Dive the Banda Islands

Pohon Miring

You will likely begin this dive by dropping in onto a sloping reef which runs down beyond 30 metres, where it begins to flatten out. The slope features a mixture of hard and soft corals and you may spot a bumphead parrotfish or two rubbing shoulders here with its smaller cousins such as emperor angelfish, red-toothed triggers and a variety of damselfish.

The first point of interest here is a large almond-shaped swim-through ranging from about 12 metres depth at its ceiling to 30 metres at its floor. It is more or less a single file swim-through if you wish to avoid bubbles or contact with nearby divers or sessile life. Barrel sponges, soft coral trees and sea fans line the interior.

The walls are also studded with small sprouts of orange coloured dendronepthya soft corals, a common feature on Banda Sea dive sites. Emerging from the swim-through, your dive will then become a wall dive with your left shoulder to the wall, which again features many of the barrel sponges, tubastrea coral and large sea fans that characterise this region.

Gentle currents are common here and you will likely find yourself gliding along the wall, keeping an eye on the blue for larger fish like bumphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse, and the other eye on the colourful oranges, yellows and pinks festooning the wall. Ultimately the wall comes to a point and cuts left and normally currents run either side of the point, meaning you may not make it quite that far.

On other occasions the prevailing current might push you away from the point into the blue, in which case you can make your way along the reef flat which features a lot of rock and good finger holds. Here you can cling on and watch the myriad fish enjoying the current. Sweetlips, black snapper and various other individuals hang in the current, sometimes in vast numbers enjoying the passing bounty.

Pohon Miring Reef Basics: Wall dive
Depth: 5 - 30m
Visibility: 15 - 30m
Currents: Moderate - strong
Surface conditions: Normally calm
Water temperature: 26 - 29°C
Experience level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving season: March, April, and mid-September to mid-December
Distance: 3 km (20 mins) east of Banda Neira
Access: Banda Sea liveaboards

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