Scubaspa Zen is one of the newest luxury liveaboards in Indonesia and this is my review of the boat.

This boat is specially designed to thrill enthusiastic divers but non-divers with its spa and non-motorized water sports offering.

I cruised on the new Scubaspa Zen liveaboard in Indonesia for what is maybe the best diving trip in Indonesia in October/November. We started our 10-day cruise in Ambon, one of the best destinations for macro lovers. We then went to the Banda Sea, looking for hammerhead, and finished with the incredible reefs of Misool.

It is part of the award-winning Scubaspa fleet from the Maldives, renowned for its luxurious vessels. I did two cruises on the Scubaspa Ying in the Maldives. I really enjoyed them, which made me want to try Scubaspa’s newest boat in Indonesia. You can read my review of the Scubaspa Ying trip to the central Maldives here and my review of the trip to the Northern atolls here. Read on for my review of their newest Indonesian boat.

Review of the Scubaspa Zen Indonesia boat

This Scubaspa Zen is a wooden boat. It is 53 meters in length and can accommodate up to 20 guests in its 9 luxurious cabins.

Review of the main deck on the Scubaspa Zen

On the main deck, you will find the restaurant, the bar, and the camera charging station.

The bar has a cute round shape and was very well stocked.

The dining room is open on both sides, allowing the ocean breeze to come in. It was a nice place to be while cruising. There is a buffet area where the food is presented. Tables can be organised as you wish. So, whether you want to eat with your partner or family or eat at a large table to meet other passengers, the choice is yours.

The camera charging station has anti-grip mats and plenty of charging plugs and USB plugs. As it is semi-outdoors and without air-conditioning, it allows you to avoid condensation forming on your camera when you go diving.

Review of the top deck on the Scubaspa Zen

The top deck of the Scubaspa Zen liveaboard has some facilities, such as a sun deck area, the spa, and the captain’s bridge.

When you are on this boat, you should always remember to enjoy the top deck of the Scubaspa Zen, especially during navigation. We saw so many dolphins and whales while cruising the Banda Sea and the Seram sea.

The sundeck had a shaded area, so you could choose whether to lounge in the sun or the shade.

Tip: Indonesia is near the equator, and the sun can be fierce, so make sure to use sunscreen if you stay in the sun.

The sundeck is also perfect for sunset cocktails and outdoor dining under the stars.

Tip: If the sky is clear, check out the top deck at night while the boat navigates away from civilisation. The stars will appear much bigger and be enthralling.

The spa cabin has two professional therapists If you want exclusive Thai massages and some other interesting treatments, you can visit their secluded deck. The cabin is separated into two areas by a curtain, so if you want full privacy during your treatment, you should book it with another person. The view from the spa cabin was spectacular, overlooking the ocean.

Review of the Cabins on the Scubaspa Zen

Review of the Manta suite

Scubaspa Zen has 9 different cabins and suites. All these rooms are divided into four different categories. The most luxurious room is the 60 square meter owner’s Manta Suite. This suite room is located in the stern of the main deck. This suite has its own private overwater lounge that offers a spectacular living room and also panoramic ocean views. This suite will offer the best privacy and experience for all guests.

Tip: If you want to stay in this cabin, book it early, as it is one of the most often booked cabins.

Review of the “standard cabin” Sea Star suite

The Scubaspa Zen Boat also has 6 Sea Star suites available on the lower deck. This is the cheapest cabin category onboard, and I stayed in the Sea Star suite number 2. Despite being the cheapest room category onboard, these suites are about 16 square meters, so they are relatively spacious compared to many Indonesian wooden boats. The room can be set up with two twin beds or a double bed.

