Shotgun. In the middle of the channel is a large basin that can have wild currents – Sylvain likes to call such spots “washing machines”.
Sylvain gives a dive briefing for a site call Batu Bolong, named for the hole in the rock on one side of a pinnacle that is poking through the ocean surface (just above Sylvain’s head in the photo). The strong currents flowing around the pinnacle generate dangerous counter-currents and whirlpools, as well as up- and down-currents that can trap divers at great depths. You dive in a safe zone on the side of the pinnacle opposite where the main current is hitting. The safe zone shifts from one side to the other with the rising or falling tide.
The minutes before jumping into a dive are busy on the dive deck, with divers pulling on tight neoprene wetsuits, and strapping on BCDs (buoyancy control devices), tanks, fins, masks, and dive computers.
Lesley is a fellow divemaster candidate from Australia.
Splashing in for a descent. Either you inflate your BCD so you can organize yourselves on the surface before starting the dive, or you plunge through the surface and descend immediately with your group in order to get below surface currents and to the dive site as quickly as possible.
During the dive Dani the captain and a small power boat watch for signs of divers surfacing.
A happy Sylvain returning from a run through the Cauldron.
As the boat transits the channel above the Cauldron you can see the coral formations below the surface through crystal-clear water.
Both rounded peaks and dramatic cliffs are features of Komodo’s islands, which are volcanic in origin. This photo shows the tip of Gili Lawa Darat, on one side of the channel that forms the Cauldron dive site.
Antoine, a close friend of Sylvain’s from Bordeaux, a few days before the end of a long visit. He and another close friend of Sylvain’s, Simon, came for two weeks and became part of the scene, diving every day.
Narrow white beaches extend into sandy bottom areas and make for bright green and blue patches of ocean.
Tibo, Sylvain’s brother, who is also going through the divemaster training, reviews some scuba course theory with a French woman who is learning to dive.
Divers relaxing after a day of diving, with the boat headed back to Labuan Bajo’s harbor. The trip usually takes 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on which dive sites in Komodo National Park the boat is returning from.
A pensive Tibo on the boat trip home. He is headed to the Philippines after completing his divemaster training to stay near his sister for a while (she is a dive instructor). He is planning to continue his training to also become a dive instructor.
The captain, Danny, and one of the crew in the pilothouse on a day of strong winds. Every once in a while on such days the boat heels a little too far over for everyone’s comfort.
Two of the boat crew, at the end of the day, with the sun going down, waiting for the boat to get back to the harbor. Herman, who operates the small speed boat that is always on watch for divers surfacing at the end of a dive, is on the left.
Typical end of day scene, with a bright patch of sun on the water in the distance, behind a trailing dive boat.
