How to Make Friends While Turning Green at Sea, My Indonesian Liveaboard Saga

When was the last time you got on a plane at 1:30 in the morning? It’s been a minute for me, and I don’t like it. Unfortunately, it was the only direct flight I was able to get from Denpasar, Bali, to Manado, North Sulawesi, in Indonesia. The idea is to stay a couple of nights and then travel across the island to jump on a boat in order to spend 13 days crossing the equator down to Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia. I get seasick really easily, so I’m hoping the odds are with us and we get calm seas.

Getting there

I usually go to bed at 9pm, so staying up until 10:30pm for the shuttle was a challenge in itself. But at that time of night, traffic was easy peasie. It’s a domestic flight, so I had to wait a bit for check-in to open, but not long. It was really weird being in an airport that was almost completely closed for the evening and therefore very empty. Then I was surprised when they didn’t weigh my carry-on luggage.

You see, most airlines in Southeast Asia do this thing where they weigh your overhead bag and your under-the-seat bag, and both combined can’t weigh more than 7kg. That’s like nothing! That’s like a laptop, Kindle, and an extra pair of drawers. And you can’t just pay more like when your checked luggage is overweight. They will check it. Period. It took me days to get my backpack empty enough to satisfy the requirements… and then they didn’t even weigh it!

My backpack looked so empty that they probably didn’t see a reason to weigh. My jacket, however, was filled to the brim with an electric toothbrush, heavy electronics, and all my liquids. That went right into my backpack once I was through security… but then, just before boarding, I noticed that gate agents were weighing luggage and checking them if they were over 7kg… better put back on that heavy jacket!

There’s food!

Once we were in the air, I was really surprised that there was food service. It’s a two-hour red-eye flight on a super budget airline. And good food too. I got the fried rice with an egg on top. Noms. Weird. The flight was so empty that I was able to spread out and get some sleep. And just like that, we landed with no issues. I grabbed a taxi at the airport (after confirming a reasonable price… I think it was double what I could have paid if I had bartered… but it’s not even 5am, I don’t know Indonesian, and it’s only a couple of dollars).

The golf resort I was staying at was very pretty with a massive open lobby. Add to that, the person at the desk was so nice and let me into my room super early (for a small fee). My assumption was that I would be sitting by the pool until my room was ready at 2pm, so I was so excited to get even more sleep. Shower and sleep and then breakfast buffet! And not just any buffet, but Indonesian buffet, which is so delicious and mostly gluten-free, so I can eat a ton of new and exciting things.

Here’s the thing… I’ve been chasing a swimming pool for over a year now. I thought I had one in Puerto Escondido, MX but it belonged to a different hotel. I was going to use one in Seattle, but I got Covid. And then, I was positive that the homestay in Bali had a pool. They were building a pool (which was really cool to watch, but I didn’t get to use it because of storm related delays) but did not have one yet. So, I was extremely disappointed to get down to the swimming pool at this fancy golf club only to find it closed for the day for maintenance. Sigh.

Are the meds working?

I guess I’ll head into town instead to see what’s the what. There are these gorgeous pictures of bridges in Manado that I’m determined to see. And food will be cheaper than eating at the fancy resort. A free shuttle whisked me through traffic into the city… to a giant shopping mall (with an A&W of all things!… that served Korean fried rice of all things!)… with the promise of a pickup at 8pm.

Best laid plans and all that. I walked all over the downtown area but could never get a single good view of the bridges. Just glimpses. People were very excited to see someone so out of place, and I got a lot of “hellos” and waves and stares, especially from little kids. I finally gave up and found a wonderful warung for some spicy chicken soup (Soto Ayam). Noms!

The next day, per my doctor’s instructions, I put a motion sickness patch behind my ear. You see, with the prospect of possibly being seasick on a boat for 13 days, I had my doctor in Seattle hook me up with some of those behind the ear motion sickness patches. He said to try one out the day before the trip to make sure it was fully working prior to getting on the boat.

I don’t feel so good

Within a couple of hours of putting on the patch, I started to get a mild headache. I usually get tension headaches after traveling, so I wasn’t immediately concerned. But then the mild headache slowly morphed into a full blown migraine, which I haven’t had in years. And then I started to get nauseous… and my skin started to weirdly tingle… and it was so much worse than seasickness!

Off with the stupid patch! Within 30 minutes, I started to feel better, but my evening was shot. I just stayed in bed, exhausted. Luckily, I was better by morning because, at the lunch buffet, I spotted some scuba-diving-looking peeps and they asked me to join their table. We would all be on the same boat together! There was a lot of discussion as to when the shuttle would pick us up because my itinerary said 11:30am and they were thinking noon. They suggested we all side with 11:30 so nobody gets left behind.

Good call, as pickup was 11:30am. Sharp! Unfortunately, some didn’t get that memo, and we waited for a good 20-minutes for stragglers before leaving someone at the resort. They did eventually make it to the boat, though. It took about an hour to travel across the island, where we loaded up some dinghies with humans and luggage for a brief ride to the bigger boat that would be our home for the next two weeks.

Snorkel!

The rest of the day was spent eating, chatting, sorting cabins, setting up scuba gear, and getting to know everyone. 16 crew and 15 guests. That’s a lot of names to memorize! The boat had just come out of dry dock and needed a few tweaks but nothing major (or so I thought!). That first night we stayed on anchor. I was totally freaked out that I would get seasick, but the boat hardly moved and I did fine, thank goodness. The next day started absolutely gorgeous at 6am with a clear shot of one of the island’s many volcanoes.

