Journey
Recommendations
Cick here to find a brief of what we recommend to consider when having decided to
come.
For more, keep on reading further down.
What shall I take with me to a SMY
ONDINA Cruise?
Just a few things:
- Most Important: Check your visa Requirements. Since February 2004, Indonesia has changed the Visa requirements for many countries. Some nationalities can get their visa on arrival, some others must bring the visa issued by an Indonesian Embassy. On August 2005 Visa-On Arrival was extended from 21 countries to 35 countries - cost for these visas are US$10 for a stay of up to 7 days, US$25 for a stay of up to 30 days. On top of that you passport must be valid for a minimum period of 6 months .....CHECK IT OUT!!
- Your diving equipment and all spare parts you may need.
We have limited number of equipments for rent and plenty
of spare parts onboard but only for SCUBAPRO gear.
- Photography equipment and plenty of films (plenty,
remember you can develop onboard), memory cards for your digital camera, although you may empty them on a CD with the rewriter onboard.
- Mosquito repelent, just in case we need it in any land
excursion (never on board)
- Any specific medicine you may be taking (No need for
Malaria treatment unless you are extending your stay in a malaria endemic area!). We have a complete First Aid Kit on
board for light accidents.
- Your personal toiletries
- Light and comfortable clothing (shorts & Tshirts)
and any kind of shoes you can soak for coming in and out
of the dinghies when going ashore.
- Your favourite alcoholic drink from the Duty Free shop
at the airport. We only have softdrinks and beer onboard.
- They are usually very strict with overweight when checking
for the domestic flights. You may have to pay a variable fee per kilo if you exceed the 20Kg allowed, so bring the minimum with
you.
What is the water temperature? What
suit do I bring?
The average water temperature is around 28ºC but in some
areas, like south Komodo, the temperature can drop to 23-24ºC.
Normally a 3 or 5 mm wetsuit will be sufficient.
Why only 3 dives per day?
Some days we dive 4 times, some others only 2, this makes an average of 3 duves/day. The reasons for this are:
SMY Ondina sails an average of 200-300 miles in every charter (except for the Exploratory ones where we sail a longer distance)
to take you to the best diving places, this forces us to sail
from 2 to 4 nights every cruise.
We normally go ashore 2 or 3 times during an 8 days cruise
to visit spectacular places in our popular land excursions.
These days we can only dive 3 times.
Moreover, in such a long cruise, with so many dives and
having to fly the same day when disembarking or the day
after, it is not convenient at all to saturate so much for
safety reasons. Embarking and disembarking days we can only dive 2 times.
The rest of the days we normally dive 4 times unless weather conditions or any unexpected.
Are all dives Drift Dives?
This is the black story about diving in Indonesia. The country
is too big to generalize and our routes cover a very big
area. Most important, our Dive Masters knowing the divers’
skills and interests in every cruise, specially when there
are uw photographers onboard, will plan the most suitable
dives to satisfy the whole group.
In every route you will find drift dives, a maximum of
50%, but only 10%-15% will be with strong currents and
in these cases, don’t worry because our dinghies crew
are prepared for them.You will also enjoy shallow dives,
muckdiving, seagrass meadows, coral gardens, walls and hangouts....diversity guaranteed.
What, where and when about
money to bring.
Euros and Dollars are widely accepted in Indonesia. You only
have to be cautios with bringing brand new paper money, not
a single scratch or ink mark, or you will have problems to
have them accepted. The best exchange rates are in Bali but
take care with some “money changers”, count your change
twice before leaving the shop.
In the boat we accept cash in rupiahs, euros and dollars, sorry no credit cards yet) and apart
from that you will only need some small money for
handicrafts when visiting some villages....most reccomended!
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