“There were many highlights! Our dives on sites like Magic Mountain, Four Kings, and Blue Magic were probably the greatest of my life.
I will never forget the sense of action and energy at these sites as tens of thousands of fish surrounded us, sometimes obscuring our view, sometimes producing a noise like underwater thunder when massed schools (silversides, fusiliers) would react as one to the predatory sallies by trevallies and jacks.
Nearly as amazing were the numbers and colors of the sea fans, soft corals, and sponges (especially at the Misool sites).
The topside scenery of jagged, rainforest covered, limestone islands was nearly as awesome as the diving, especially when we took sidetrips into the winding channels and shallow lagoons separating some of the islands.
It was incredible to wake up in the morning in a sparsely inhabited wild place with the only sound being the dawn chorus of the birds! The Kira Kira itself was nothing fancy – no air conditioned cabins, and no frills.
But there were plenty of comfortable bean bags on the shaded upper deck to lie down on while waiting for the next dive – or to sleep on during clear starlight nights.
The meals cooked for us by culinary genius Muly were some of the finest I have ever eaten in Indonesia. The 8 guests, 5 crew, and 2 divemasters quickly established an easy rapport as we moved from one amazing site to another.
Alex and Claire were wonderful underwater guides, showing us pygmy seahorses, mushroom coral pipefish and other macro wonders, while keeping an eye out on the blue for passing tunas and sharks and always making our safety their highest priority.