The cabin is made from the best materials, such as exotic wood. You will also enjoy the handmade decorations from Bali.
Besides the large, comfortable bed, there was a small sofa and a writing desk.I have rarely seen a cabin with so much storage space. There is a large wardrobe and plenty of cupboards under the bed, sofa and in the bathroom. A safety box has been placed inside the writing desk. Bathrobes that you can use to go diving or to the spa are also placed in the wardrobe.
My cabin had two portholes. They could not be opened but provided natural light in the room. Lighting has been designed with care, with multiple options and a dimmer to adjust the mood of the room as you see fit. There are also multiple charging points throughout the room, which include international adaptors.

There is an individual AC unit in the room that kept the room at the perfect temperature during the whole trip.

The only thing missing, in my opinion, is hooks to hang stuff in the cabin.
Cabin number 2 was the closest to the boat’s engine room, so I was a bit worried. However, it was not a problem. The boat is well soundproofed, and I could hardly hear the motor, even during the night we spent navigating.

Review of the bathroom

Every cabin has its own bathroom with a shower. The water pressure and water temperature were very good during the whole trip.
The bathroom is equipped with an electric marine toilet.

Tip: Do not throw any paper in the marine toilet, or you risk blocking the system.

You will enjoy the beauty of handmade decorations from Bali. The bathroom is decorated with beautiful, fossilized wood, marble, and also onyx.

In terms of amenities, the bathroom is equipped with shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. I liked the lemongrass smell of the shower gel.

Review of the Food on the Scubaspa Zen liveaboard

You will not go hungry while on the Scubaspa liveaboard. Food is served five times a day!
It would start with a small breakfast around 5.30 or 6 am before the first dive. The small breakfast was typically bread, cakes, fruits, and cereals. For coffee aficionados, it was also their chance to get their caffeine before the dive. The Scubaspa Zen has a fancy coffee machine, and all kinds of coffee were on offer. Tea and coffee during breakfast were included but would be chargeable after that.

The “big” breakfast was a full-cooked affair. Bread and croissants would often still be warm from the oven. Four or five different dishes would be offered and varied every day-from bacon and sausages to waffles, avocado toasts, donuts, or Indonesian fried rice; there was something for everyone. They did a splendid job for breakfast.
I enjoyed the selection of cold cuts, cheeses, and smoked salmon. The fruit platter was attractive, and we got to sample some delicious tropical fruits.

Lunch and dinner were usually served buffet style. The cuisine represented every culinary region of the world with an emphasis on fresh fish. The cook always included a soup, a salad, a dessert, and four to five warm dishes. They would often be a meat dish, like beef wellington and fresh fish. Some of the curry sauces were very tasty.

One night, we had pizza and pasta, while another night was a barbecue on the top deck with burgers and grilled fish. A few vegetable dishes were also offered at each meal to satisfy vegetarian passengers. They were also very accommodating of my dietary restrictions.

Tea and coffees are free of charge during breakfast but chargeable after that. The bar was always fully staffed and offered a wide range of drinks-from craft beers to wine or fancy cocktails.
Both non-alcoholic drinks and alcoholic drinks were chargeable.
There is a filtered water tap near the bar where you can refill the water bottle provided. This is a great way to avoid putting more plastic into the ocean.

Overview of the service on the Scubaspa Zen liveaboard.

The service on the Scubaspa Zen is friendly and casual. With 21 crewmembers, you will be well-taken care of. In addition to the traditional boat mechanic and hospitality crew, the team also has two full-time spa therapists.
Dom was the cruise director. He is from England and was always attentive to passengers’ needs. He has years of experience working on liveaboards in Indonesia, and his passion for diving is contagious. He is super friendly, and his positive energy was also felt through the crew. While most of the crew is relatively new, they seemed genuinely happy to work together on the Scubaspa Zen.

Dom is also a passionate gardener and grew exotic plants through the boat. Do pay attention to the cactus and succulents on the dining table. Some were extra pretty.

Review of the dive organization on the Scubaspa Zen liveaboard

There are three safety life rafts on the boats. Every cabin has a fire extinguisher.
They have a defibrillator on board, and they have oxygen tanks. Despite having a spa and offering various cruising experiences, the Scubaspa Zen is very much a diving boat and will satisfy even the most advanced divers.

