Destinations

pelagic tour little fish

Have a look at our main destinations as Bali, Komodo, Raja Ampat and Maluku. We also organize trips to other destinations in the Indonesian Archipelago.

The Komodo National Park

Komodo MapThe Indonesian government declared Komodo and the surrounding islands to be a National Park in 1980 and it was declared a World Heritage Site and a “Man and Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO in 1986. The park was initially established to protect the unique Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), the world’s largest lizard which can reach 3 meters long and weigh 90 kilogram.

The park is located in the straits between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores with strong tidal currents where there is an exchange of marine flora and fauna between the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The majority of the people in and around the Park are fishermen originally from Bima (Sumbawa), Manggarai,( Flores), or South Sulawesi. Those from South Sulawesi are from the Suku Bajau or Bugis ethnic groups. The Suku Bajau were originally nomadic and moved from location to location in the region of Sulawesi.

A Magical Underwater GardenThe Diving Season

White Fish komodo

Komodo National Park offers unparalleled opportunities for diving and snorkeling that rank among the best in the world.
The magnificent underwater gardens have an assortment of sponges, sea fans and corals covering every centimetre of available space.

The topography consists of walls, reefs, pinnacles, caverns and boulders. In this environment we find more than 1000 species of fish and 300 species of corals.

Corals

The waters are also home to a variety of sharks, whales, dolphins, molluscs and unusual critters such as Sea Apples, Seahorses, nudibranchs, stargazers and frogfishes. All year round we may spot a large number of manta rays. They do not fail to impress divers, snorkelers and photographers.

 

Diving around Komodo & Rinca is generally divided into a northern area and a southern area. This place is a meeting point of cooler waters to the south, and tropical waters to the north.
In the North of the Park, water temperatures range between 26 – 29°C. In the middle, the temperature ranges between 24 and 28°C. The temperatures are lowest in the South, ranging from 22-26°C. Visibility is 20- 30 m.

The best time to dive the southern area is from late October to April. During the east monsoon, from April to October, we dive the northern area. October and November are the best months to organise longer trips in the park because divers can experience both the diving sites in the north and in the south.

Current conditions

The waters around Komodo are subject to strong tidal currents.
Pelagictour operates in the area since many years. Our skippers and guides are all PADI qualified dive masters and instructors, and extremely experienced in dealing with currents.

We are extremely careful selecting sites and we know which conditions are appropriate for all levels of experience.

 

 

Bali

Bali Map

Bali is a fantastic holiday destination for so many reasons beyond diving.
This tropical paradise has a unique blend of modern tourist facilities combined with wonderful nature and a rich past and heritage. The Balinese people are proud of having preserved their unique Hindu culture.

This is still reflected in day to day life and can be seen in the numerous ceremonies, Balinese festivals and magnificent temples and palaces.
Beautiful landscapes, fascinating culture, nature trekking, surfing, wonderful shopping or the relaxation of a spa, Bali has it all.

It is well worth extending your dive vacation by a couple of days to discover this tropical paradise.

LandscapeClimateBali HotelsDive spotsGetting To BaliStay in Bali

Bali View Lanscape

Most of the coastline of Bali is fringed by long sandy beaches. Unsurprisingly, given the volcanic nature of the island, black sand is the norm, but there are also some beaches in the south which have fine-grained white sand.

Away from the coast, Bali is largely lush, green and fertile, and rice paddies are the dominant agricultural feature of the island. In some areas, paddies take the form of dramatic sculpted terraces which efficiently utilise every available acre of land for cultivation.

Especially beautiful examples of terraced paddies can be found in the centre of the island north of Ubud and in east Bali around Tirta Gangga. Elsewhere, gently rolling rice fields make for very pleasing rural scenery.

Bali Lanscape

All of Bali’s mountains are volcanoes, some long dormant and some still active. At 3,142 metres, magnificent Mount Agung dominates the landscape of East Bali and has not erupted since 1963. Much more active and Near Kintamani is Mount Batur who offers an excellent panoramic view of the lake.

 

Daytime temperatures are pleasant, varying between 20 and 33 degrees Celsius (68 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit) year-round. From December to March, the west monsoon can bring heavy showers and high humidity, but days are still often sunny with the rains starting in the late afternoon or evening and passing quickly.

From June to September, the humidity is low and it can be quite cool in the evenings. On the other hand, in central Bali and in the mountains, you should not be surprised by cloudy skies and showers at any time of the year.

Have a look at some hotels in Bali that you can select for your holiday

 

Bali Hyatt Sanur

Gardenia Guest-house Sanur

Gazebo Beach Hotel Sanur

Harris Hotel Kuta

Laghawa Beach Inn Hotel Sanur

Mercure Hotel Sanur

Puri Santrian Resorts Sanur

Villas Ellora

Bali looks fabulous with his rice paddy terraces and his volcanoes poking through the cloud, but it`t even better when you go diving. Coral reefs along the coats are healthy and diverse, with a great variety of marine life from small and unusual like seahorses, ghost pipefish, frogfish to big fishes like manta rays, oceanic sunfish or the Pelagic thresher shark.

Bali offer a variety of exiting diving options for all levels of divers such as shipwreck, vertical drop-offs, or black volcanic slopes.

There are five main diving area’s in Bali.

