18 Sept 2025
Good morning from the Banda Islands!
There’s a small town here- it’s a hub for the ferry system- and some people are getting cell service. I haven’t been able to connect yet, but maybe as we get closer to town?
Also, my guts made it all the way through the night and I think I might be able to graduate past toast!
Some guides draw site maps, others use pre-printed maps… Cedric uses random breakfast stuffs to construct 3D maps:
Dive #16 – Pohon Miring
My camera seems to be working again, but now the vacuum sensor is throwing an error. I gave it a new battery but that didn’t fix it. Since I didn’t bring the manual (note to self: print off a cheat sheet for the next trip) and I don’t have internet to look it up, I just double checked the seal before closing up the housing, made sure it was still holding vacuum after breakfast and hoped for the best.
Redtoothed triggerfish:
Yellowface angelfish:
Longnose hawkfish:
I didn’t see them when I took that picture, but there were two others just off to the left (I cropped them out).
Another little hawkfish on the next coral over:
Swim through with tons of bigeye fish:
Spotted boxfish:
Blackspotted puffer:
LEAF FISH!!!
Tiny lobster with a GIANT mustache:
Threespot angelfish:
Moorish idol:
Look at those eel teeth!
Speckled filefish:
Fire dartfish:
Lined surgeonfish:
Scythe triggerfish:
Poor guy is missing an antenna:
Sailfin tang:
Phyllidia coelestis:
Thysanozoon nigropapillosum on Phil’s pointer stick:
and reattached to the coral:
Notodoris gardineri:
While we were relocating the boat for our 2nd dive, a pod of dolphins joined us!
There were dozens of them!
playing off the bow:
I tried so hard to get a shot of their head:
but alas
only backs
Farewell, splashy friends!
Dive #17 – Selat Pisang
When Redtoothed triggerfish get scared, they dive head first into a hole in the coral:
That guy totally would have dove in, but the hole is occupied.
Clown triggerfish:
Spotted stingray:
A whole pile of little catfish:
These guys always come in packs!
Regal angelfish:
Latticed butterflyfish:
Another leaf scorpionfish!
Phyllidia coelestis:
Goldbelly damsel:
Nemo outside his anemone:
I’ve only seen these guys in other people’s pictures, but finally! my very own Mosaic boxer crab!!!
Look at his little pom-poms!!!
Spotted boxfish (male):
CHEEEEEEESE!
Dive #18 – Batu Kapul
So. Many. Redtoothed triggerfish!
Honeycomb eel:
This eel has an injured lower jaw 🙁
Creepy banded coral shrimp hanging from the ceiling:
Soapfishes!
I love their chin appendage!
Juvenile emperor angelfish:
Twotone dartfish:
The smallest Pseudoceros bedfordi I’ve ever seen!
Those are grains of sand- he was like a little Tic-Tac crawling around!
There are 2 scorpionfish in this picture:
One relocated so he’s easier to spot- I like the little frills on his chin:
Pennant bannerfish:
And a little lionfish:
After this dive, we entered the harbor of Banda Neira:
Hopped on the dinghies:
left our boat:
and headed ashore:
It started sprinkling as we reached the dock and started downpouring as we sprinted off the boats for shelter. Fortunately, it passed quickly and we were able to continue our tour:
through a lush green tunnel:
Roosters:
Banana tree + papaya tree:
Nutmeg tree + nutmeg inside:
photo from Phil
I had no idea they were so vibrant on the inside! I’ve only ever seen the nut dry!
They make a super tasty nutmeg jam here on the island- there was a jar on our boat and we absolute demolished it in the few days we’ve been aboard so far.
Creepy spider:
Back when this part of Indonesia was under Dutch control, this was the only area where nutmeg is grown, so this fort, Belgica, was built to help fortify their position here.
Cannon just laying outside the fort:
Volcano Api in the background:
Do we trust the sketchy ladder?
If only I could read Dutch…
Looking down over the town we just walked through:
That little speck toward the right side of the harbor is our ship:
This fort is a cool pentagram shape:
I’ve been thinking about getting a drone for a while now- an overhead shot of this place would look really cool!
You can climb the turrets for an even better view!
(but the opening is a tight squeeze- one of the people from my boat smashed his head trying to fit through)
Yup, really wish I had a drone!
Farewell, fort!
Back down into town:
We stopped briefly at an old church:
Dutch East India Company (VOC=Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) inscription on the threshold:
A simple interior:
with tombstones on the floor:
But, we’re hoping to do a night dive tonight, so it’s time to head back to our boat
The sun is beginning to set behind the volcano:
Dive #19 – Molana
As soon as we splashed, my guide started pointing out all sorts of pipefish! I love pipefish! But when I fired up my camera, it gave me a memory card error. Again.
Ugh. So frustrating.
I signaled there was something wrong with my camera and went to stow it, figuring I’d just deal with no pictures, but we just splashed, the boat is still there, and we’re really shallow so my guide asked if I wanted to go back up and fix it.
So I did something a bit crazy: I went to shallows, found some rocks to stand on between the sea urchins and opened the housing. I managed to remove the camera, reinsert the memory card several times until it finally registered, and close it all back up, without dropping anything into the harbor! I mean, the housing alarmed all dive because I dripped a few sprinkles onto the leak sensor, but the camera worked!
I even found my own pipefish as I went back down to join my group!
Razorfish:
Sleepy blackspotted puffer:
Juvenile midnight snapper:
Pile of little goatfish:
Little lobster, big mustache:
Little octopus!
he blended into the sand so well, it was hard to get a decent shot of him:
Little Zebra lionfish:
with the prettiest pectoral fins!
Shortfin lionfish:
I was initially taking a picture of that “big” banded pipefish (he’s about 2″/5cm long)- I didn’t even see those 2 even smaller ones until after I loaded this picture onto my computer:
Another Zebra lionfish:
his pectoral fins aren’t quite as ornate (or intact) as the first:
Hypselodoris zephyra or nigrostriata, I think:
Chromodoris strigata:
Sleeping porcupine fish- I know better than to disturb these guys!
Banded pipefish:
Banded coral shrimp, with eggs!
Banded coral shrimp, without eggs:
Zebra lionfish:
I love their pectoral fins:
Some fish sleep nestled in the rocks:
Others among trash 🙁
Peacock mantis shrimp, on the prowl:
and finally, a devilfish, with legs:
Since this is the second time I’ve gotten that memory card error, I’m beginning to think it’s a faulty card, not a camera issue. Fortunately, I’ve got a spare card so I swapped that out- fingers crossed that solves the problem!