The comfort of diving with a Dhoni

The Scubaspa Zen boat offers the first concept in Indonesia of diving with a second boat. If you have dived in the Maldives before, you are familiar with the concept of a Dhoni, a full-fledged, independent diving boat that follows the main boat. This separate 21-meter boat accompanies the main ship on its travels. It offers a comfortable diving experience. Instead of gearing up on the main boat and then jumping on a tender boat to go diving, we would simply walk onto the Dhoni before every dive. All the dive gear stays on the Dhoni boat, and we would gear up on the way to the dive site, saving us 10 to 15 minutes for every dive. (Which adds up if you do three dives a day)

Tip: The wooden floor can be slippery when wet, so move slowly if it rains.

After the dive, on the way back to the main boat, we would remove our wetsuits, get a fresh towel, cold water and fresh fruits while still on the Dhoni. It even has a bathroom. The Dhoni has a shaded area downstairs and a sundeck with beanbags on the top. It is more comfortable than a tender, and you don’t have to worry about forgetting any of your dive equipment as everything stays on the Dhoni.

Five-star service diving

In addition to offering the most comfortable diving experience with its Dhoni, the Scubaspa Zen crew was attentive and helpful.
They would check the Nitrox level for us, assemble our BCDs and assist us in putting on our wetsuits and gear. They would often pass glasses of water or fresh fruits along during the short trips to the dive site.
Once back to the main boat, we would be greeted by another drink. It was either tea or fruit juice.

Consistent Nitrox and rental equipment

The Scubaspa Zen is equipped with Nitrox, which is available for a small extra fee.
They use a membrane, and tanks were filled consistently at 31 percent Nitrox.

Should you use Nitrox or Air during a hammerhead trip to Banda Island?
It is a question of preference and diving style. Given the depth of the dives, some people prefer to use Air, so they can go to 40 or 50 meters if necessary.
I preferred using Nitrox as it gave me more no-deco bottom time. With nitrox 31, I had a maximum authorized depth of 36 meters which seemed sufficient for all the dives we did.

Tip: On a Banda cruise, dives are typically deep as we are looking for hammerhead, so Nitrox is useful to maximize your bottom time. But do watch your depth. If you don’t have your Nitrox certification, it is possible to do it onboard for an extra fee.

Flexible diving time

The Scubaspa Zen normally organized three dives a day. Two-night dives were offered during the trip.
Diving time was typically 6 am, 10.30 am, and 14.30 pm. The early start often allowed us to be first in the water and have popular dive sites to ourselves. This makes a huge difference if you try and see big pelagic like hammerheads and mantas. They adjusted the schedule based on the best conditions for safety and for diving.

We have all been on boats where dive time is limited to 45 or 50 minutes. It is not the case here. Maximum dive duration was quite flexible, and most of our dives ranged from 60 to 70 minutes 🙂

Tip: The water is generally warm in the Banda sea and Misool in October/November, with the temperature around 27-29 C (or 84 degrees Fahrenheit), so a 3-millimetre wetsuit will be enough for most people. During our trip, we recorded 30 degrees at most dive sites. It is very comfortable to dive, but it is also very worrying for the coral, and we witnessed many corals starting to bleach.

Experienced dive guides

Most divers during my trip were very experienced; many were instructor-level diving professionals.
We had two dive masters for six divers, so each dive group had a very reasonable size of three people.
Our dive guide, Jack, had a good eye for finding small critters but also spotting hammerheads before anyone else. He was attentive during the dives and was a pleasure to dive with. He has dived in Komodo, Raja Ampat, and Banda for years.

Review of the Spa on the Scubaspa liveaboard

What makes Scubaspa Indonesia unique is that it is one of the only boats cruising the Indonesian water with an onboard spa.
It is, therefore, the perfect boat for families or groups of friends where only some are diving. Or even for divers like me, who also like to relax and restore between dives.
The spa room occupies the top deck. It is simple but offers an undisturbed view of the sea. There is something special about having a massage while the boat is cruising. I think the waves add to the general relaxation.

