[Indonesia] My First Premium Liveaboard Experience — Indonesia, Here I Come!

The Editor says: A lively welcome dance the moment you board, three meals a day plus fruit and snacks, a jacuzzi, and fishing — no internet on board and not a dull moment. Underwater, you'll find an abundance of large and small fish schools and spectacular coral, with chances to spot sharks and dugongs. Where is this liveaboard, you ask? Follow along and find out! Full article reprinted from: Idy.

My First Liveaboard Experience — Setting Sail

All it took was a single photo online — it pulled my eyes right in. A purple ship, and a pirate-style one at that. It turned out to be a liveaboard dive trip. After checking the departure dates, I took just a quick glance at my schedule, without looking into the route, destination, or anything else, and bought the tickets. Done!

Departing from Hong Kong, with three layovers totalling 17 hours of travel and transit time, plus another half hour by car, I finally stepped aboard this all-wooden pirate ship. We were welcomed with a traditional folk dance, and the eight-day, seven-night liveaboard adventure officially began. It was my first liveaboard trip, and with nothing to compare it to, I felt the onboard facilities were well-equipped, with enough room to move around and a clean cabin — that was all I needed. Beyond spotting the ship online, I'd also seen photos of dugongs (mermaids) and Hammerhead Sharks, which gave me just a little extra excitement for the journey ahead.

Five Meals a Day on Board — I Came Back a Size Bigger

The boat served 4–5 meals a day, with the earliest light breakfast at 06:30. Seafood was on the menu every day, and lunch and dinner were mostly Chinese-style, with fruit platters as well. I especially loved their homemade chili sauce. I made sure not to eat too much at any one meal — otherwise diving would be miserable, and I'd end up feeding the fish. Almost everyone in the group was Taiwanese; I was the only one from Hong Kong. By the third day we were all much more interactive, sharing the day's dive photos and videos over dinner every evening. On the final night, beneath a huge, bright moon, we ate, drank, and talked endlessly...

On a few nights during the voyage, we hit rough seas — the entire ship rocked from side to side, and more than a few water glasses were smashed. Being a wooden vessel, the planks creaked all night long, as if we were being tossed about on a fairground pirate ship ride. In bed, both me and the mattress slid around together — Howl's Moving Castle, anyone? I couldn't sleep at all. Yet my dive buddy in the same cabin somehow managed to sleep like a log. How on earth did she manage that? Could she teach me a thing or two? Every day brought an unbeatable sunset paired with the backdrop of the ship, and we couldn't stop snapping photos.

While others book private karaoke rooms, we essentially had the entire sea to ourselves — after a few days, ours was the only boat in sight in every direction.

Indonesia's Spectacular Underwater World

After 24 hours without sleep, we did two dives on the very first day. True to form for a dive addict — no matter how tired, just dive! Located in Indonesia's Banda Sea — renowned for its magnificent coral, even more so than the Philippines — the colourful coral reefs were a feast for the eyes. It was my first time seeing a heart-shaped gorgonian / sea fan this large.

The first dive of the morning at 7 a.m. was always the most spectacular and action-packed. Countless schools of fish, both large and small, were out foraging for food. Just as you focused on a school on your left, a massive group of fish would suddenly rush past on your right — there was simply too much to take in all at once.

Night diving was even more thrilling. Plants that simply drifted with the current during the day were seen "crawling" at night; and what looked like ordinary leaves in the daytime would curl up and tuck themselves in for sleep after dark — truly fascinating. It turns out plants need their rest too. A tiny blue-spotted devil ray, caught unexpectedly in my torch beam, seemed to have a guilty conscience — it darted off like a shot and kept on swimming away... as if terrified I'd catch it. Don't worry, little one, I can't catch you!

Not far away, I spotted what looked like a "crawling" piece of coral. As it drew closer, its true identity was revealed — a coral crab. It shuffled over to some real coral and stopped, apparently thinking it had made itself invisible. Then there was another master of disguise: a brightly coloured coral crab, completely impossible to spot unless it moved ever so slightly. And so many more sleeping creatures — a chubby pufferfish, baby squid the size of a fingertip, sea hares...

