Amalia: A Diver's Life in Komodo National Park

January 27, 2016

Amalia

Highly Recommended, Uber Scuba

While this entire trip to Indonesia has been an adventure, the time has come for the adventure within the adventure. Heidi and I are all booked on a 5night/6day boutique scuba liveaboard. We will be sailing on the newly built Amelia, with Uber Scuba out of Labuan Bajo. I have only done one other scuba liveboard trip which was on a very modern looking motor yatch out of Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef. You can read about that here. I was excited to see the Amalia and find out what diving and living was going to be like here in Komodo.

Ready to take the Plunge

My Corner of the Dive Deck

We could immediately see the care that went into building Amalia with beautiful wood finish everywhere. The back deck where we first stepped on board was all set up for diving. Each person had their own area with name written above, and box below for dive computers, watches, etc. There was also a very ingenious system built into the dive deck allowing the crew to fill the tanks right where they were, which saved space, time, and energy....all valuable things on a boat. Two small speedboats were towed behind Amalia which were also set up for holding tanks and divers and transporting them to and from dive spots.

Front Looking Back

Chef/Musician Arnold

The crew was mostly local Indonesians, from the cooks to the captain and small boat drivers, as well as the head dive guide, Nelwan. Cristina, who is part owner, also came along as the dive instructor for the trip. Heidi took advantage of this by getting her Advanced Scuba Certification on the trip. I was very much looking forward to trying some of chef Arnold's hearty meals. There is something about doing a lot of scuba diving that gives you a pretty huge appetite.

The Lounge on Amalia

There was a nice lounge area inside, and a large covered deck up front where our tables and cushions were located. Down below were the rooms, which were cozy, and nautical themed, with a very nice bathroom for a boat. I know how cramped quarters can be on a boat so I was pretty pleased with our queen bed, en-suite bathroom, and two portholes that opened. Bean bag chair and cushions for laying out on the upper sun deck made warming up from dives much easier. Although most of the dive sites we visited had water in the mid 80's so not much warming up was necessary.

Nelwan giving the Briefing

The schedule called for 18 dives over the six day trip, including 2 night dives. Coffee would be waiting for us in the morning as would Nelwan and Cristina with the first dive briefing. Even though the boat could hold 10 passengers, only 5 had signed up. Heidi and myself, Tim and Marie from Germany, and Mr. Han from a small island in China near Macao.

Fresh Watermelon Juice

Usually we would load up the small boats and jet off to a nearby dive site, although sometimes we were able to just step right off the back step of Amalia. The crew would swarm the back deck to take care of all your gear after the dive and get it switched over to a fresh tank to be ready for the following dive while we would head up to the front where fresh squeezed fruit juice would be there to welcome us back.

Heading Out for a Dive

Lightning Storm over South Rinca

At nights we mixed things up with night dives, sunset hikes, card games, and musical sessions with the talented crew. And one of my favorite surprises on the trip was the option of dropping stand up paddle boards into the water during the surface intervals and going for a closer look at the coastline or fringing reef or maybe even a closer look at a komodo dragon hanging out in the surf.