Diving the waters of Indonesia can be the ultimate experience of a diver’s life. In fact, divers are often so impressed by the visibility in Indonesia’s crystal clear turquoise waters, the vast marine life and corals that they return over and over again. They want to explore more of the dive sites that they fell in love with and try out new dive sites that were featured in dive magazines.

Not only is Indonesia the world’s largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands but it has the good fortune to be the heart of the Coral Triangle, a roughly triangular marine area that is the global center of marine biodiversity.

This is great news for scuba divers who have the opportunity for dive experiences they will not find anywhere else. Indonesia is the most diverse marine area in the world with world class diving in waters with extraordinary visibility, and has international-class supporting dive shops that are sophisticated with high quality equipment and liveaboards.

For divers looking for more exotic experiences, Indonesia offers offbeat dives as well including sunken fighter planes and active underwater volcanoes.

The complete area of the Coral Triangle, sometimes called the ‘Amazon of the Seas,’ covers 5.7 million sq km. While comprising only 1.6% of the planet’s oceanic area, the Coral Triangle offers:

• 76% of the world’s coral species
• 37% of the world’s coral reef fish
• 600 different species of reef-building corals
• 6 of the world’s 7 marine turtle species
• 2,000 species+ of reef fish

Let’s explore some of Indonesia’s premier dive sites (in alphabetical order):

Alor

Most of Alor in eastern Indonesia has been designated as a national marine protected area. Divers come here to do muck diving and especially to spot three species of Rhinopias, better known as scorpion fish. In addition, the outstanding biodiversity and currents mean that big fish, like whitetips and grey reef sharks, are also common sights.

Ambon and Banda Islands

While shark populations have been badly affected in other parts of the world, Ambon and Banda Islands still have enough hammerhead sharks to satisfy even the most experienced divers. And with visibility up to 50 meters means you don’t have to get too close if you don’t want to.

Currents are not strong, so divers of all levels can enjoy steep wall diving, muck diving, and over 300 species of hard corals.

Bali

Bali’s dive sites are at the top of many divers’ bucket lists not only for the premier dive sites, but also because this world’s #1 destination (TripAdvisor 2017) offers a wonderful getaway for friends and family. Divers can bring their non-diving family and friends who can indulge in other activities – unique Balinese culture, art museums, great beaches, photogenic scenery, temples, shopping, and of course, amazing food.  Bali is also a great hub to explore the rest of Eastern Indonesia.

Divers looking for mola-mola in particular will see this sunfish catching some rays not far below the surface of the water.

Bunaken Island National Marine Park and Lembeh Strait

Both Bunaken Island National Marine Park and Lembeh Strait, located off the coast of North Sulawesi, have long been known in the global dive community for their world class diving.

Divers especially love Bunaken’s impressive wall dives and Lembeh’s strange creatures, like the mimic octopus that impersonates other species to intimidate predators.

Derawan Islands

Savvy divers consider Derawan Islands to be Indonesia’s best kept secret and hope to keep it that way for a long time to come. Whale sharks are not seen in many places in the world, but these gentle giants come to Whale Shark Point in Derawan to feed on anchovies.

A special feature in Derawan is that visitors can swim with stingless jellyfish in Kakaban Lake – usually referred to as Jellyfish Lake.

Komodo

Komodo Islands not only has the world’s largest lizard (“Komodo Dragon”), for divers, Manta Alley off the southern coast of Komodo Island is the perfect place to watch graceful, peaceful manta rays perform their underwater ballet as they glide through the water. Divers are likely to see many mantas on a single dive.

The mantas are interested in divers as well. They seem to want to figure out whether these strange bubble-blowing individuals coming to visit are an unusual kind of fish.

Lombok

Diving in the crystal clear waters off Lombok’s Gili Islands and spotting sea turtles is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. The Gillis also offer easy, in-shore snorkeling for those not  yet ready to plunge into the deep. In addition, tourists can enjoy the turtle hatchery on Gili Trawangan’s beach, which is part of a government- sponsored environmental conservation program to protect and preserve sea turtles.

Raja Ampat, Papua

Raja Ampat means ‘Four Kings’, and divers certainly feel like royalty after diving in these pristine waters that have a higher species diversity than anywhere else in the Coral Triangle. The remoteness of Raja Ampat has kept it totally undisturbed and unspoilt so that divers routinely see whale sharks and smaller epaulette sharks.

Togean Islands

The Togean Islands in the Gulf of Tomini in Central Sulawesi form a picture-perfect group of islands with powder sand beaches and lush, jungle-covered slopes rising steeply out of the blue water. Novices and experienced divers alike will find exciting, colorful fish and brilliant coral life, as well as underwater caves that are home to species that exist only in the dark.