The Fearless "Mermaid" — The Dugong Has Arrived!

One of the highlights of this trip was a close encounter with the so-called mermaid. When we were told we couldn't dive down or snorkel in to get a closer look, I was honestly a bit disappointed. But it was for safety's sake... The small dinghy had barely set off when the dugong swam right towards us, as if it absolutely loved being around people. Our shrieks didn't frighten it in the least — it kept surfacing, circling all three of our tenders, and even came up to let us touch it. It turned out to have quite a habit of hugging the boats, which explains why we weren't allowed in the water near it — getting wrapped up by a dugong would be pretty dangerous. Its skin felt covered in tiny prickles. I'd assumed it would be smooth like a dolphin — quite the opposite. It was rough, like the skin of a potato. And as for its appearance and figure — nothing remotely "mermaid-like" about it! Whoever gave it that name? Completely misleading!

Another highlight was a Marble Ray (a type of manta ray) larger than a mahjong table, taking an afternoon nap inside a large cavern — unfortunately for it, we found it. The camera flashes woke it up... and it immediately started twisting and turning to get away. We only wanted to get up close and snap a glamour shot — we weren't going to hurt you!

The Hammerhead Shark — every diver's dream encounter. After so much anticipation, one finally appeared on the very last dive. The catch was... I didn't actually see it myself. Only the other group members did. Even the dive buddy who went in with me managed to photograph it. I guess it just wasn't meant to be — I was absolutely gutted.

Our dive guide's drawing skills were truly something else — every pre-dive briefing featured a beautifully eye-catching illustration of the marine life we might encounter, always ending with the line "If you lucky." Lucky us indeed: humphead parrotfish, sharks, plump tuna... we ticked them all off.

One of the Banda Sea dive sites was called Snake Village. I'm terrified of snakes, so when I heard we were heading there, I nearly jumped out of my skin. But since I was already there and it was supposedly safe, I went for it. It was the most sea snakes I had ever seen underwater — in every direction, front, back, left, and right. So many of them! They weren't afraid of us at all, just going about their own swimming and chasing each other around. They weren't following us, and it was reasonably safe, but once was definitely enough for this dive site.

Just when you think city dwellers can't survive without the internet, going completely offline for a few days actually gave us more genuine time together — chatting away, singing karaoke, watching movies, taking endless photos on the deck, and somehow spending over an hour just hanging out in the one VIP cabin. When people got tired, they'd catch a nap in the lounge... The boat also had a wonderfully attentive crew: cabins were cleaned daily, every meal had a different menu, and our dive guide had a great sense of humour. On the final evening, which happened to be Mid-Autumn Festival, the crew even prepared mooncakes for us.

This group of Taiwanese divers, above all else, simply loved diving. They also introduced me to the marine life found in Taiwan's waters. One of them was a professional underwater videographer — I absolutely loved the video you made for everyone!

Thank God — throughout the entire trip we had great weather, egg-yolk sunsets every day, wonderful companions, a thoughtful organiser (Thanks Joe!), delicious food, and everyone completed the journey safely! This first liveaboard experience was a great one, and I'm already looking forward to the next... though I'll have to think twice about the wooden ship!

Idy, Nov 2023 — "Reliving the journey while recovering — a completely different kind of flavour. Good health is never guaranteed. Being healthy enough to go out and see the world — thank God!"

Further Reading:

• 【Indonesia】Part 2: What's on the Neomi Cruise? Indonesia's Premium Liveaboard — Dugongs, Hammerhead Sharks, Sailfish & Big Animal Encounters, an Exclusive Look at This Once-a-Year Trans-Ocean Itinerary

• 【Indonesia】Part 1: What's on the Neomi Cruise? Indonesia's Premium Liveaboard — Dugongs, Hammerhead Sharks, Sailfish & Big Animal Encounters, an Exclusive Look at This Once-a-Year Trans-Ocean Itinerary

• joe愛潛水

• Indonesia Neomi Cruise Premium Liveaboard Official Website

• Author: Idy