Indonesia has recently reopened its borders to international travellers, and now the luxurious Arenui liveaboard has returned to sea to offer spectacular, sumptuous cruises around some of Indo's best diving areas.
The Arenui explores the waters around the Komodo National Park, taking in dive sites and landscapes from Bali right across to Flores and Alor, from May to October. Then, in November, the vessel moves towards Ambon and the Spice Islands in the Banda Sea as it works its way towards Raja Ampat. It then cruises Raja Ampat from December through to April.
The Arenui itself is truly eye-catching. It is a Phinisi – a classic Indonesian wooden sailing vessel – but with all of the mod cons you'd expect from a five-star liveaboard. The hull was constructed by over 50 local craftsmen in South Sulawesi from traditional ironwood, and the superstructure was then completed in Java and Bali. Incredibly, more than 70 percent of the wood used to build the boat is recycled wood – in fact, many parts of the Arenui are made from recycled Javanese houses!
Much of the next four to five years is already booked up, but there is limited availability between July and September on some stunning cruises:
5-16 July 2022 – Komodo-Alor
17-26 July 2022 – Alor
27 July-7 August 2022 – Alor-Komodo
9-16 August 2022 – Komodo Focus
18-26 August 2022 – Komodo Focus
27 August-3 September 2022 – Komodo Focus
17-27 September 2022 – Komodo Focus
Marine biologist on the Arenui
The icing on the cake? Marine biologist Jose Castellano will be on board during the summer cruises!
Jose is a biologist from the south of Spain who has spent the majority of the past decade diving all over Indonesia.
As a dive guide he took thousands of people below the sea to explore its many beauties. For hours he found himself explaining to people what they had seen; how creatures interact with their environment and how they all form part of the same enormous ecosystem as ours – Planet Earth.
His next step was to combine his academic knowledge and his passion for diving by developing an educational programme to inform divers about what they encounter below the surface. After several years on liveaboards around Indonesia he continues to enjoy seeing divers gain understanding of marine life and consequently, enjoying their trips even more!
On the trips joined by Jose, it will follow the schedule of a regular Arenui trip, with the addition of a series of marine biology talks. His role as a biologist on board is to help you to get familiar and to understand better the marine environment. Aside lectures, he will assist you between dives to answer your questions and uncertainties about the marine life you just encountered.
Indonesia has one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. The amount of different species we can encounter here is difficult to find elsewhere, and so Indonesia is the perfect place to learn about the marine environment.
