May 2003 - Bali to Komodo Family Vacation

During May 2003 we took a one week family vacation aboard the Sea Safari III (see picture to the right), a 42 meter long (125ft) and 10 meter wide (30ft) wooden Phinisi Bugis Schooner (read about the history of the Phinisi) operated by Kararu Dive Voyages (www.kararu.com).  Although the ship has sails and is capable of being propelled by the sails we primarily relied on the engines. We were joined by our friends the Rusch family (Paul, Dawn, Jayce and Leo) and Stephanie Decker (Kimberly's 1st and 2nd grade teacher) and her son, Even.  There was only one additional passenger so we had the entire boat to ourselves (total of 10 paying passengers, normal capacity is 16 passengers), there was plenty of room for everyone considering the boat is 42 meters. We departed out of Bali and dived our way out to the Komodo National Park, diving at Satonda island (1st stop), Sumbawa island (2nd stop), Sangean island (3rd stop), and Banta island (4th stop).  While in the National Park we dive at Komodo island (5th stop) and Gililawa Laut island (6th stop).  On the return trip we stopped again at Banta island (7th stop) and Sangean island (8th stop), and then we continued on to Moyo island (9th stop) and our final stop was Medang island (10th stop) before returning to Bali. You can view our trip route map here.  Although the diving was good on the way out to Komodo National Park the best diving is actually inside the park.  We only have good things to say about this cruise.  Everyone had a fantastic time. Rather than repeat all the good things I have to say about this trip you can read my comments published in the article I submitted to the Undercurrent's 2004 Travelin' Diver's Chapbook.  If you are not familiar with this publication it's like a "Consumer Reports" type publication for dive travel.  They accept no paid advertisements and review dive resorts and operators incognito so they write unbiased reports.  Readers can submit reports of their dive travels which are published in an annual book.  It's a very good publication, if not already a subscriber you can visit their website at www.undercurrent.org.  You can also read other readers comments about their experiences aboard the Sea Safari III which are generally consistent with my favorable comments (2003 Chapbook reviews, 2004 Chapbook reviews). Sea Safari III Photo Slideshow Below you can view a slideshow of the photos taken on this trip or view the photo album here.  However since early 2002 my primary passion has been shooting underwater videos.  I've also posted the underwater videos from this trip for your viewing pleasure.