If you chose the Scuba and Spa package, four treatments are included. For non-divers, the spa package includes 9 dives over a 7-day cruise. If you chose the full diving package, you could still use the spa for a fee. Treatments ranged from 60 to ~150 USD, and I highly recommend them! You will feel refreshed and rejuvenated. You can see the spa menu below.

Review of the Internet and phone signal on the cruise from Ambon to Raja Ampat via Banda

The Scubaspa Zen is of the few boats in Indonesia that offers free internet onboard. They connect via 4G phone signal, so the internet is not available all the time. You will get a personal code that allows you to connect one device with a limit of 1GB of data.
If you want faster internet access or more data during your cruise, buy a Telekomcel card with a data package upon arrival. Some places now ask for a copy of your passport to register the card, so bring a photocopy.

Tip: Sometimes, the 3G connection works better than 4G, so check the settings on your phone and try them both.

Ambon has excellent 4G coverage, allowing you even to stream video.
Molana and Nusa Laut on the south coast of Seram also have 4G coverage, but it was a bit more hit-and-miss.
There is no internet while crossing in the Banda Sea and near the Suanggi seamount.
Banda Neira had excellent internet, enough for WhatsApp video calls.
Manuk seamount has no internet coverage.
Koon island has weak coverage. However, we got a good 4G signal while crossing the eastern coast of Seram on the way to Misool.
Misool has very little internet coverage. You can hope for a very weak signal when hiking the viewpoints near the Four kind dive site and at the ranger station near Yuliet.
So, on a diving trip from Ambon to Sorong, you can expect internet coverage most days. The exception is when you are in Suanggi, Manuk, and in the Misool area.

Tip: The signal gets better the higher you get on the boat. It would often not work in my cabin below deck but would work on the top deck.

Overview of the itinerary from Ambon to Sorong via the Banda islands and Misool

This 10-day trip left from Ambon, cruised to Banda, and ended up with Misool in Raja Ampat. I did the trip during the second week of November. October and November are very special times to be in the Banda Sea as this is the season when large schools of hammerheads and whales travel to the area.

Day 1: Arriving in Ambon

I arrived in Ambon one day earlier to do more macro dives in Laha Bay. Given the uncertainty currently plaguing the airline industry, I like to arrive one day early in case flights get canceled. If you want more information about diving in Ambon and where to stay, read my article here

Diving in Ambon, Indonesia

On departure day, the team from Scubaspa picked me up from my hotel at 10 am and drove me straight to the boat.  I was greeted by the cruise director and about ten staff, given a fresh coconut and a cold towel. The holiday could start! They took care of my luggage, and within 10 minutes, I was in my cabin.

Buffet breakfast was served for those hungry after their flights. We had time to unpack and discover the boat. Lunch was served at 12.30, and we gathered again for the first dive at Laha Bay at 15:30.

The Laha Bay dive site is one of my favourite places in the world to find weird critters. Macro photographers will be in heaven here, and it is worth spending a few days in Ambon before the cruise if that is your thing.

We saw a pipefish, a cool-looking nudibranch, a few crabs, and scorpionfish.

Day 2. Spa day and discovering the south of Ambon

We started navigating early in the morning toward the Pintu Kota dive site.

It is a wall off a cliff with a large scenic arch on land. There is also a second arch underwater that starts about seven meters and slopes down to thirty meters.

The inside of the arch is full of gorgonians and sea fans. Some of the fish swim upside down to follow the arch, and it is quite incredible to see. The soft corals are stunning with soft shades of purple, pink, green, and orange. Schools of fusiliers were also present on the site.

The team offered two more dives around the area, but I chose to spend the afternoon at the spa. One thing that makes Scubaspa unique is that it has a spa onboard, and guests can choose whether to dive or spa. I found it so relaxing to have a massage in the elegant sea view spa room as my body was already tired from the flight and the first dives. I then spent the evening relaxing on the deck and watching the sunset.

