You're cruising in the Flores Sea, far from the madding crowds... You've flown into Bali, boarded the M/V Komodo Dancer, spent your first night cruising through these absolutely incredible islands, enjoyed your first day of diving, and are watching a wonderful sunset from the upper deck.  

As the sun dips below the horizon, the first few tentative stars appear, and your thoughts stray toward a cocktail, dinner, and some nightlife.  But, on the Komodo Dancer, "nightlife" usually consists of either dusk or night dives, and even very experienced divers should expect more than a few surprises and new critters to add to their photo lists and logbooks.

Here's just one example; the tiny Zebra Crab.  It's about ¾ of an inch long (2 cm), and lives and crawls ON the spines of Sea Urchins!  It uses two of its legs to hang on to the spines, and forages for food with the others.  Brilliantly striped and colored to blend into the urchins, they are numerous but tricky to find.  The staff of Komodo Dancer will be happy to lead you right to them in the Nusa Kode area (Kode is one of the 4 major islands and innumerable smaller islands which make up Komodo National Park).

Although the habitats vary on different dusk and night dives, it certainly comes under the heading of “muck diving” for most of the evening adventures.  Volcanic sand, seagrasses, and just about anything else are the backdrops for finding exciting and unusual critters. 

Diving in the Bali/Komodo areas of the Flores Sea offer more marine species than just about anywhere on the planet.  The Caribbean has 7 species of Angelfish; Indonesia, 83! And you’ll find this diversity echoed in virtually every fish and invertebrate category!  You could devote a whole trip just to shooting nudibranchs and have to come back several times to get most of them!  

"Muck Diving" in Indonesia is usually done during Dusk and Night dives, so there ’s plenty of opportunities for small stuff.  Nudi's, frogfish, leaf scorpions, juveniles, stargazers, just to name a few.  And these fish and invertebrates are often endemic to just certain areas of Indonesia!

During the day, however, it's lush reefs, walls, mantas, drift diving, cuttlefish, and more.  There's a huge diversity of hard/soft corals that guests compare favorably to PNG.  Add to that a lot of unusual and dramatic reef structures, throw in the mantas and other pelagic encounters, and you can see why the Bali/Komodo National Park area is a diver's dream come true. 

The M/V Komodo Dancer is a twin-masted, schooner rigged Motor Sailer, locally known as a "pinisi", and caters to 14 special guests on each cruise.  Expect luxury accommodations and unmatched service, including massages.  You'll get your full share of diving, but also a couple of excellent land tours (Crater Lake and a stop for the Komodo Dragons, the largest lizards on the planet (9-10 ft. at full growth).  The dragons are carnivorous (also cannibalistic; they eat their young, who stay in trees until they're ready to rock and roll with the big guys). 

If there's one word (besides marvelous, exotic, unbelievable, etc) that truly describes the diving and travel experience to Bali/Komodo, it's "diversity".  From culture (which is among the kindest and friendliest on earth) to its underwater treasures, diversity rules. You'll dive in both the Flores Sea and the Indian Ocean.   Visibility ranges from crystal blue to mildly green depending on the specific area, tides, and what types of marine life you're looking for. Muck dives at dusk and night round out your diving on the M/V Komodo Dancer, and bring extra pages for your logbooks; there's an unbelievable number of new species to see, photograph, and treasure! 

ed.note:  Recent volcanic activity in Indonesia (a vast and sprawling archipelago) did not have any effect whatsoever on the Bali/Komodo/Flores Sea area. 

Limited space on both seven night and 10 night cruises is still available for the last four months of 2006, and it's certainly not too early to start planning for 2007.

Please call/email with your target dates and we'll do our best to get you onboard!
 

ATTENTION ALL GUESTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS:  HAVE YOU GOT A GREAT PHD STORY YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?

In years past, we've held an annual Photo Contest for photographers.  This year, we'd like to expand that and give everyone a chance to win a trip on the "Dancer of their Choice". 

So, hereÕs how itÕs going to work:Ê

1. ANY GUEST:Ê Please send us a story about an exciting (or humorous, or whatever) incident on a PHD Trip.Ê Limit is about 5-6 paragraphs (max 500 words).Ê TheÊBestÊStoryÊwins a Grand Prize.Ê Creativity counts!!!!ÊÊ

2.Ê PHOTOGRAPHERS:Ê Please send us your best pic (450 pixels x 300 pixels, 72 dpi), any subject, AND a 3-4 paragraph (max 300 words) description of how you took the shot.Ê The BEST PIC/STORY Combo wins another Grand Prize! Unusual counts!!!!

You may send all entries (and any questions you might have) to:Ê phddivemail@waterpath.com

More details in upcoming issues.Ê But this contest gives every PHD guest a chance to win, not just the photographers.Ê So, writers, fire up your creativity and get writing!
Ê Ê

In either Belize or Grenada, the summer and fall months usually feature the calmest and clearest water of any time during the year.Ê Of course, everyone knows this is also Tropical Storm/Hurricane season, so for anyone thinking of traveling during these prime times (and this is a very popular time to travel to the Caribbean), please review our comprehensive Storm Policy at:

http://www.peterhughes.com/HurricanePlan.shtml

This plan is in effect for Caribbean vessels during the entire official Hurricane Season of June 1st thru November 30th, and compensates you for any days of diving lost.Ê

PHOTOS, ANYONE??? ($ 250 per accepted photo on your next Dancer Trip)

Peter Hughes Diving is looking for some unique and high quality photos of our vessels and topside activities (no underwater, please).Ê Specifically, weÕre looking for:

1.Ê Shots of the vessels (underway or at anchor) that ALSO show island backdrops, views of the vessel from shore, etc.

2.Ê Activities: Briefings, Dinners, etc.ÊÊ

These should be very high quality images and shot on slide film or a minimum 5 megapixel digital camera.Ê

If you think youÕve got them, please email to Larry Speaker (larry@peterhughes.com) and describe them, or attach low res images to your email.Ê A $ 250 Fee for each photo accepted will be credited toward your next Dancer Vacation.Ê The photos will be used for a variety of marketing/promotion purposes for Peter Hughes Diving, Inc. and while you will retain ownership of the image, you will grant PHD full rights to use it for the future.