Wakatobi

Wakatobi, a UNESCO Marine Biosphere Reserve with the greatest variety and diversity of marine life in the world, was dubbed ‘underwater nirvana’ by Jacques Cousteau. That was many years ago, but the name still applies because local communities have been diligent in protecting their coral reefs.

Visit Now While Dive Sites Are Still Pristine

With more than 75% coastal area, Indonesia has the 2^nd longest coastline in the world after Canada, giving Indonesia seemingly endless places for diving. But unlike Canada, Indonesia offers warm tropical waters that have magnetic appeal to both novice and experienced scuba divers.

Wonderful Indonesia, the official website for Indonesia tourism, is easy to use and a source of interesting travel information for diving and other aspects of tourism in Indonesia.

Other sources:

indonesiadivesafaris.com
www.dive-indonesia.co.id

Social media links:

facebook: @indonesia.travel
youtube: @TheIndonesiaTravel
instagram: @indtravel
twitter: @indtravel

Diving in Cuba – it’s a diving extremist’s paradise. People often refer to this wild underwater world as the Galápagos of the Caribbean, and for good reason.

Eighty kilometres south of Cuban shores sprouts a 240-kilometre-long mangrove and coral island system that forms the third-longest barrier reef in the world. Within this maze of mangroves, crocodiles silently float, tucked away in the shallows – and aligned perfectly over/under the thin line of the water’s surface as if waiting for the savvy photographer to capture the ideal half ’n’ half. Such is diving nowadays – a call to arms for divers to seek out the more adrenaline-fuelled encounters. And Cuba is a tricked-out dive destination offering just that.

Rodney Bursiel is a photographer whose images have a unique edge – a chrome-coloured tint that makes his face-to-face shark encounters more thrusting, his humpback whales more intimate. UW360 Editor, Oliver Jarvis, caught up with the man to discuss his recent trip to Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina, or “Gardens of the Queen”: How would you describe diving the Jardines de la Reina?
Jardines de la Reina is a marine preserve, so the reefs are in pristine condition. That being said, I’m more interested in the big animals, so it was nice having sharks on every dive. Diving in Cuba is what it it was like diving in the Cayman Islands 30 years ago. I haven’t been to Little Cayman but I hear it’s similar, except Cuba has mangroves with saltwater crocodiles.

What was your highlight of the trip?
The crocs were definitely the highlight. When I booked the trip I’m not even sure I was aware they were there. I had just heard about how amazing Cuba was. Finding out about the crocs was a bonus, and I probably could have spent the entire trip hanging out with them.

What does it feel like being face to face with a crocodile?
After being face to face with great whites, tigers and hammerheads, it didn’t feel any different. You learn their demeanour pretty quick and how to be around them. I never felt scared or threatened being in the water with them.

Crocs can be unpredictable. What pre-dive safety briefing were you given before jumping in?
Something I didn’t know was that crocs can’t see something directly in front of them because of where their eyes are located – it’s kind of a blind spot. The main thing we were told was to avoid getting to the side of them in their line of sight. That being said, I swam alongside of them and they didn’t seem too interested in us.

What different photography techniques did you implement to capture unique shots of the crocs?
Nothing that different from the techniques I use for my shark photography. I was shooting ISO100 at f/11 with dual strobes at about half power. I would get the croc in the shadow of the boat to create the dramatic moody shots that I love.

Did you capture a favourite shot?
I did capture a favourite shot and it was almost thrown away.

What was the story behind it?
We were swimming in a really strong current to get to the croc. When I got to him, I was literally inches away and didn’t realise my strobes had been moved in and pointed towards each other. The shot was super blown out, but after playing with it in Photoshop I was able to create one of my favourite shots.

How did you approach the crocs?
Slowly. They are actually very timid. The trick that I figured out was that they react to sound, so I would slap the surface of the water with my open palm. It got their attention right away and got them to swim towards you, usually with an open mouth.

Any negatives about the trip?
Negatives? I was in the ocean swimming with sharks and crocodiles. No time to think about negatives! Only wish I had booked more time in Havana on our return.

The Internet has changed the world. Whether through keeping up with friends on social media, checking the cameras of the International Space Station, or ordering a pizza from the local store. The Internet takes us everywhere, let’s us see everything, and in this information era, it promises us the possibility of being able to go anywhere.

Leading the charge of the new light brigade, a plethora of online booking websites that have revolutionised the travel industry. With the promise of top deals to far-flung locations, these new, intangible platforms – existing only in the clouds of the World Wide Web – have paved the way for a new kind of traveller. As the market has changed, hungry for discounts and deals, so has the industries which it has touched. One of those industries is the dive industry.

UW360 spoke to Diviac Head of Marketing, Sandro Lonardi, to try and get a deeper insight into just how the big companies involved in this change are planning to lead the travel booking revolution.