Day 3. First hammerheads in Nusa Laut

We made our way to the Nusa Laut dive site in the morning.

This is the last island before the crossing to the Banda islands. We dove the northeast side of Nusa Laut.

Off the jetty is a sloping shallow reef that sometimes becomes a wall.

This site has nice, hard coral. Hammerhead sometimes hang out at the corner. We spent most of the first dive in the blue looking for them. The team had filled our tanks with air to allow us to go deep, and we saw one hammerhead from afar at about forty meters.

This was a good sign for the trip as it told us that hammerheads were still cruising around the Banda Sea in mid-November. We also came across a huge school of jacks. The way their silver bodies reflect the sun is always an incredible show. A bit further down was a school of baby barracuda.

The second dive of the day was at the same place, but this time, the dive focussed on the wall and the reef. The reef of Nusa Laut is delightful, with many hard corals in diverse colours.

After that, the team set up chairs and umbrellas on the beach of Molana island. It is a picture-perfect beach with a view of the sunset and the mountains in the background. The sand is white, the water crystal clear, and we thoroughly enjoyed our beach afternoon. The team brought us drinks, which turned into a magnificent sunset party.

Diner was served on the top deck tonight as we tried to catch the lunar eclipse that was happening that night.

Day 4 South of Ambon and crossing to Banda

As we were waiting for a passenger to arrive, we had to dive another day near Ambon before crossing to Banda. Two dives were offered this morning.

The first dive was at boiled egg, a dive site near Teluhu Bay with volcanic activity. The fun thing to do here is to feel the warm sand. It is even possible to cook an egg in the sand. You just leave it underground at the beginning of the dive and pick it up towards the end of the dive. It will be boiled and ready to eat.

The second dive of the day was the wall along Pombo Island. It was a gentle and shallow drift dive.

I chose again to do a relaxing spa day. I had a reflexology foot massage and spent the rest of the day on a lounge chair looking at the Banda Sea. We started crossing around midday, so we enjoyed the whole afternoon and evening navigating. The crossing from Nusa Laut to Suanggi is a 13-hour journey. The sea was relatively flat, and it was enjoyable. We saw a few pilot whales and dolphins by the side of the boat. By sunset, most passengers had gathered on the top deck to lounge while watching the sun go down. The moonrise viewed from the boat while navigating away from any light pollution was spectacular.

Day 5: Finding more hammerheads in Suanggi, Banda

Suanggi is a small island located between the Banda islands and Ambon. It is exceedingly popular with divers, as in October and November, it is a hotspot so see schooling hammerheads!

Suanggi island means ghost island. The locals believe that ghosts are living on the island, which is why no one lives there. It is uninhabited by humans, but many birds call this island their home.

 

The Suanggi island is surrounded by 5 or 6 underwater pinnacles, starting at about fifteen meters. The pinnacles slope gently and become a steep wall. The key spots to see hammerheads are around those pinnacles, not directly around the island.

We did three dives at the Suanggi dive site. It can be busy when many boats are on the same dive site. To give us a better chance of finding the hammerheads, the Scubaspa team decided to do a dawn dive. We woke up at 5.20 am to be in the water at 6 am and were the first group to dive in Suanggi that day. The Scubaspa team really cares about the quality of the dives and is willing to adjust the boat schedule to maximize diving conditions.

We saw only two hammerheads from afar at about 40-meter depth. We saw a few barracudas and small schools of fish. The water was very warm at 30 degrees. This might help explain why so few fish were present on the pinnacles and why 2022 has not been a good year for hammerhead sightings in the Banda Sea. I have dived this pinnacle six times before and had never seen it with so few fish. There was also surprisingly little current, given that we were diving the day after the full moon.

Even without hammerheads, Suanggi is one of the best dive sites in the world, the corals are vibrant, and you might even find nudibranchs if you take the time to look at the reef. Huge sponges grow on the ridges.

