Trip Report: East of Flores, August 2013

By Milo Migliavacca. Photos: Milo Migliavacca & Ronnie Heng

This is my third trip on the Seven Seas & second to Alor. It's great to see Karl & Linda & the crew again, who I know will take good care of me. I know that I will always be safe on the Seven Seas. It's also such a pleasure to have all the crew helping me with a larger tank & fitting me with my dive gear. They even help me gear up, which is not the case everywhere else. I know from when Made got recently certified that he learned to check everything himself and this is how it's done everywhere else. On the Seven Seas, all I need to do is enjoy myself!

The location of this itinerary reminds me of a kind of Jurassic Park scenery, surrounded by volcanoes, two of them erupting. Yesterday we heard that one had actually claimed 6 lives the day before. These guys are not joking, they are very serious!

The first dive of the day was great, adapting and getting used to being in the water again. Being in the water with someone recently certified is also interesting to see how they react and how they move! The second dive was a bit more intense because the current was stronger than we expected and it took us a while to get down. I decided to go up and try again, this time more successfully. I was glad I had Karl at my side, making me feel more confident.

Next came a 3 hour steam to the active volcano of Komba, which was already spitting out some smoke. Karl told us the waters around here were very deep and we were able to get very close to the volcano. While we were waiting impatiently for Komba to perform, we had a visitor from the deep blue water - a large mobula ray came very close to the boat to welcome us before returning to the deep - a nice omen! Just after sunset, the fireworks began and all of us were in awe of Komba's strength.

Day 2 & we had a rocky night coming from Komba to the Pantar Strait. I missed the first dive because I was sleeping, so I can only tell you about my second dive on Reta island. As soon as we got in in front of the village, my buddy Bandana Karl showed me a screaming blue ribbon eel, welcoming us to the spot. After that, a beautiful coral garden with very good visibility and no current! A school of mini barracuda cruised by in the shallows & swarms of multi-coloured anthias surrounded us. Because we were diving close to a village, we could see the fishermen's handmade bamboo fish traps along the reef and suspended over the wall.

» CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT

» Read what our other guests had to say about our East of Flores Trips

Wetpixel Expeditions in South Komodo 2014

Join Wetpixel Expeditions in South Komodo, Indonesia, for two 11-night underwater photography trips. We specialize in bespoke underwater imaging trips, with an emphasis on photo and video productivity. We feature unlimited dive times and flexible itineraries, and target advanced divers. If an area is hot, we will sit there and take advantage of it, and you will never be dragged through a dive site by a dive guide. A Wetpixel trip leader is available for photography advice and ad-hoc, informal workshops, and guests also frequently learn a lot from each other. It isn't unusual to make a life-long friend after spending weeks together on a boat!

Trip 1: February 5 - 16, 2014 (12 days / 11 nights)
Trip leaders: Wetpixel Publisher Eric Cheng and Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon

Trip 2: February 18 - March 1, 2014 (12 days / 11 nights)
Trip leader: Photographer Jason Bradley

"Wetpixel's 30-day expedition in 2009 was with The Seven Seas, and we are very excited to return to Indonesia aboard the same vessel.

We are very excited to be diving the southern sites of Komodo National Park, which offer a fantastic mix of healthy and unusual coral reefs, dominated in many areas by soft corals and extremely diverse invertebrate communities with an overall very interesting macro life. In February and March, the waters in the south are clear and warm - the right conditions for productive underwater photography. We will visit all of the well-known dive sites in southern Rinca, Padar and Komodo, including Manta Alley, Cannibal Rock, Torpedo Point, The Three Sisters, Lankoi, plus many more productive sites in the South as well as Central Komdo. Some very rich critter sites and manta ray sites at North Rinca and East Komodo (Karang Makassar) can also be included, all during a time in which not many other boats frequent Komodo."

Embarkation/Disembarkation City: Labuan Bajo, Indonesia

A $1,500 deposit secures your space. Questions? Want to book? Please email Dan Baldocchi ([email protected]) or call him at +1 (773) 564-9579 during CST business hours.

» CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

Seven Seas' East of Flores on TV

Nature's Greatest Secret - The Coral Triangle

Below the blink to a trailer of a recently finished documentary (3 episodes) featuring the Coral Triangle. Much of this was filmed during a film expedition with marine experts on the Seven Seas exploring our East of Flores itinerary.

Footage from other areas in the Coral Triangle (including areal shots of the Seven Seas in Raja Ampat) is also included in this documentary. The parts with the whales are all from East of Flores.

The documentary was produced by Wild Fury, the same people brought to us "Shifting Baselines". It will be aired on ZDF/Arte soon. Discovery Asia will be airing the series too, hopefully by end of this year.

» VIEW THE TRAILER HERE!