The Dive Company
When I asked a Co-owner of Kararu Dive Voyages about the company, the answer was straightforward.
"We want to take divers to the undiscovered frontiers of Indonesia, the epicenter of marine biodiversity. We provide a first class experience. It is less expensive to provide service than to pay refunds. There is no problem we can't solve if we know about it. And, we are concerned about helping to preserve the marine environment while providing fishermen a sustainable living."
If you only have one Pacific trip in your budget, consider this one. Bali is a wonderful Island for a few days of land touring and shopping before and after the dive trip. Kararu's boats are truly first class live aboards with great food and accommodations.
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Bali |
Travelers from the US can get to Bali from either coast.
The best route is Singapore Air into Singapore and on to Bali.
A stopover in Singapore eases some of the jetlag.
Plan on a few days in Bali for touring and diving.
Bali is a safe and inexpensive Indonesian destination.
It is an island of two lane roads that carry at least three lanes of traffic - mostly minivans and motorbikes,
all loaded to capacity. However, unlike other places where you are taking your life in your hands
to enter a cab, the Bali drivers seemed to lookout for each other. A full day tour including
lunch and gas is available for less than $50.
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Bali's mountains rise directly from the shore as well as inland.
Photo opportunities exist everywhere. There are exotic statues at
many major intersections and every town entrance. Don't hesitate to ask
the driver to stop so you can take pictures. There may not be an
immediate wide spot, but you can always hike back.
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Shops are available all along the road. The smallest occur on
more remote stretches and sometimes are no more than a plank with
some drinks and a small brazier for cooking.
Bali is a hand labor society. Doors are carved with hand tools and
a hammer. Rice is farmed by human labor with the assistance of an
occasional ox team. In addition to rice, coconuts, betel and vegetables are grown in abundance.
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Komodo - Visiting the Dragons
The opportunity to stop at Komodo National Park was
a major influence in my decision to sign up for the trip. The park became a World
Heritage site in 1980 and is the only home to the famous Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis.
The dragons are monitor lizards which reach more than nine feet and over 155 pounds.
Their primary food source is deer and pigs which live on the island but there are widely retold
stories of them eating villagers and stranded seamen.
We saw two retired dragons in the park. The rangers said that it was mating season and the
mature dragons were in the bush. I was disappointed but was happy photographing wild pigs,
deer and birds. The boat captain said, "Don't worry. I know a beach where dragons can be seen most mornings."
The next morning I was put ashore by the dive boat, alone, with my camera gear and a bag of garbage - dragon bait.
The boat would come back for me in an hour or so. The beach was about 100 feet wide and 1000 feet long with a hill on one end.
I spread the garbage and climbed the hill to a rock with a view of the beach.
No dragon on the beach. I waited. I hear a noise above me on the hill.
A large dragon is watching me. After a minute of mutual staring,
I blinked and the dragon went down to investigate the food. I got some
great shots but the dragon wasn't interested in the garbage; it was all fruit and vegetable waste. Dragons are carnivores.
The dragon crosses the beach, beside my tracks,
and disappears in the brush below my rock. I hear noise below me and immediately begin pitching loose rocks down the hill.
The noise stops.
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Five minutes later I see the dragon
climbing the hill a few yards from me. It gets slightly higher and lies down.
Then it crosses above me and lies down, and then it crosses in the other direction
and lies down. Each cross is bringing it down the hill and closer to me.
This is exactly what I do when stalking photo prey.
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I decide it is time to get back on the beach and wait for the boat, but there is no boat in sight.
In a few minutes the dragon shows up along the edge of the beach.
I walk down the beach and the dragon parallels me. When it gets a
few steps in front I turn and walk the other way, the dragon turns and
comes down the beach a few steps and then parallels me. We repeat this
process a few times and I remember the stories about what great swimmers
they are. The dragon is getting closer and I pick up a long but flimsy bamboo pole from the beach.
The boat arrives. Maybe the dragon wasn't interested in eating me. And, I got the photos.
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Diving Bali to Komodo
This is a trip where you can't make enough dives. The marine biodiversity is outrageous!
Whatever this phrase brings to mind, I assure you that the underwater life will exceed your imagination.
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Greater Blue-ringed Octopus Hapalochlaena lunulata This Blue Ring species, with a 2 inch body and 3 inch arms,
is thought to be poisonous but no fatalities have actually been attributed to this species.
It lives in the coral and forages for food. It prefers camouflage and usually does not show the blue rings.
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In reviewing my log book some of the entries are; " "five leaf scorpions on one coral head and a frogfish," "pompom crab,"
"blue ring octopus, ornate ghost pipefish, pair of tame cuttlefish," "shot 70 shots on a pair of crabeye gobies."
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Pom Pom crab Lybia tessellate This boxer crab is about one inch.
They are sand dwellers and when disturbed will take a boxing stance, lift their claws and wave them about.
To add size or threat they have a small white anemone in each claw. The Anemone probably gets to share the food which the crab catches.
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On one dive off Rinca Island
I logged a torpedo ray, cuttlefish, ghost pipefish, several lionfish, humpback scorpion and several nudibranchs.
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The Yellow-Orange Pygmy Seahorse Hippocampus denise (right) is about ½ inch long.
Only recently discovered, it lives on seafans and usually has the same coloration.
Pygmy Seahorses are so small that they went unnoticed for years. However in the last few
years more color variations and some new species are being discovered as dive guides and divers know where to look.
They are shy when you point a camera at them from a few inches away. They swing on their tail to the back side of the seafan.
In the photo you can see my fingertip when I reached around the fan to herd the seahorse back to the camera.
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The Napoleon Snake Eel Ophichthus bonaparti (below) is most frequently seen buried in the sand with only the head showing.
There may be more than 24 inches of body under the sand. They may come out at night to hunt.
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Dive guides in Indonesia are essential for getting shots of these exotics. They know the dive sites and the locations of the special fish and critters. If you are a diver/photographer who likes to do your own thing resist the temptation and follow the dive guide instead.
Diving was done from two tenders. There were usually five possible dives with food before and after each. Tender rides were 5-10 minutes. The food was as good as the diving. In between meals there were dive snacks. Fresh food is flown in during the trip to provide fresh salad each night. The trip visited eight islands and three different named seas.
Check the website for availability: kararu.com . The word kararu by the way, is Indonesian for Sperm Whale.
To see more photographs from this trip, take a look at the Pacific Exotic & Fish That Don't Swim in my Albums.
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