After the third dive, we navigated to Banda Neira accompanied by the sunset. We saw a few more dolphins playing in the water.

Tonight was movie night for those interested in watching a movie onboard.

Day 6: The history of Banda Neira

We went ashore on Banda Neira Island, a special place with lots of history. Banda was the epicenter of the spice islands, producing cloves and nutmeg. The Netherlands and the UK fought over it to control the spice market.

The Netherlands even exchanged Run Island for Manhattan in 1677. You can find out more about that story here.

We visited the historical town with all its pretty colonial houses, visited the museum, the Chinese temple, the church, and viewed both fort Nassau and fort Belgica.

We even saw a nutmeg plantation. It was a multisensory tour as we got to touch, smell, and even taste some nutmeg delicacies.

Tip: Do not miss the visit to Banda. It is a special place worth seeing. The one thing to buy here is nutmeg. They are locally produced, and you can find them in most shops near the port.

After a busy morning learning about the Banda islands, it was time to get back to diving.

The first dive of the day was the lava slope. It is a gently sloping reef just below the lava flow of the volcano. Lava fell into the sea about 30 years ago, which created nutrients for a vibrant coral garden. It is rare to find so many hard corals in one location and it rivals some of the best coral gardens of Raja Ampat.

We did not see any big fish, but the diversity of small fish is stunning. We also found a huge tuna head on which hundreds of fish were munching. it was quite a show.

The second dive of the day was a night dive to find the mandarin fish. They are super beautiful and live in the Banda Neira Bay between the Maulana hotel and the nutmeg tree hotel.

Day 7: Looking but not finding hammerhead in Hatta Island

We dove the Tanjung Buton dive site early in the morning, as hammerheads are known to hang out in the area at sunrise.

We jumped in the water at 6:15 am! Tanjung Buton is a wall dive that slopes gently until 10 meters and then becomes a steep and deep wall. It has a nice coral garden at 5 meters, great for safety stops.

We spent most of the dive looking for hammerheads as they cruise the area in October/November, but we did not see any. There was almost no current during our dive. The wall has a rocky structure and has some of the largest sea fans I have ever seen. Fans of large sponges and tunicates will also enjoy this wall. I got mesmerized by the shapes and the beauty of those tunicates. Are you aware that tunicates are animals? The first tunicates are over five hundred million years old!

As we started our ascent, we saw a few great barracudas and a blacktip shark. A few turtles, bumphead parrotfishes, and yellow snappers came to complete the scene.

The second dive of the day was the other corner of Hatta, and the goal was also to go deep and find hammerheads. Our quest was not successful on that day.

The third dive of the day was on the Hatta cave dive site. It is a steep wall with a swim-through hole in the rock. The wall is covered by a mix of bright, hard, and soft corals. It was a lovely wall full of small caves and crevasses.

We started motoring towards Koon Island around 4 pm and enjoyed a pleasant and quiet crossing. We encountered a family of blue whales and got to travel around those amazing animals for over 15 minutes during the sunset!

The Scubaspa zen team organized a cocktail drink, and all the passengers met at the bar to swap stories of the last few days of diving

Day 8: Fish Galore in Koon Island

Koon is an island located in the southeast corner of Seram island. It is in the middle of the Banda Sea and the Seram sea. A few tropical-looking islands are lost in the middle of the ocean and inhabited by a few fishermen’s villages.

We did two dives on the “too many fish” dive site. We dove on the southeast slope of the Koon Island. There is a shallow coral garden at 2 to 8 meters that turns into a slope and a deep wall.

For the first time in the trip, we encountered current! We drifted and hooked at various places to see the many schools of fish. The giant trevallies were humongous. A few schools of barracudas passed by.

Tip: Beware of downward currents on this dive site. We got caught in one along the wall. Think about inflating your BCD and checking your depth if you are caught in one. We just kept swimming along the wall, and the down current stopped.