“The entire travel industry is shifting online and dive travel is no exception to this,” Lonardi tells UW360. “The great news for divers is that this shift online fosters transparency and as a result puts pressure on all actors to improve the quality of their service.”

A report from Skift suggests that “by 2020 the travel industry will have the highest percentage of online payments in relation to all sales than any other industry on Earth.” This is changing the way travellers do business – no more “offline” travel bookings by phone or by retail travel agents.

“[It’s] good for the [dive] industry as a whole,” Lonardi says. “Since it will become easier than ever for divers to travel the world to explore our wonderful oceans. And more diving means more business for all.”

The Revolution

The benefits seem to outweigh the negatives. As Lonardi puts it, it’s all about “choice, convenience and price”. And that is the Internet down to a tee. It offers the user a plethora of opportunities and the ability to compare services side by side with the click of a button. So when it comes down to paying, you’re almost safe in the knowledge that you’re putting your money into a quality operator.

“Online booking platforms such as Diviac offer divers unparalleled choice, both in terms of destinations and dive operators. Choice is great but it can be overwhelming as well. This is why at Diviac, we have designed a very fast and intuitive search page that includes rich filters to help users narrow down their search,” says Lonardi.

It presents these large booking platforms as trusting mediators between diver and operator – with no affiliations between operator and booking platform, they can offer unbiased advice through listing and customer care. The customer care feature, Lonardi adds, is available 24/7 on Diviac. “Divers, just like all other travellers, appreciate the convenience of an easy-to-use website where they can check availability and prices without having to fill in the ‘contact request form’ still in use with most dive operators.”

Putting dive booking into the 21st century and with “easy and safe online booking via credit card”, the service meets the expectations of customers in the digital age.

“The few dive operators that accept credit cards usually apply a surcharge of about 3% for the privilege. We [Diviac] don’t. No credit card fees, no booking fees. And to top it off, we also offer divers a free dive insurance so that they can have a safe trip and be sure that they’re getting the best deal!”

These features seem to be a common trend in maintaining customer satisfaction. In this “online review” era, big online booking companies like Diviac know the importance of pleasing their clients, to get those high ratings that inform other potential customers of the platform’s service.

Growing an Industry

Making booking more accessible means there is a greater opportunity to attract a larger volume of divers to take the step and travel. More divers means more money being injected into the industry. With the largest selection of liveaboards in the world, Diviac is also one of the few that offers thousands of dive resorts and dive centres as well.

“At Diviac, we want to inspire divers to dive more, travel more and take care of our oceans,” Lonardi says. It’s all about giving back to the customer base, and to the industry that they are a part of. “We are 100 percent customer centric. We are obsessed with offering visitors to our website the best user experience possible, and our scuba travel experts take extreme pride in going the extra mile for all our customers.”

Online booking sites also need to be trustworthy, putting to rest the typical online shopping concerns of the customer having no idea where their money is headed, and high levels of encryption for all transactions from big companies like Diviac mean that your payments are secure.

How Diviac Is a Leading Example

Online dive booking sites can utilise advanced technology to create features that enhance the user experience, such as virtual reality experience videos, and in-depth destination guides. These assist the consumer in a way like never before, and they look cool.

“We believe our liveaboard search page is the best place to research and compare dive boats around the world,” Lonardi states. I tested this claim with a search for my desired destination, the dive operator type and month of departure, and Diviac returned an impressive list of top-rate operators, with the rich filters allowing you to narrow down the number of results in order to find the best match for your vacation. Each listing has prices, images and descriptions. There’s a plethora of information at hand, offering highlights of the trips, the type of diving one can expect, and a look at the accommodation. Geared for divers, the site offers the customer the chance to know exactly what they are getting into before they purchase.

Each destination page hosts a detailed breakdown of information, from listing the best time to go, to what the country is like. Divers can even use the specific marine life calendars to see what they will be able to encounter month by month.

Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of what Diviac offers is the Virtual Travel Agent, which allows divers to select a month they want to travel and an animal that they want to see. Diviac will then take in that information, and in a flash return with where they can see that particular animal, from the likelihood of seeing the animal, to the air temperature. It’s the divine guru of online booking and is the most user-friendly platform for divers that UW360 has encountered.

The Future

“In one word: eco,” Lonardi says. To sustain the diving industry, we need to protect the oceans. Online booking platforms like Diviac are aware of that, and are actively changing the way that they do business to help the cause.

“We deeply care about our oceans and want to do more to protect them,” Lonardi says. “We have already started to partner with leading NGOs and research centres like the Manta Trust and Bimini Sharklab. The goal is to help these organisations in raising awareness and money to guarantee a future for our oceans.”

So, the future seems bright for the dive travel industry, with websites like Diviac allowing consumers to make better, more-informed choices, and giving operators the opportunity to provide the best service possible to their customers.