The Maluku Divers Resort is a dedicated dive facility conveniently located on the shores of Ambon’s best muck diving region “The Twilight Zone” in the village of Laha. A unique mix of traditional Maluku architectural designs and the desired comforts of a modern boutique resort, the bungalows are nestled amongst mature mango trees which offer both shade and a tranquil ambience.

 

The resort was designed and built specifically with divers in mind, focussed towards convenient opportunities to enjoy the unique marine life to be found in Ambon Bay. The concept for the bungalows is to embrace and showcase the character of Ambon, while offering both comfortable and well planned facilities. The resulting bungalows are considered the most unique and interesting accommodations in the whole of Maluku. Throughout the extended planning phases developing the resort, the Maluku Divers design preferences were to build within the natural surroundings, so as to have as little impact to the environment as possible, while absorbing the ambience and benefitting from the fresh ocean breezes which sweep through the location.

 

 

There was a specific intention to minimize impact to the waterfront location and the bungalows have been positioned in such a manner that none of the significant number of mature trees on the plot had to be felled. The result is a resort with a fusion of design and comfort, apparent throughout the ten cool, bright and airy waterfront bungalows.

 

Each individual bungalow covers over 60 square meters and incorporates a large living area, private bathroom, hot water shower and a large covered private wooden terrace. Each of the bungalows has uninterrupted views to the ocean. The Maluku Divers Resort is air conditioned and has the trademark enormous luxury beds and custom made furniture, which ensure a comfortable and peaceful environment, for rest and recuperation after long and interesting dives.

 

As further evidence of the design philosophy, “built by divers for divers”, in this case underwater photographers, each bungalow has an individual editing table for each of the divers to check over images collected during each intriguing day of diving, and to prepare the cameras for the following dive. These camera tables are equipped with convenient charging stations, especially handy for photographers who prefer to work in privacy rather than the large communal camera room.

 

The restaurant, bar, and kitchen are situated in a traditional roof beachfront complex, with a pretty open air patio from where divers can enjoy meals and drinks beneath the stars.

 

This dive area starts to highlight the resort’s focus on photography, as it is also home to the large communal camera room and pre and post dive lounge area. Camera fiddling tables and wet camera tables lead down to a convenient and large guest dive equipment area, with freshwater dive showers and a number of large camera rinse tanks.

 

The Maluku Divers Resort is undoubtedly the most unique accommodation to be found in Ambon and also within the Maluku Province.

 

 

Though the resort is comfortable and offers a pleasant backdrop for diving, the team recognises that the chief attraction is the incredible creatures making their homes in Ambon Bay and the surrounding areas. As a result the Resort Management has developed and continues to improve the facility. Muck diving may be the focus of the resort, due to the proximity of some of the world’s best muck diving sites, but there are also interesting topographical sites, coral slopes, fish soup sites in addition to the large shipwreck in Ambon.

 

The majority of dives in Ambon are boat dives, predominantly due to the convenience of diving different sites away from the resort. Divers drop in with their guide, complete the dive, which, depending on depth, experience and air consumption is generally a period of around 75 minutes, before surfacing and being picked up by the dive boat. Usually sites are relatively shallow and guides will only bring divers past 30 metres if specific critters have been located. As critters such as the flamboyant cuttlefish inhabit the slopes of the twilight zone up to the surface, even the safety stop can be considered part of the dive.