The shallow area is also enchanting, with bright corals and thousands of small fish. A blacktip shark was hunting on the reef. The most fun was the school of batfishes that hung around us.

Around lunchtime, we departed for Raja Ampat, a whopping 16 hours of navigation. I spent most of it reading a book and lounging on the top deck. We had an incredibly good 4G signal for a few hours while cruising along the east coast of Seram, so it was a good time to catch up with the family back home.

We saw many dolphins jumping on the horizon. Sunset was again a special moment. Day turned into night, and the stars made an appearance. As the boat turned off all its top deck lights while navigating, the stars appeared enormous, and the milky way was clearly visible.

Day 9: Diving in Raja Ampat’s Misool best dive sites

We were greeted in Raja Ampat with a massive thunderstorm. Lightning hit the boat during the night, but fortunately, it did not get damaged. Despite the storm, the journey was relatively quiet, and we slept well. The Scubaspa Zen handles waves quite well. We woke up in Misool.

Misool is considered by many as the best diving area in Raja Ampat as it typically has massive schools of fish and beautiful soft corals. For more information about the Misool resort, read my review here.

Misool was a conservation success story. The large no-take zone was created by the Misool resort in collaboration with the local communities. Together, they have restored and preserved a diverse, pristine ecosystem. The Misool eco-resort was even built on an old shark finning factory. The results had been spectacular. In 2019, they reported that Sealife had increased, on average, by 250% over the last six years. Some sites had seen an increase of up to 600%. I have been diving in Misool many times, and since 2019, I have witnessed an increasing number of local fishing boats in the area. I am not sure what is happening with Misool foundation patrolling and the no-take zone, but it seems inactive now.

Today, we saw six fishing boats around the Yuliet island area where the ranger’s station is located, while another 6 or 7 boats have set up a camp with wives and children on a nearby island that looks semi-permanent.

This was my seventh trip to Misool, and it seemed less “fishy” than the previous years. This is purely based on my subjective impressions, as I am not a marine biologist. However, I think that the combination of increased fishing and water temperature that is too warm is putting tremendous pressure on the reef at the moment.

I am sure the local NGOs preserving the area are paying close attention to this, and I hope the reef and the fish population will be able to thrive again. Nevertheless, this did not prevent us from having an amazing two days of diving in the area and it remains one of the best diving areas in the world

Our first dive was early morning at 6 am at one of Raja Ampat’s best dive sites: Four Kings. The place gets its name from the four pinnacles stretching out into the ocean. It makes quite an impression, if I do say so myself.

Visibility was not great, but we saw a few Jacks and barracudas hunting anchovies while schools of yellow snapper hung out on top of the reef. There were many jellyfish in the water, and they stung! We would experience this invasion of jellyfish on most dive sites in Misool for the next two days.

Tip: Avoid the jellyfish as they sting and wear a long wetsuit if possible.

The display of fishes hunting anchovies in the blue is incredible, but it is also worthwhile looking at the pinnacles. Nudibranchs and shrimps are there in large numbers. Tunicates are also amongst the most amazing, covering all the colours of the rainbow.

The second dive was at Gorgonian passage, a passage between two islands. There is a deep wall that goes to about thirty meters. This wall is covered by huge gorgonians and soft corals. The most beautiful and colorful part of the wall is 10 to 16 meters, so there is no real need to go deep.

Tip: The water temperature in Raja Ampat normally ranges between 27 and 29 degrees, so a 3 mm wetsuit is enough. During our trip, however, it was consistently at 30 degrees, which is worrying for the coral.

In the afternoon, we were in for a treat. Magic Mountain (also called shadow reef dive site) is Raja Ampat’s most famous dive site, and for a reason.

This place is so well-liked that there is a limit permitting liveaboards to dive it only once per trip. Magic mountain dive site is composed of two underwater peninsulas linked by a ridge. The first peninsula starts at 5 meters. The second peninsula starts at 20 meters.

It is a fantastic dive site that has everything you could wish for.

