Banda Islands Diving

Pulau Keraka

Crab Island, as it is known in English, is a small rock islet located at the northern entranceway to the Banda Neira strait, and can be easily identified by its small lighthouse.

This Banda Islands dive usually begins on the south side with a drop down a near vertical wall which is blanketed by sea squirts in vibrant hues of blue and yellow. At about 20 metres the wall gives way to a sandy sloping bottom, featuring some big bommies amongst the sand patches. Generally divers leave the wall to their left shoulders as they make their way round the southern tip of the island heading north.

On close inspection all manner of interesting creatures can be found around the bommies. Yellow snappers and a small resident school of chevron barracuda are usually present, and some of the larger moray eel species have made their homes here - giant, honeycombs and snowflake morays. On the sand there are colonies of garden eels and every divers favourite - the titan triggerfish.

As you make your way around Keraka and into the shallower area, you'll find acropora corals and table corals, pinnate bannerfish, and all manner of small wrasses.

This Banda Islands diving site tends not to be subject to current as much as some of the others and, given its relative shallowness, makes for a nice, easy and pleasant beginning to your dive trip in the Banda Islands. Alternatively, you may elect to make a night dive here. The eels become active after dusk, and slipper lobsters, anemone crabs and hingebeak shrimp make their presence known around the crags and crevices.

Karnobol Reef Basics: Coral bommies and outcrops
Depth: 15 - >40m
Visibility: 20 - 45m
Currents: Gentle
Surface conditions: Calm
Water temperature: 26 - 29°C
Experience level: Intermediate - advanced
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving season: March, April, and mid-September to mid-December
Distance: ~9 km (40 mins) south of Banda Neira
Access: Indonesia liveaboard

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