Dive Advice Travel - Your Liveaboard Specialists - World's Finest Diving - White Manta Explorer | Indonesia dive liveaboard

White Manta Explorer

A word from Dom : " The White Manta is large & stable with plenty of room for divers and all of their equipment. She is simple, functional & super-spacious .... well-suited those of you who want to dive, dive, dive .... ".... Dominick Macan

ON BOARD WHITE MANTA EXPLORER

6 upper deck DOUBLE / TWIN cabins
1 double bed, 1 twin bed & picture window
2 main deck TWIN cabins
2 adjacent twin beds & picture window
2 main deck TWIN cabins
3 adjacent twin beds & picture window
2 lower deck TWIN cabins
2 adjacent twin beds & a port window
2 lower deck DOUBLE cabins
1 double bed, 1 twin bed & a port window

Each features individual air-conditioning, ample storage & a private bathroom.
up to 4 dives per day
diving from tenders
12 liter alu tanks (DIN & INT valves)
15 liter aluminum tanks (at extra cost)
scuba gear rental available (tell us in advance)
nitrox available
water temperature: 80 - 86F, 27 - 30C
3mm wetsuit recommended
accommodation & diving
meals, snacks & hot beverages
compressed air, weights & weight belts
12 liter tanks
transfers from local airport or local hotel (Bali hotels excluded)
international & domestic airfare
soft drinks, beers, wine & Nespresso coffee
marine park & harbor fee
nitrox
onboard massage services
scuba rental gear
WIFI satellite internet connection
possible fuel surcharge

STEEL-HULL COMFORT & SPACIOUS SURROUNDINGS

Stable,roomy and reliable in Indonesian waters, the White Manta is a good choice for extended itineraries to the most distant regions of Indonesia. The top sun deck offers an immense partially covered area for sunning and relaxing and watching the spectacular scenery. The upper deck features 6 large cabins behind the bridge with picture windows and a covered outdoor dining area at the aft. On the main deck, in addition to four more cabins with windows, you'll find the functional salon & indoor dining area. The salon has a digital media center, sound system and widescreen plasma TV for your entertainment. The lower deck offers 4 more cabins ... to bring the total to 14.

White Manta Explorer's dive deck is also large & equipped with camera-friendly facilities: individual rinse tanks, wide outdoor work table, indoor dry camera room & blow-dry stations. Special attention is given to photographers by doing everything possible to ensure small dive groups - 4 photographers with 1 guide - whenever possible.

Meals will feature a blend of Western and Asian cuisine. If you have dietary restrictions, please let us know when you book. The chefs will do everything possible to meet your needs.

LAYOUT & SPECS

Deck & cabin layout ... Yacht specifications ... Equipment & safety features ..... open

DECK PLAN

new white manta layout opt

SPECIFICATIONS

Length overall: 152 ft (46 meters)

Beam: 33 ft (10 meters)

Main engines: 2x Cummins 450 hp

Generators: 3x Cummins

Cruising Speed: 10 knots

Range: 1,500nm

Accommodations: 22 passengers in 14 air-conditioned cabins situated over three decks with private bathrooms and showers. Up to 20 crew members.

Safety Equipment: Life rafts (3), life rings/strobes, life vests/strobes, emergency position locator, flares, oxygen and first aid equipment

All cabins are fitted with speakers, fire and smoke alarms
All sound proof wall panels are made of fire retardant materials
Furuno Radar, GPS plotter, Echo Sounders, Auto pilot, AIS
SSB radio, VHF radio, SART, EPIRB
Standard Fire Fighting Equipment
3 x 30(pax) Life Rafts
Life Jackets in all cabins
Fire Extinguishers
Satellite Telephone & Wi-Fi
Night Watch Security

Air Systems: 3 compressors with nitrox membrane, producing 32% nitrox, bank storage

Tenders: Rigid hull inflatables (4), used for passenger transport and diver pickup

Accessories: Diving Equipment

ITINERARIES

The White Manta Explorer offers 3 main itineraries: a) Raja Ampat, where the best time to dive is from October to April as there is less rain & little wind b) Ambon, Banda Sea & Forgotten Islands, where the best time to dive is from March, April, & mid-September to December c) Sangalaki, Maratua & Kakaban itinerary, offering year round excellent diving.

