INDONESIA LIVEABOARD DIVING CRUISES

A 19th century Dutch writer once described Indonesia as “wrapped around the Equator like an emerald band”. Ever since, this island nation has captured the imagination of all who visited there. Those who have dived and explored the underwater world of Indonesia agree that it has one of the most diverse marine environments on the planet.

NORTH SULAWESI

Northern Sulawesi, the area around Manado, is one of the best-known diving destinations in Indonesia. It is easily accessible by air from Singapore with Silk Air four times a week and Jakarta & Bali with Garuda Airlines daily. The topside scenery is dramatic with jungle clad mountains and volcanoes dominating the landscape. Unlike most of Indonesia, Northern Sulawesi’s inhabitants are devout Christians and a pleasant sense of calm and peacefulness prevails.

Frogfish at Lembeh Strait

Commencing June 2008 Ocean Rover will be based in this unique area offering our guests the opportunity to enjoy North Sulawesi liveaboard diving in comfortable and familiar on board surroundings. The key words, as always, will be variety and quality.

Ocean Rover’s departure point in Manado is the deep-sea port of Bitung in the Lembeh Straits. Each cruise will start and finish with a full day of diving in this location of choice for underwater photographers in search of unique macro subjects.

Our divers will also spend time enjoying the world-class diving around Bunaken National Marine Park and Bangka Island. Here divers will encounter spectacular walls and reefs of hard and soft corals, an underwater environment that has enchanted divers from all over the globe.

Ocean Rover then journeys further north to a chain of volcanic islands, the Sangihe Archipelago: dozens of islands, some of which are over fifteen hundred meters high and densely covered by coconut palms. This area has some of the deepest and clearest water on the planet.

Some of the highlights include an underwater lava flow, a natural hot spring jacuzzi and a dive at Mahangatang, an underwater volcano which releases silver bubbles into the sea, an unforgettable sight. Conditions permitting, we also do a spectacular pinnacle dive at Para Island. And because a Sulawesi cruise is not complete without a day at Minahasa and Popo (a.k.a. Bethlehem), we visit these newly discovered critter sites as well.

Overall, Ocean Rover offers the most comfortable way of experiencing all that liveaboard diving North Sulawesi has to offer in one single cruise.

RAJA AMPAT

Giant Manta at Kri Island

Raja Ampat is one of the youngest provinces of this huge country. With a population of only four people per square kilometre it is seen as a vast un-tapped area. Oil and copper represent over 90% of the value of the province’s exports.

In the last few years the Indonesian province of Papua, in the western part of the island of New Guinea, became famous because of its untouched, colourful reefs and great island scenery. Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool are the main islands that make up Raja Ampat, an area which consists of more than 1500 islands in total. Cruising through this unique area is breath-taking, to say the least.

The biodiversity of Raja Ampat is unique. In this archipelago are recorded more than 1000 species of reef fishes, more than 700 molluscs and more than 560 species of hard corals, which is more than 75% of all know hard corals worldwide. More than 4.6 million hectares of more or less untouched underwater areas are waiting with mangroves, colourful coral gardens, deep walls, giant schools of fish, manta rays, wobbegong sharks, as well as nudibranchs and critters.

Sorong, with 130,000 inhabitants, is an important city for oil and the starting point for our cruises. The city is easily accessible from Singapore with Silk Air via Manado, (one night stopover), then with Merpati or Wing Air on to West Papua.

Commencing September 2009 Ocean Rover will be based in this unique area. Our crew will meet you at the airport or your hotel and bring you to the departure point in Sorong for boarding. During the itinerary we will dive at the best locations in Raja Ampat. Our experienced dive guides will seek out interesting marine life for our guests plus macro subjects and wide angle impressions for the underwater photographers and videographers.

Cruising through the islands of Raja Ampat while relaxing on Ocean Rover and enjoying the delicious meals prepared by our chef is by far the most enjoyable and comfortable way to visit this unforgettable destination.