Join the adventure
Join the Adventure
Banda Sea Indonesia Liveaboard 2029
The Banda Sea is the kind of place divers dream about. Accessible only by liveaboard, this remote corner of Indonesia delivers the perfect blend of world-class diving, raw adventure, and true exploration. Join Dive Army as we sail through the legendary Banda Islands and remote volcanic outposts of Serua, Nil Desperandum, and Manuk in search of schooling hammerheads, manta rays, reef sharks, massive schools of fish, and incredible macro life. From breathtaking walls and pristine coral reefs to rich history and unforgettable wildlife encounters, every dive feels like discovering a hidden frontier. If you're looking for an expedition that combines adrenaline, exploration, and some of the best diving on the planet, the Banda Sea belongs at the top of your list.
Experience 8 days and 7 nights of diving one of the most spectacular and sought after dive locations in the world.
October 11-18, 2029
Double Occupancy
Classic Twin Cabin- $4200
Premium Twin Suite-$4550
Superior Double Suite (with balcony)-$4690
Included:
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Transfer between the domestic airport and harbour on embarkation and disembarkation days
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Full board accommodation (based on double occupancy)
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Tea, coffee, fruit juice & soft drinks
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Up to 4 dives daily
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11 litre (80 cuft) cylinder with air fills
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Weights, weight belt and SMB
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Flights
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Additional transfers
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Marine Park and Port Fees : $200*
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Fuel Surcharge $150*
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Equipment rental
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Nitrox fill $100
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AL100 cylinder $30
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Beer, cocktails, wine & spirits
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On board merchandise
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Crew and dive guide gratuities
*All surcharges, including marine, park and port fees, are subject to change at any time, and without notice.
The applicable marine park fees for your itinerary will be added to your onboard extras to be paid on the boat before disembarkation.
Payment Plan:
$500 deposit
10% a month starting 1 August 2028 until 1 May 2029 upon which time balance will be due
OR
1 Aug 2028- 25%
1 Nov 2028- 25%
1 Feb 2029- 25%
1 May 2029- 25% or balance will be due.
Accepted payments: credit card, check, venmo, cash app, cash, paypal (service fees may apply)
Ready to join the expedition?
Click "Reserve Your Spot" to complete our guest registration form. Once submitted, a Dive Army team member will contact you to answer any questions and provide your trip invoice and payment details.
Diver Requirements
Minimum Certification: Advanced Open Water
Minimum Experience: 50 logged dives
Recommended: Nitrox certification and experience diving in moderate to strong currents.
Diving Schedule
Number of Scheduled Dives: Up to 21 dives over 7 nights including reef, wall, seamount, sunset, and night dives (conditions permitting).
Day 1 – Embarkation (Ambon)
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Boarding begins at 1:00 PM from Laha Jetty
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Welcome, safety, and vessel briefings
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Set up dive equipment and settle into your cabin
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Afternoon check dive
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Dinner onboard and overnight cruise to Suanggi
Day 2 – Pulau Suanggi
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Up to 4 dives, including a sunset or night dive when conditions permit
Days 3–5 – Manuk, Serua & Banda Islands
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Up to 4 dives per day exploring pristine reefs, walls, and seamounts
Day 6 – Nusa Laut & Ambon
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Up to 4 dives
Day 7 – Ambon
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Up to 2 morning dives
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Afternoon cruise back to harbor and final evening onboard
Please allow a minimum of 24 hours between your final dive and your departing flight.
Day 8 – Disembarkation
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Breakfast onboard
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Disembarkation and transfers between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM
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Transfer to Ambon Airport or your hotel
Water Temperature & Exposure Protection
Water temperatures in the Banda Sea typically range from 79–84°F (26–29°C). Most divers are comfortable in a 3mm wetsuit, while some prefer a rashguard or hooded vest. Divers who tend to get cold during multiple dives may wish to bring a 5mm wetsuit or additional thermal protection.
This itinerary involves some long-distance travel and, while we endeavour to ensure the number of scheduled dives is fulfilled, weather and sea conditions can affect the boat's ability to reach a specific dive site in good time and may impact the number of dives possible.
Dive Sites
The Banda Islands
The Banda Islands The Banda group of islands, sometimes referred to as the Spice Islands, boasts fantastic diving with visibility usually ranging from 40-50 metres. On land, from the top of Fort Belgica built by the Dutch in 1611 and located in the historical town of Banda Neira, enjoy the view of Gunung Api, a 640-metre-high active volcano. Clove, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon for which the islands originally became known, are still the main spices grown here. Dive sites in the Banda Islands drop down thousands of metres, offering spectacular walls and stunning reef tops. A sunset dive at the pier in front of an old colonial hotel, which is only 5 metres deep, provides the opportunity to observe mandarin fish mating. Currents can be strong around these small islands so the dive sites will be chosen based on the best daily conditions from the following options:
Batu Kapal
Named for its boat-like shape, this island is an exhilarating dive where curtains of red-tooth triggerfish, pyramid butterflyfish, fusiliers and surgeonfish merge into a multicolour fish soup. The submerged walls of Batu Kapal are decorated with vibrant yellow soft corals and, on the rocky and sandy bottom, you can often spot large groups of long-nose emperor fish hunting alongside bluefin trevallies and opportunistic Napoleon wrasses. Grey reef sharks patrol the surrounding blue while blackfin barracudas hover above the reef.