See a quick overview of each region .... open

Raja Ampat - Indonesia's shining underwater star, Raja Ampat has something of nearly everything a diver could want. You’ll dive channels, plateaus, walls & caves … and just plain mud, for the delight of “muck” diving. You'll swim amongst great swirls of fish and feast your eyes on sponges & corals in scintillating colors. You’ll meet up close & personal, everything from pygmy seahorses to colossal manta rays.

Ambon - If you love crazy critters, Ambon is hard to beat. Get your lens ready for rhinopias, pegasus sea moths, countless varieties of frog fish, seahorse, flamboyant cuttlefish, ghost pipe fish and star gazers. Lesser known is the south side of Ambon, which features great colourful walls, caves, swim throughs and healthy reef life with large fish … and more critters.

Banda Sea - In the Banda Sea, you'll find clear waters full of masses of fish & loads of invertebrates ... plus alluring critters. As to topography, you'll find shear drops, huge pinnacles, great walls ... all covered with rich & thriving corals which attract diverse fish life. Add to that, visiting pelagics and you have a magical mix.

Forgotten Islands - The dive sites vary greatly, with many presenting exciting pelagic encounters and large, swirling schools fish ... while others offer up weird and wonderful creatures hidden away in healthy, colorful corals. You get, at one end of the scale: stargazers, stonefish, ghost pipefish ... while at the opposite end jacks, giant trevallies, barracuda, hammerhead sharks, and on certain trips, divers are treated to a salt-water crocodile at one site!

Derawan Archipelago: Sangalaki, Kakaban & Maratua - You do some spectacular diving "away from the crowds" ! Sangalaki is famous for large aggregations of manta rays who use the region as a cleaning and breeding ground. Kakaban offers the unique fresh water Jellyfish Lake ringed by mangroves. Also, sheer drop offs and walls attract big schools of trevally and barracuda and, if you're lucky, also hammerhead, grey reef and black tip sharks. Maratua is an action-packed destination.The walls that surround this island attract massive schools of chevron barracuda, trevallies, thresher sharks and more ....

READ ABOUT INDONESIA DIVING

YOUR CRUISE LOGISTICS

RAJA AMPAT

Raja Ampat trips start and finish in Sorong, West Papua. Boat representatives will meet you at Sorong Airport (SOQ) and transport you to the liveaboard. It is easiest to fly to & from Sorong (SOQ) via Jakarta (CGK), Makassar (UPG Ujung Pandang), Bali (DPS, Denpasar) or Manado (MDC). You'll leave port by 5pm the first day and the last dive ends by 12pm on the day before you leave the boat. After breakfast the final morning, it's time to transfer to the airport.

AMBON, BANDA SEA & FORGOTTEN ISLANDS

There are several different embarkation & disembarkation points for the Banda Sea diving safaris. Some trips begin or end in Raja Ampat (Sorong) and others in Flores (Maumere). The most common access is from Ambon. Wherever your trip starts and finishes a representative will be there to collect you at the airport on the day of departure and transfer you to your departure airport at the end of your trip. We'll provide all the details for the specific itinerary you've chosen.

SANGALAKI, MARATUA & KAKABAN ITINERARY

You will need to get a flight to Balikpapan International Airport (BPN), Kalimantan, Indonesia. Daily flights are available from Singapore or Jakarta by Silk air, Garuda or Lion Air. We highly recommended overnighting in a hotel near Balikpapan Airport and taking one of the scheduled morning flights to Berau (BEJ) on trip departure day.Embarkation and disembarkation for the Sangalaki itinerary are from Tg.Batu pier, Derawan. From the airport at Berau (BEJ), it's a 2 hour journey to the boat. You'll be met at the airport or your hotel for your free transfer to the boat and departure will be by 6.00pm in the afternoon. On the last day the yacht returns to Tg Batu Pier at 6am. After breakfast guests will be transferred to Berau (BEJ) Airport (transfer time 2 hours) in time for their check-in and flight. Garuda and Lion Air have morning flights back to Balikpapan from Berau, which will allow you to meet connecting flights in the afternoon back to Jakarta or Singapore.

FIND AVAILABLE SPACES & BOOK YOUR WHITE MANTA TRIP

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