One evening, Franks partner, Rung, went ashore to see the Komodo National Park rangers about port clearance. The paperwork done with the harbormaster, she asked the rangers ‘What should I do if I see a dragon? ‘Run’, they replied. Four stairs down from the rest room, Rung was staring head-on at a Komodo dragon. She jumped onto a bench top, then a chair. As the dragon reached the chair, she jumped onto a tabletop. The dragon leapt from each to each, and Rung screamed as loud as she could … ‘HELP, HELP, HELP’. Two minutes later a man came out with a long forked stick, and held the dragon back. She had 500m to run - screaming ‘FRANK, FRANK, FRANK’ all the way. Frank thought she had been mauled, but Rung gasped she was only chased, like in the movie Aliens.

I first became interested in the Komodo Islands, granted UNESCO World Heritage Site Status in 1991, when I was diving in Indonesia’s Spice Islands. I asked a lady named Marlene, who had dived widely in Asia. ‘What is the best dive you have ever had’? She pondered briefly and said ‘Cannibal Rock. It’s the best dive on the planet!’ I quickly slotted it into my ‘must do – best places’ list.

We were now loading 16 adventurers onto the S/Y Philippine Siren, together with food, crew and most importantly – copious amounts of beer for ten days. ‘If you can drink all the beer I have on board in ten days, I’ll shout you a free trip’ says Frank. With two girls from Switzerland, a Belgian family, British family, two New Yorkers, a Bavarian and two guys from Tokyo and Philippines, we were in for good times.

LET’S DO THE CANNIBAL ROCK;

This ridge between Rinca Island and Nusa Kode Island in the southern Komodo’s, rises from 30m plus deep ocean waters to 3m of the surface, and it is only 100m from shore. The reef constantly swept by currents, is absolutely covered in crinoids, nudibranchs, tubastrea coral, anthias, grey frogfish, blue, mauve, yellow and orange anemones, sea apples, crocodile fish, and hundreds of juvenile yellow sea cucumbers.

Cannibal Rock is a macro photographer’s paradise, and you will want to keep going back for more. In any one patch there are starfish, sea cucumbers, anemones, sea fans and all the rare critters – pygmy seahorses, commensal shrimps, gobies, frogfish and amphipods. My advice is to do several dives here with the 60 mm macro lens – and perhaps some super-macro for the blue amphipods. I cannot help but rave about this super-rich dive. Yellow Wall near Cannibal Rock is also a magnificent dive, with a wall covered in yellow soft corals.

UNUSUAL SUSPECTS – MUCK DIVER’S PARADISE.

Bima Bay reminded me of that magical muck dive at Ambon dubbed the ‘Twilight Zone’. On the sandy slope of Bima Bay, there were gaudy fire urchins with Coleman shrimp and zebra crabs, cuttlefish, yellow seahorses, big flatheads, wolf eel, cockatoo waspfish and a sea moth. The rare and unusual critter list goes on, with yellow ornate ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, pipefish, spider crabs, transparent shrimps with white spots, and Ambon scorpionfish. In one small area there is an orange frogfish, black frogfish and spotted moray eel. John Tucker from Tokyo and I, wrote up a quick critter list - over 21 rare and unusual critters in a single dive - a muck diver’s paradise!

SANGEANG VOLCANO – HOT WATER VENTS.

Do you remember the scene from the Hollywood movie King Kong, where the expedition ship first sights the island where Kong Kong lives - Sangeang Island fits the bill perfectly with black lava flows and jungle sides. There are three sizzling dive sites named Tecno Reef, The Estuary and Hot Rock, at this active volcano.


At Tecno Reef, hot water and bubbles trickle from vents on a black sand slope and the coral bommies are home to white leaf fish, gobies, bubble coral shrimps, panda clownfish, and four yellow ghost pipefish living on black coral. The Estuary produced ornate ghost pipefish, xeno crabs, blade shrimp, yellow pipefish on black coral, juvenile ‘warty frogfish’, yellow leaf fish, painted frogfish – yellow/red in colour, and pygmy seahorse.

PINK BEACH & THE MANTAS;

Pink Beach is at Pantai Merah near the Komodo National Park. It is one of the best dives for wide-angle photography, with bommies at 25m covered in crinoids and reef fish. Helmet gurnards spread their lovely pectoral fins over the sand, making for great photography.

The Alley’ on the south tip of Komodo Island is famous for manta rays which regularly visit the cleaning station. At first you will see one, then two, three, four - something fantastic! The best moment was when we had had four manta rays approaching – in two pairs. Bring your wide-angle kit for this adrenaline pumping dive.

The space onboard is very functional and this makes being on the yacht a real pleasure. There is a circular open-air dining room at the stern, which is the most used part of the yacht – for eating, drinking and socializing. There is a very spacious lounge area with a lounge suite and a 47-inch flat screen for viewing videos and digital camera images. Digital photographers can upload their pics in their rooms and send them to the main server connected to the 47-inch flat screen in the saloon.

There are camera benches on the front deck, and a camera bench in the saloon with lights overhead. There are strobe charging points in the saloon and several in every room. There are 16 bunks in 8 rooms, and 14 crew including two PADI dive instructors.

The instructors provide enriched air NITROX “free” to all certified NITROX divers. If you are not certified yet, you can do this, and other PADI courses on board. There are two fast RIB’s for diving, and there is waterskiing and kayaking.

The food – sometimes Thai, is superb. Most dinners are self serve – bistro style, with up to six different dishes, and desert. All beer and soft drinks are free of extra charge, but if you drink alcohol, it is no more diving for that day.

The yacht not under sale, it is powered by a 600hp Nissan motor, although Frank loves getting the sails. There is a great sense of excitement when the crew hoists the sails. The agility, with which the crew scale the masts and pull the sails out, must be seen to be believed. It was a grand time sailing among the Komodo Islands, on the home run to Bima. Sangeang Is Volcano reminded me of the awesome volcanoes of the Galapagos.

BEST TIME TO DIVE;
October to May – but seas can be rough from January to March.

HOW TO GET THERE;
Fly with any airline to Bali, then Bima with say Merpati Airlines. Worldwide Dive and Sail can book your internal flights.

HOT TIPS;
Check your airline’s excess baggage rules, as you can get stung quite badly with excess baggage charges. The water can be cool (18 – 22 degrees) in southern Komodo, so take a 5mm wetsuit.

WHERE TO STAY;
If stopping over in Bali for a few days, there are a myriad of hotels, ranging from Au$20/ night to Au$200/ night.
About AU$40 will find you a clean room.

HEALTH & SAFETY;
Use malaria medication. Dengue Fever is common in Bali. Check with your GP re’ tropical diseases.