Beautiful topography, amazing corals and soft corals, and little critters, but the key attraction here are the manta rays, as it is one of the few places in the world that attracts both reef mantas and oceanic mantas on the same dive site. Unfortunately, we saw no mantas or sharks during our dive.

Towards the end of the dive, we merged into a huge school of batfishes. A few giant trevallies, blue trevallies, napoleons, and barracudas also passed by on the side of the dive site that was most exposed to the current.

Tip: If you are a confident diver, in Magic Mountain, look for the area of the dive site that is exposed to the current, as this is where you are most likely to find schools of fish and hunting action. Bring your reef hook!

 

Day 10: Oceanic mantas and dolphins in Misool

Our second day in Misool was exhilarating, to say the least. We woke up refreshed after a peaceful night’s sleep. Our first dive was at the eagle nest dive site. It is the corner of the island with a lighthouse that hosts an eagle nest, hence its name.

There is a ridge that goes down forty meters with a few pinnacles. The top of the main pinnacle is at 5 meters. A few of the pinnacles are cleaning stations for Mantas. We swam a lot during the dive. The exposed side of the pinnacle had schools of fusiliers and anchovies dancing. We saw three sharks hunting, a turtle, and a few barracuda.

As we returned to the diving boat, the boat crew told us an oceanic manta was swimming nearby. We quickly put our gear back on and went looking for it. We got a glimpse of it, but it did not want to interact with us and dove down.

The second dive of the day was the Boo Window dive site, another of the best dive sites of Raja Ampat. It is a sloping reef with a ridge off a small island. The part below the tree is also a manta cleaning station, but we did not see any mantas there today. It is usually very fishy, but today we had fewer schools of big fish than usual, so we spent more time looking at the reef. The place is absolutely full of nudibranchs, shrimps, and flatworms. On one gorgonian, we counted five pygmy seahorses!

A beautiful school of yellow snapper lives in the shallow area near the window as well as a school of bat fishes. The soft corals are spectacular, and the number of multi-coloured small fish is striking. A fantastic dive site!

The last dive of the trip was the Puri pinnacle dive site (or Antichovy). It is a pinnacle with a plateau at 5 meters, sloping down to forty meters. We also visited a smaller pinnacle on the East side.

The mount is covered with gorgeous soft corals. This site is famous, and if you are incredibly lucky, it can be covered by millions of anchovies, creating fish balls and predator-hunting action.

During our dive, the site was very fishy but had only a small number of anchovies. We saw a school of barracudas, a big napoleon, and a potato grouper. Midway through the dives, we heard dolphins singing. They were loud! We looked everywhere but only caught a glimpse of them. It was interesting that as they swam by, the site suddenly emptied of big fish! They were all hiding! After 20 minutes, the dolphins went away, and the fish came back. Some jacks started hunting on the few anchovies.

We found a nudibranch nursery. About ten nudibranchs’ eggs formation were on the same coral!

This site was also full of jellyfish on the surface, which made our return to the boat a bit tricky.

Back on the diving boat, the crew informed us that the pod of dolphins was about one hundred big and that a few swam right above the dive site!

This was a great ending to a great trip, and it was time to navigate back to Sorong as we had a flight to catch the next day.

Tip: when budgeting your cruise, you might want to bring cash for the port and park fees that are to be paid on the boat. It amounted to 400USD for our 10-night cruise.

In Conclusion of my Scubaspa Zen Indonesia review

The Scubaspa Zen is a welcome addition to the Indonesian liveaboard market. The spa onboard makes it a great option for groups of divers and non-divers traveling together. The use of an additional diving day boat is a first in the Indonesian market and allows Scubaspa to provide an extremely comfortable diving experience. Add a newly renovated boat with spacious cabins, and you have a unique value proposition. I thoroughly enjoyed my diving cruise on the Scubaspa Zen and would love to cruise with them again in the future.

For more info about Scubaspa and to book your cruise, check their website here.