EcoXplorer

Raja Ampat out of Sorong, split by the operator into North, Central and South itineraries, with a seven-night Central and North route as the flagship. This is where the vessel worked as a patrol boat before her conversion, and where her first research voyage surveyed reef health across North Misool and Werur with YKAN and the University of Papua.

Run in both directions, Manokwari to Biak and Biak to Manokwari, on trips up to nine nights. The draw is the resident whale sharks that gather at the fishing bagans, paired with WWII wreck diving near Manokwari. Few operators schedule this bay at all.

Three routings: Saumlaki to Ambon, Ambon to Saumlaki, and Ambon round trip. The Ring of Fire crossing through volcanic islands and historic nutmeg ports, with hammerheads the reason most divers book it. Teon Nila Serua, an even less-visited group, is offered separately.

Ambon is a listed embarkation port for the Banda Sea legs, and the diving in the bay itself is muck rather than reef. Silt, sponge and rubble, worked slowly. It is a useful acclimatisation stop before the open-water crossings, and with eighteen guests running from two tenders the group can be split between critter hunters and everyone else.

Halmahera sits in the Maluku half of the programme alongside the Banda Sea and Teon Nila Serua. The operator also runs a Wallacea biodiversity and cultural expedition, which is closer to a field trip than a dive cruise and reflects what the boat was rebuilt to do.

Triton Bay is reached from Kaimana and is the most remote water on the schedule. Soft coral cover is the point, visibility runs lower than Raja Ampat, and whale sharks gather around the fishing bagans. Very few boats work this ground. On a vessel where the charter fee funds conservation rather than an owner, this is the stretch where that argument is easiest to see.