Ambon is fast gaining a reputation as an unmissable muck diving destination, with a density of amazing underwater critters to rival Lembeh. The Twilight Zone is the main Ambon dive site that repays repeat visits
Day 1 of our Banda Sea trip on MSY Seahorse saw us getting some easy but deeply rewarding dives in at Ambon’s premier muck site, The Twilight Zone. A standard looking muck site – shallow slope with trash and murky viz – The Twight Zone is unreal – there are so many different, and usually super hard to find, creatures here that it is a serious rival to the quality of muck diving in the Lembeh Strait.
Wonderpus © Chris Mitchell
Wonderpus © Chris Mitchell
To prove my point: almost as soon as we hit the water on our very first dive, we encountered a wonderpus within seconds of submerging. It was not particularly bothered by the clutch of excited divers heading towards it, and spent several minutes with us before disappearing into the sand. We did all four dives for the day at The Twilight Zone, and while we didn’t see the wonderpus again, we encountered clown frogfish, Coleman shrimps, stonefish, seahorses, ghost pipefish, demon stingers, leaf fish, mantis shrimp, reptilian eels and tiny cuttlefish – astounding. For photographers, it’s a simultaneous dream and nightmare – a dream because there’s so much to photograph, and a nightmare because there’s never enough time to take a photo of one thing before the guide is banging his tank again on sighting another discovery.
It’s worth having a look at Tony Wu’s excellent multimedia presentation about scuba diving Ambon for a more comprehensive look at the area.
Nudibranch © Chris Mitchell
Frogfish © Chris Mitchell
Clown Frogfish © Chris Mitchell
Clown Frogfish © Chris Mitchell
Honeycomb Moray, Cleaner Shrimp And Cleaner Fish © Chris Mitchell
Demon Stinger © Chris Mitchell
Leaf Fish © Chris Mitchell
Stonefish © Chris Mitchell
Moray Eel © Chris Mitchell
Shrimp © Chris Mitchell
Reptilian Eel © Chris Mitchell
Crab © Chris Mitchell
Cowfish © Chris Mitchell
Cuttlefish © Chris Mitchell
Cuttlefish © Chris Mitchell
Seahorse © Chris Mitchell
