Meeting the Blue Manta

14 Sept 2025

Welcome to Ambon!

Wet, rainy Ambon:

Where were were picked up by the Blue Manta crew in the rain and driven out to the dock.

They gave us ponchos:

…though some worked better than others…

Leaving shore:

Welcome to the Blue Manta!!!

The dive platform sits just above the waterline, and is where we’ll get on and off the dinghies.

There are showers and a bolted down table for setting gear on so it doesn’t get washed away when the waves wash over the deck.

Up the stairs is the dive deck:

where my gear will live (at station 3) for the next week and a half:

I think it was Michael who I first saw do this, but the lid of the seat is heavy enough to hold your boots upside down so they have a chance to drain, and while they’ll never fully dry, they did not stink until almost the end of the trip!  …though I did find an earwig on them one morning and screamed.  I hate earwigs!

From the dive deck you can access either the camera room:

or take the long hallway that leads to the dining room:

There are 4 cabins on this deck just beyond the dining area, down that hallway, and a hatch that leads up to the bow.

Back on the dive deck, if you take this staircase up:

You end up at this bonus eating area:

There are 6 cabins up here, 3 on each side- my room is the first one on this side:

This room is all mine!

I totally expected to end up with a random roommate (and almost did, but she wanted her own room and paid extra for it), but since I was willing to share, my cost remained the same.

I’ve got my own bathroom:

and look at those views!

Which bed do I sleep in!?

Also, the beds had under lights, which I appreciated- enough to see, but not so bright as to blind you at night.  All rooms also have a speaker, so instead of a crew member making the rounds and either knocking on doors or ringing a bell when it’s dive time/meal time, they just play a little music and then make their announcement… not sure how I feel about that yet.

Manta towel!

I’m on a boat!

My boat also has a sun deck, but that hatch is currently closed due to the rain.  I went up a couple days later when it was sunny and grabbed this shot:

Moody rain:

Even though it feels like I’ve been up forever with all the traveling we did yesterday/this morning, it’s actually only breakfast time:

So we ate and set up gear and waited for the rest of the guests to arrive and napped and ate some more:

The plan was to do one dive today, but the rain has stirred the harbor up pretty good, so we’ll skip that:

My gear was all set up and we had several hours til dinner, so I took a nap.  Hopefully that doesn’t throw off my sleep tonight, but between the limited sleep on the plane and all the sick people, I want to make sure I’m as rested as possible before this part of the trip begins.

After dinner, we left the protection of the harbor:

and hit the open ocean:

Farewell, land (and internet)!  (my boat does have Starlink available for purchase, but I kind of like disconnecting.  If we get close enough to land, I may get a cell signal, and that’ll be enough for me)

Leaving the bay, the waves were quite choppy- despite taking meclizine, I can definitely feel the movement of the boat from my upper-deck room and started to feel a bit nauseous, so I called it an early night.