The Banda Islands, situated in the deep Banda Sea, are perfect destinations for live-aboard trips throughout Indonesia.

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The Banda Islands (Kepulauan Banda) offers absolutely stunning surrounding with beautiful island backdrops and many volcanoes. The three main islands Banda Besar, Banda-Neira (Naira) and Gunung Api are only 130 kilometers southeast of Ambon, in the middle of the Banda Sea, Indonesia's deepest sea. This chain of islands is considered to be the original and first island renowned for its excellent spices, mainly nutmeg and mace, colonized by the British, Dutch and Portuguese. There are still many historic sites such as the remains of cannons, colonial residences and palaces, all reminding of a wild and dangerous history. Because of the heavy monsoon winds, liveaboard trips tend to go only in between the wet and dry season when the seas are calm in October, December, March and April. You can fly from Ambon with a small local charter (Merpati Airlines) or take the ferry, once every two weeks to stay on some of the nice but basic lodges in Banda Neira.

Once again the Banda Islands are as remote as you can go in Indonesia. There are many nice wall dives, superb coral reefs, loads of marine fish and your boat and crew will be the only humans in kilometers. Some of the underwater creatures special to this area are the flash light fish around the five small atolls of Lucipara and the many banded kraits, a kind of sea snake, around the active volcano Gunung Api. Other inhabited well known islands are Pulau Run, Pulau Pisang, Pulai Ai and Pulau Hatta, surrounded by simple shallow reefs. There are many other small uninhabited pieces of land famous for muck diving and snorkeling.

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