Pulau Suanggi
Suanggi, also known as Pulau Manukan, is a small uninhabited island about 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) northwest of Banda Neira, the capital of the Banda Islands. This tiny island, surrounded by open ocean, has an incredibly rich micro-ecosystem with pristine reefs brimming with copious numbers and varieties of fish. Schools of rainbow runners, red-tooth triggerfish, bannerfish and fusiliers are just some of the inhabitants crowding this oceanic oasis. Napoleon wrasse, green & hawksbill turtles, tuna and huge schools of barracuda are also resident but, the biggest attraction is the schools of endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) that frequent the area during their migratory period from late September to early November each year.
Banda Jetty
Famed for the mandarin fish that can be observed at sunset, which can be seen just by looking from the jetty. In many places, these fishes are elusive, small and shy; Here, it’s the opposite. When they have done with their mating rituals, a wide array of critters await discovery on the black sand, including colourful nudibranchs, octopus, cockatoo waspfish and frogfish.
Goa Hatta, a.k.a. 'Hole in the Wall'
Along the Northern shoreline of Hatta Island, a 5-metre wide sinkhole has created an opening on top of the reef which extends down roughly 4 metres through the reef forming a stunning archway where it exits on the seaward wall. This photogenic swim-through is densely covered with vibrant Gorgonian fans; around the exit, the eagle-eyed can find orangutan crabs living their symbiotic lives inside bubble corals. The wall, which reaches depths well beyond recreational limits, is adorned with massive barrel sponges, giant sea fans, leather corals and Tubastrea with the shallow reef top being a sensory delight of fish activity and colors.
Pulau Manuk
This tiny volcanic island offers stunning underwater topography blanketed with an amazing amount of soft and hard coral. This remote active volcano in the middle of the Banda Sea, 55 nautical miles (102 km) south of the Banda Islands, is famed for being home to multitudinous Chinese sea snakes and banded sea kraits. The island is surrounded by black sandy slopes with hard coral reefs and volcanic ridges covered in gorgonians with a bevy of fusiliers and pelagic fish such as Spanish mackerels and dogtooth tuna passing by. Hammerheads, mobula rays and eagle rays are often seen around this beautiful location too.
Nusa Laut
Famous for its dugong population, Nusa Laut epitomises the benefits of proactive community conservation. Protected by the local villagers following customary laws known as Sasi, the reefs are pristine and teeming with biodiversity. The island boasts stunning seascapes comprising multifarious hard corals and sponges the size of which will make your jaw drop. Diving along the walls or sloping reef you will surely encounter a huge variety of reef fish with white-tip and grey-tip reef sharks often seen patrolling the blue in the deeper areas. The sandy areas within the lagoon on the island's east side are perfect locations to find resting leopard sharks and stingrays.
Pohon Miring
Stunningly covered with colourful soft corals and gorgonian fans, a swim-through will take you through a sheer wall covered in Leather corals. Numerous big Napoleon wrasses inhabit the reef and dogtooth tuna patrol the blue waters.
Lava Flow
In 1998 the volcano on Naira Island erupted and the lava flow destroyed the jungle and reefs in its wake. While only a few trees have grown on the basaltic rock, underwater it’s a different story; from 3 metres to 40 metres, an extensive hard coral garden completely blankets the solidified lava flow hosting millions of colourful reef fish.
Nil Desperandum & Serua
Upwelling and currents around these islands bring nutrient-rich waters and with them an abundance of marine life. Serua Island is considered one of the most exemplary locations in the Banda Sea to encounter schooling hammerhead sharks although, being migratory and elusive creatures, sightings are not guaranteed. We also see many larger fish species in these little visited waters; Tunas, Napoleon wrasse and groupers are among the most common sightings with schools of Pinjalo snappers, Big-eye trevallies, surgeonfish, bannerfish and barracuda giving divers a spectacular display.
Twilight Zone
This renowned muck diving spot Laha Harbour is great to explore at night or during the day. Amongst the detritus, countless species of nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs and bottom-dwelling fish wait to be discovered, including the endemic psychedelic frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica). Other delights you may encounter include flamboyant cuttlefish, ornate ghost pipefish, Donald Duck shrimps, tiger shrimps and starry octopuses.