Most visitors will arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport who is located between Kuta and Jimbaran, roughly 20 mins away from Sanur and 45 mins away from ubud. In addition to national carrier Garuda Indonesia, major international airlines that serve Bali directly include:

If you need a good place to stay here is a list of places to stay around Bali

 

Raja Ampat National Park

Raja Ampat Map

 

The Raja Ampat archipelago consists of some 600 Islands and islets that straddle the equator in the area off the “Birds Head”, the extreme north-western tip of the Papua province of Indonesia (formerly known as New Guinea.).

The name Raja Ampat literally means ‘the Four Kings’ and the name dates back to the time that the islands were ruled from the North Moluccan sultanates of Ternate and Tidore (In those days Each of the four larger islands in the group, Waigeo, Salawati, Batanta and Misool used to have an independent ‘Raja’ ).

Most of the islands have rugged and steep coastlines and are covered with virgin rain forest. The larger islands are lightly populated but most others are uninhabited by humans.

Until the turn of the century the name Raja Ampat was still completely absent from Indonesian travel brochures and no one in the travel business had even heard of the name. Trailblazing diving expeditions undertaken by some of our old Pinisi colleagues, notably ‘Pindito’ have put the archipelago on the map and nowadays Raja Ampat has become world famous as one of the most noteworthy ecological niches on the planet, on a par with the Great Barrier Reef and Galapagos.

In addition, Raja Ampat offers opportunities for bird watching. Spectacular bird species encountered in the area include common sulfur-crested cockatoos, the large flightless cassowary, colorful parrots and of course the incredible Wilson’s bird of paradise and the red bird of paradise, endemic to Waigeo and Batanta Island.

The World’s Richest Marine Biological AreaDiving Season
Raja Ampat Diving Coral
This vast archipelago is estimated to have up to 10 times the marine life of the Caribbean and Mediterranean Sea combined. Marine biologists have concluded that Raja Ampat is home to seventy percent of the known coral species on the planet. Many fish, corals and crustaceans that live in these waters are found nowhere else on earth and it is without a doubt the heartland our planet’s richest biological preserve.

Through the millennia, movement of tectonic plates in the region created distinct terrain types for underwater exploration: Submerged sea ridges, fringing reefs, wall, caves and seamounts, all covered with huge colorful gorgonian fans, bushes of bright red sea whips, soft coral and purple sponges.

Manta Raja Ampat
It is one of the few marine environments in which you can see the full range of marine life. From sharks, manta rays, frogfish, batfish, groupers, pygmy seahorse or schooling jacks and barracudas, the sheer variety of fish life here is mind-boggling presenting an incredible assortment of colors.

 

You can dive all year in Raja Ampat except from june to September because wind and waves makes it difficult to dive at this time. The water temperature is around 28 c and visibility is around 20 meters.

 

Maluku, the last frontier

Maluku Map

 

Maluku which comprises the islands between Sulawesi and West Papua is formerly known as the Spice Islands. It was once the source of cloves and nutmeg, spices highly valued for their aroma, preservative ability and use in medicine before people learned how to cultivate the plants in other parts of the world.

That’s why this region played such a crucial role in 16th and 17th century European history. Many sites of great historical interest such as fortresses can be seen today while sailing in this archipelago.

The region is divided into two provinces, South Maluku with its capital in Ambon, and North Maluku, with its capital in Ternate. Some of the islands are volcanic and dressed in luxuriant tropical vegetation. Others are coral atolls, lined with swaying palm trees. They are all beautiful and blessed with some of the finest beaches in the world.

Untouched, Virgin Coral ReefsDiving Season

Maluku Beach

If you want to experience the true vastness of the ocean, world-class diving and take home a piece of history with you, a live aboard expedition to Maluku is hard to beat.

The Banda Sea is a deep sea ringed by islands in Eastern Indonesia. Right in the middle of the sea are the Banda Islands which were the centre of the bloody spice wars that lasted from the early 1600s until 1810. Few areas in the world rival the waters of the Banda Sea for its walls covered with massive growths of corals that have survived centuries of waves and strong currents.

Everything about diving those atolls is epic in scale, from the remoteness of its location to the pelagic action that waits below the surface. You are never quite sure what you might see on a dive: mobula rays or hammerhead sharks are frequently spotted.

Ambon is one of Asia’s finest muck-diving spots. In this large bay, you can find the endemic Ambon Scorpion fish, Ghost Pipefish, Seahorses, Frogfish and many more fascinating critters for macro-lovers to search for. The beautiful wreck of the Duke of Sparta lies also in Ambon bay between 15m and 40m deep.

This 134 m long Dutch cargo ship which was sunk in 1958 by an American aircraft is now home to many colourful reef fish and beautiful coral formations. Several sites on the south coast of Ambon offer some of the prettiest dives in the Maluku. Just a short distance from Ambon, the islands of Ela, Hatala and Lain have beautiful corals and excellent reef life.

maluku island

 

Halmahera is still a new dive destination to be explored. New reefs with stunning fish life and coral gardens have been discovered in the south- west of the island. The ridges around Bacan Island in the strait of Patinti, the dramatic reef scenery of Tidore Island, the brilliant hard coral formations of the Goraici islands, superb visibility, large schools of fish, pelagic sharks and amazing macro will make this area soon become a hot dive destination in Indonesia.

The best months for diving are March and April and late September to November. The water temperature is around 28C and visibility is mostly good. (Up to 20-30m)