In 2020, life has taken a turn none of us would have expected and pandemic has hit us hard, as much as many people and businesses all around the world. But Jakaré is full of resources, and 2021 has signed the start of a new journey! Our program is filled with new explorations and revised routes, so that our adventures together can keep being better each time. We’re pleased to get you to meet the latest addition to the family: a mind-blowing trip around the famous Halmahera, North Moluccas. A twelve-days cruise, starting from sensational Misool, South of Raja Ampat.
Jelly fish Lake, Lenkafal, Misool, Raja Ampat.
Currents get to their peak, dragging us along the brightest colours, crossing path with massive schools of barracudas, giant trevallies, bump head parrot fish, and all other kind of wrasses (no jokes… they were so many we can’t name them all!). A wise man once said: “the best way to observe a fish, is to become a fish” (yes, you’ve guessed it right, we are indeed speaking of Jacques-Yves Cousteau – whom else?!). Well, dear captain Cousteau, we could not agree more with you. It is there, swept away by the tremendous
Indonesian underwater flows, hovering over reefs that seemed shiny from the multitude of small sparkling creatures laying down at the bottom of it, that we could start feeling our own fins growing. How can you want to get back to the surface when you get so close to something so magical? This is probably a question we’ll never find an answer for…
By the way… Did you know Pisang meant banana in Indonesian?
After Misool, full North navigation
Then heading towards the deserted beaches of Pisang Island and its wonderful unexplored (and therefore untouched!) Dive sites. Those three little islands couldn’t be more welcoming… They offered, on our very first dive there at the dawn of light, the sight of dozens of gray reef sharks wandering around in current (they love it at least as much as we do, if not more…). But these beauties weren’t the only inhabitants of what we later decided to call “The Gray Surprise” (an umpteenth good reason to do exploration dives: you get to name dive sites!), A crowd like we’ve never seen one before of red tooth trigger fish was also there, dancing on top of the colorful reef as if they were expecting us. Imagine for just a second… The sun rising at the horizon, gently getting its nose out of the water, providing us with colors we wouldn’t even dare to dream of. That is a mind-blowing, breath-taking way to start a day, isn’t it? The two following dives leveled up what we thought could not get any better: jumping in the water two-days before the full moon is an incredible feeling…
Itinerary of our expedition, from Sorong, West Papua, to Ternate, Halmahera.
A cockatoo with its mum, Pigaraja village, Halmahera.
Man working with the spices, Pigaraja, Halmahera.
Welcome to North Moluccas
Although we were sad to leave our “Banana” Islands, we were thrilled to arrive to our next stop, Pigaraja and its captivating dive sites overflowed with small creatures, full of marine life. “Kopra Wreck” made us (almost) forget our previous stop… A vessel lying down at 25 meters under the surface, that still has its former engines and helm. On the upper deck, around 20 meters, an army of lionfish, scorpion fish, devil scorpion fish, twin spot lionfish, and many more, had replaced the former crew. Moving further, getting past the wreck, a sandy slope sprinkled with bustling coral reefs: from the mesmerizing nudibranchs, to the ever-color-changing cuttlefish, without forgetting the cute seahorses and pipefish… We’re telling you; our photographers guests came back up with cameras full of treasures! Diving is amazing, we are pretty sure we can all agree on that, but what about the land life? We got lucky enough to visit a traditional village, surrounded with rice fields, banana plantations, papaya and pineapple trees, meet its inhabitants and more specifically its playful children and their parrots. It was such a blast to share some special time with them, get to know their culture and food better, and they even got us to visit their school! Our guests arrived with the arms full of notebooks, pens and pencils so that the kids could let their imagination and creativity go. Everyone seemed so happy, we thought our hearts were going to burst! meet its inhabitants and more specifically its playful children and their parrots. It was such a blast to share some special time with them, get to know their culture and food better, and they even got us to visit their school! Our guests arrived with the arms full of notebooks, pens and pencils so that the kids could let their imagination and creativity go. Everyone seemed so happy, we thought our hearts were going to burst! meet its inhabitants and more specifically its playful children and their parrots. It was such a blast to share some special time with them, get to know their culture and food better, and they even got us to visit their school! Our guests arrived with the arms full of notebooks, pens and pencils so that the kids could let their imagination and creativity go. Everyone seemed so happy, we thought our hearts were going to burst!
Kolam Hati Jetty, Dafalen, Misool, Raja Ampat.
Underwater swim-through, Red Doors dive site, North Goraici Islands, Halmahera.
Jelly Fish Cave, Misool, Raja Ampat.
When hopping from a water strait to another, you can always feel the current speeding up. As if the sea itself was impatient to see what was on the other side of the channel… Reality is, we must concede, much less poetic, and the reason of this water rush is nothing else but a change of shape and depth of the topography. We, on the other side, were actually impatient to discover what was on the other side! And what a delight! Diving the splits, going through half-covered channels, sharing the area with eagle rays and Napoleon wrasses teasing us with their brightest smiles.
Yuliet Kecil, paradisiac beach, Misool, Raja Ampat.
Sunset during a long navigation between Misool and Pisang Islands.
Balbulol Lagoon, Misool, Raja Ampat.
Patintie, the dives into the current
We felt so lucky, but Jakaré is like you: a traveler! Moving onto our next destination, we went through the Patintie strait, jumped from island to island, being more and more dazzled by the charming dive sites and the quality of each of our underwater experiences: shallow waters filled with thousands of anthias, healthy vibrant hard corals, multi-coloured reefs… They are no words to actually describe what we saw there jumping in strong currents, getting down to a scenery fed by a dramatic topography and massive boulders. We really felt like being in a playground, where even our old friends the reef mantas came by to say hello.
End of the travel with a 7 Volcanos lign
Every good story has an end… Ours was on the Northern part of the Moluccas, and we got to tell you… What an end! A highly volcanic area with wild landscapes and breath-taking views fuelled by the 7 volcanos islands aligned emerging near Ternate. We could not have asked for more (and we are pretty sure you wouldn’t either!). Fancy a ride on board? We’ll be happy to take you there next year!
Coral Reef, Kusu East dive site, Patintie Straight, Halmahera.
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