SS Duke of Sparta
The SS Duke of Sparta was a huge cargo ship built in West Hartlepool, England in 1940. In 1951 she was sold to the Italian Grimaldi Brothers and renamed SS Aquilo. In May 1958, while anchored near Ambon City, she was bombed by an unmarked Douglas B-26 Invader aircraft during a clandestine CIA operation conducted as part of the US initiative to quash perceived communist threats in Indonesia. The Aquilo eventually sank one month later, coming to rest almost completely intact on the seabed with her stern approximately 13 metres below the surface and her bow at 35-40 metres. She remains in great condition with her deck and masts covered with colourful soft corals and sponges. Across and around the whole wreck there is plenty of fish life, and her cargo holds offer some easy penetration possibilities.
Karang Hatta
Just South of Hatta Island, this is a spectacular submerged reef with steep slopes surrounded by deep waters. Also known as Sekaru, meaning shallow area, an extensive 500-metre-wide hard coral plateau slopes gradually to around 40 metres transitioning to a breathtaking drop-off to the abyssal depths. Southerly currents on the southeastern side attract a kaleidoscope of fish, so dense that it is often difficult to see through and past them to observe the pelagic action in the surrounding blue. Masses of red-tooth triggerfish alongside pyramid butterflyfish, white-margin surgeonfish, yellow snappers, blue, yellow and neon fusiliers and many more populate this long reef in vast numbers. In the blue, you may be lucky enough to spot dogtooth tuna, great barracudas, eagle rays, or even a mobula ray or scalloped hammerhead shark during your dive. Keep your fingers crossed, and your eyes wide open as you splash into this wonderful dive site.
Hukurila
Located in the Hukurila Coast region on the eastern side of Ambon Island, this underwater cave is a treasure trove of aquatic delights. Featuring a chimney, several canyons and caverns and other interesting geographical formations, marine life includes colourful corals, sponges, giant gorgonians and plenty of critters waiting to be discovered in their hidey-holes.
Disclaimer: This information below is only a general indication of the areas that we usually visit and some of the possible dive sites.
The Yacht
Embarkation: Laha Harbour, Ambon at 13:00
Disembarkation: Laha Harbour, Ambon at 10:00
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Vessel Type: Sail/Motor
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Year built: 2022
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Length : 47m
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Width: 8m
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Capacity :18
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Hull: Ironwood
Built in 2022, the 47m Indo Master liveaboard was built on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and is handcrafted from ironwood and teak (traditional to the area). You will find no other diving liveaboard as beautiful in Indonesian waters, and, being built by divers for divers, you can rest assured that every need has been thought of and catered for.
Welcoming a maximum of 18 guests per cruise ensures that there is ample space to relax. The 9 guest cabins consist of 4 fixed doubles, 4 fixed twins and 1 family suite (2 double beds), all with air-conditioning and private ensuite bathrooms with hot water. The beds are North European sizes, meaning they are significantly larger than many other liveaboards, and are fitted with premium bedding to add to their comfiness.
Flights & Arrival
We recommend booking international flights through Jakarta (CGK) and arriving in Ambon at least one day before embarkation. Domestic flight delays and schedule changes are common in Indonesia, so allowing extra travel time helps ensure a smooth connection to the liveaboard.
Please note that the vessel cannot delay departure for late arrivals. Guests arriving on embarkation day should schedule flights landing in Ambon before 12:00 PM.
Transfers
Complimentary shared transfers between Ambon Airport, select local hotels, and the vessel are included on embarkation and disembarkation days. The transfer between the airport and harbor takes approximately 10 minutes.
We strongly recommend arriving in Ambon at least one day before embarkation and booking a local hotel for the night. Detailed transfer instructions and pickup times will be provided prior to departure.
Visa & Travel Requirements
Passport: Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your arrival date in Indonesia.
Visa: Most travelers can obtain a 30-day Visa on Arrival (VOA) for approximately $35 USD. We recommend applying for an e-VOA online before departure for a smoother arrival experience.
Arrival Registration: All international visitors must complete Indonesia's digital arrival registration before entering the country and present the resulting QR code upon arrival.
Bali Tourism Levy: Travelers arriving through Bali are required to pay a one-time tourism levy of approximately $10 USD. Pre-payment is recommended to expedite arrival.
Complete visa, arrival, and entry instructions will be provided to all registered guests prior to departure.
Health & Medical Requirements
All guests are responsible for ensuring they meet the health and entry requirements for travel to Indonesia and are medically fit to dive. A diver medical questionnaire will be required prior to departure, and some guests may need physician clearance before participating in diving activities.
We recommend that travelers consult their physician or local travel clinic regarding recommended vaccinations, travel health precautions, and the latest entry requirements for Indonesia.
Dive accident insurance is required and trip insurance is strongly recommended.
The Banda Sea is accessible only a few months each year, and spaces are limited. Reserve your spot today and join us for an expedition you'll never forget.
Forms and Info
Detailed Itinerary
Indonesia Master On Board Extras
Know Before You Go
Medical Form
Master Liveaboards Liability Release