SS Duke of Sparta Wreck in Ambon

SS Duke of Sparta wreck in Ambon Bay Coralia Liveaboard Indonesia by Debbie Arriaga

In Ambon Bay there is a little-dived shipwreck and there’s an interesting story behind it. The wreck lies with her stern at around 15 metres and her bow down at 35 metres. It is a huge ship, and the wreck is over 100 metres long. Due to the wreck being close to the busy port of Ambon, the visibility is rarely great! But the shipwreck is intact and covered in amazing coral growth. Sponges, hard coral, and soft corals, along with the wreck itself have created amazing spaces for a wide variety of marine life. The mast and the upper parts of the wreck are covered in colourful soft corals. It’s in these areas where the light will be best […]

5 Fun Facts about Frogfish

Painted frogfish

Frogfish are found almost everywhere around the world. They are fascinating fish. This is why we are going to give you our favourite five fun facts about frogfish! Frogfish have their own fishing rod! Frogfish are members of the anglerfish family Antennariidae. They are also known as anglerfish. One of their dorsal spines is a lure. At the end of the lure is a bait. The bait can look like a small fish, a shrimp or a worm. In the photo above, the frogfish is wiggling its bait shaped like a worm. The frogfish can dangle and flick its lure in front of its head. Its prey will approach thinking there’s a tasty snack to be had. Once close, the […]

Pygmy Seahorse ‘Santa Claus’ & its Friends

Santa Claus denise pygmy seahorses in Raja Ampat with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Santa Claus Pygmy in Raja Ampat There is a very special little seahorse who lives in Raja Ampat. It is red and white and particularly popular on social media at this time of year! It is of course the Santa Claus Pygmy Seahorse! The Santa Claus pygmy seahorse is actually a special colour variation of the Denise pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise). When they are born pygmy seahorses are released into the water column by their father pygmy. Like all seahorses it is the male who carries the brood. The tiny baby pygmies will float around in the currents for two to three weeks. They will then settle on a gorgonian sea fan of their own. Once the little pygmy settles […]

Black Water Diving

fish circeling a jellyfish with black background

Black water diving is a special type of night dive. Typically a night dive is close to shore, either on a reef or sandy slope. On a black water dive you will dive in deep open water and wait for platonic creatures to come floating past on the currents. What’s Black Water Diving like? This kind of night dive is a very specialist type of dive, usually attracting photographers. It involves hanging out under the boat, in the black water, and waiting to see what floats by. Marine life that scuba divers could see on a black water dive are usually very small. We are looking for planktonic creatures, most of them in their larval or juvenile stage of life. […]

Shrimps in Indonesia

Harlequin shrimp with its blue spots

Shrimps in Indonesia Shrimps in Indonesia come in all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. There is a wide range of amazing shrimps that can be found while scuba diving. Coralia Liveaboard can take you on cruises all over Indonesia. We can find you some of these magnificent shrimps! This article is more like a gallery of shrimps. Because what can we say about shrimps, except they are totally wonderful and fun to see! We will show you some of the more common shrimps. Plus the weird and wonderful ones that are a bit harder to find and rarer to see! Squat Shrimp Squat shrimps (Thor amboinensis) are a fairly common sight in Indonesia. They constantly wiggle their bums and so […]

Juvenile to Adult – the Amazing Transformations of Fish

Adult barramundi cod with corals with Coralia Liveaboard in Triton Bay in Indonesia

Juvenile to Adult – the Amazing Transformations of Fish There are so many fascinating things to see in the ocean. One of the most intriguing is the difference between the adult and juvenile stages of some fish. There are some fish who completely transform and you wouldn’t believe that it is the same fish! In this blog we will show you some great examples of the most often encountered fish with the most outstanding transformations.

Marine Life Cleaning Stations

Coral grouper at a marine life cleaning station in Raja Ampat with Coralia Liveaboard in Indonesia

Various marine life regularly visit cleaning stations. A cleaning station is where a special type of cleaner fish or shrimp live. At these areas on the reef these cleaners offer their services! On a scuba diving liveaboard in Indonesia, such as Coralia Liveaboard, you can witness this amazing behaviour at many dive destinations. In the photo above a coral grouper has a cleaner shrimp inside its mouth. We find it amazing the trust between the cleaners and the fish. One big gulp and this shrimp could be a tasty meal for the grouper!! Coral groupers are a regular on the reefs in Raja Ampat and other places like Komodo. They are usually quite shy fish but here our Cruise Director […]

Critters in Indonesia – Weird and Wonderful Creatures

a dark red Rhinopias sitting on rubble ground

Indonesia – A Critters Paradise Indonesia is a great place to come scuba diving to see weird and wonderful critters. Some divers already know about the existence of some of these creatures and they are on their diver’s bucket list. Others have never heard, let alone seen, of these strange underwater creatures. We have put together a list of the best weird and wonderful critters in Indonesia. This list is according to Coralia’s favourites plus the ones that you are quite likely to see during a liveaboard cruise with us! Rhinopias – The Holy Grail of Fish! Our cover photo is of a paddle-flap scorpionfish or rhinopias (Rhinopias eschmeyeri). Many scuba divers consider this elusive fish the holy grail of […]