Matt Oldfield
Muck Diving
Divers who visit the expanse of the muck sites in the Laha region, have often been astonished by the sheer number of species that a day of muck diving in Ambon can produce. Critters rare and unique choose to make a home in the rubble and black sand sites that make up the “Twilight Zone” on the slopes of Ambon’s expansive bay. Muck diving in the region has become legendary, and developed Ambon as a must visit destination in Indonesian diving.
Thanks to the location of the new Maluku Divers Resort, the muck diving sites are right on the doorstep of the resort facility. With just one resort on the shores of Ambon Bay, there exist very few other opportunities in the world, to have such incredible muck diving in such a convenient location, with so few other divers. The comparison between muck diving in Ambon and the Lembeh strait is inevitable, due the similarity in the diving and the critters to be found there, but one prominent photographer to fittingly labelled their Ambon experience as “Critters without Crowds”
Rod Klein
Rod Klein
Rod Klein
Rod Klein
The muck diving in Ambon is unique, but the experience is enhanced by Maluku Divers’ knowledgeable dive guides who understand the waters of Ambon better than any others, simply due to the amount of time they have spent under water at the sites. They know the whereabouts of the resident rhinopias, which have pegasus sea moths, countless varieties of frog fish, seahorse, flambouyant cuttlefish, ghost pipe fish and star gazers for company. Both professional and amateur photographers have claimed the Laha region is not only a rival of, but an improvement to the muck diving found at the Lembeh Strait.
Rod Klein
New Discoveries
As Ambon is explored in more depth, the unique habitats throw up many unusual critters, some unknown to science. Most famously in 2008, Maluku Divers discovered a new species of Frogfish whilst muck diving in Laha, once discovered, scientists that were informed about the fish named the new species Histiophryne Psychedelica . This fish could rightly be called the rarest fish in the world, as so far only nine individuals have been photographed, it’s possible to tell this due to the unique facial markings or each fish acting as an identification “fingerprint”.
In addition to new species, Maluku Divers is the only dive operation discovering new dive sites in Ambon. Sites such as ‘Rhino City’ and ‘Middle Point’ have become popular after being discovered since the resort moved to the new location. In fact, new sites are pioneered on a regular basis and some remain secret, so only with Maluku Divers is it possible to experience the best muck diving that Ambon has to offer. With years of experience muck diving in Ambon, Maluku Divers offers the optimum opportunity to dive in the region.
The convenience of the new Maluku Divers Laha Resort redefines the experience of muck diving in Ambon. Trips to the Twilight Zone are just a few hundred metres in an easterly direction along the coast from the resort, taking just five or six minutes to reach in the resort’s twin engine dive boats. The incredible dive site, “Air Manis” a jetty situated less than 100 metres to the West of the resort is a site which has thrown up a vast number of unforgettable images, not least due to the huge school of silverfish which take shelter there.