The scuba divers jumped into dinghies and headed for the first dive site, while I stayed behind (I don’t dive, but I love everything about it) with a gentleman who wasn’t feeling well. We had a wonderful chat on the boat’s fabulous upper deck. I could get used to this! Once the divers returned, we all sat down for breakfast. I could really get used to this!

After another dive and lunch, the wife of the gentleman who wasn’t feeling well talked us both into going for a snorkel. One of the dinghy drivers dropped us off near a random island, and off we went. I have never in all my life seen so many different types of anemones! And clownfish and crown-of-thorns and feather-stars and corals and so many amazing looking fishes! It was truly incredible, and I’m so glad she talked me into it. Friends for life, for sure!

Is this for real?

You can’t even imagine how gorgeous it is out here in a bay next to a tropical island with palm trees and lush vegetation. Sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee, listening to music while watching the Pacific Ocean. How is this my life? The only thing that would make it better is not spotting all the plastic bags and bottles floating past. Is that a croc!?! Yup, but the shoe, not the critter. I keep thinking I’m spotting jellyfish, but nope. Indonesia (like a lot of countries) has a bit of a trash (plastic) problem, but they are working on it. It’s complicated and won’t be solved overnight.

The divers are doing four dives a day, starting with a 6am mini-breakfast. I’m not diving, so I get to sleep in… but I still want that mini-meal (plus the dive briefings are hilarious with lots of fun banter), so I’m up by 6:45am for that. After they gear up and leave, I get the entire upper deck to myself to relax and read or type to you lovely folks. Have I mentioned it’s gorgeous out here? Once the divers are back, we all sit down for breakfast, where I get to hear all about the amazing sea creatures they saw. Every site is different as the boat moves from place to place.

Around 10:30am, the divers dove again, and I enjoyed the deck to myself while I watched a storm system slowly make its way across the island of Sulawesi. Just before the divers got back, the boat captain comes out, looks around, and states, “The rain is coming” all deadpan. Ominous! This is the tropics, so weather can change at the drop of a hat. It did start to sprinkle, but nothing too bad… yet.

Snorkel!!

After they got back from diving, my new friends and I ate lunch fast and headed out on a dinghy for another snorkel. That’s when it started to rain… but it doesn’t matter because we are already wet. No worries. I was absolutely floored that this snorkel site had completely different critters than the last site, which is not that far away. Still gorgeous corals and anemones but different colors, sizes, and shapes. The lady spotted a green nudibranch, making it the first one I have seen in the wild. How cool is that!?! And a pretty christmas-tree worm that quickly sucked back into its hole as a snorkeler got near!

After flagging down the dinghy driver to pick us up, we headed back to the boat, where we realized it had really-really rained on them. The covered deck and all the loungers were soaked (rain goes sideways in the tropics!) and we had fun pouring it dramatically out of the cloth tops. At least the boat is in a protected area within the Strait of Lembeh, so I’m not getting seasick at all… knock on wood.

At 2:30pm, the divers go on their 3rd dive of the day, while I enjoy the deck and the views. Once they get back (and get a welcome non-alcoholic drink and snack from the crew), the books come out and they show me pictures of all the amazing things they saw, while they catalog it in their dive logs for future reference. Around 6pm, we all enjoy the sunset, and then it’s time for the night dive. Different creatures come out at night… or so I’m told… I’m not snorkeling in that! One diver offered me a spare light for night-snorkeling. Nope!

Are we going to die?

Now, on a typical dive boat, that would set up the daily routine for the rest of the trip as we work our way between different dive sites and islands in the same general region. But this liveaboard is different because we are moving the boat from the Northern Hemisphere in Bitung to Sorong in the Southern Hemisphere to enjoy the Raja Ampat area during the dry season. Unfortunately for us, the anchor winch is not functioning after being drydocked, and they are waiting for parts before we move the vessel into the open ocean. Everyone really wants to get to Raja Ampat, which is amazingly gorgeous.

And unfortunately for me (but not for him), one of my new snorkeling buddies is now well enough to scuba, which is the reason he came. That means I’m snorkeling all by myself. Okay, technically I have a dinghy driver close by to pick me up when I’m done or if I get swept out to sea. It is weird (and slightly less fun) to snorkel all by myself. On the one hand, I get to stop and look at whatever for however long I want. On the other hand, I don’t get to show it to anyone. No worries. I’m still having fun.

After a few days asking the cruise director, “any news…?” and him replying, “it’s coming… it’s always coming… <sigh> it’s the most common answer in Indonesia”, we finally get news that they have the parts. In Bitung, they brought a few people onboard with parts to fix the winch as the divers went out on a nearby night dive. Asked if he thinks it’ll get fixed tonight, he replied with a small chuckle, “They don’t know it, but those guys aren’t leaving the boat unless the winch is fully functional.”

With the anchor winch finally fixed, we were off… and into the open ocean with some serious swells. There were a lot of things sliding around (including people!) and stuff knocking over. At one point, I was sitting in a lounger on the deck, and my entire view alternated between nothing but sky and then entirely ocean and then sky again. I thought the boat would tip over. To say the least, I got super seasick. Projectile vomiting off the side of the boat, seasick. Would not recommend.

The stops

Throughout the crossing, we would stop for the day to scuba dive in calmer seas, and I would snorkel by myself. I saw a ton of large blue sea-stars and trumpetfish and pipefish (in a swarm all around me!) and Nemo’s (clownfish) in all colors of anemones and Dori’s (Blue Tang or Blue Surgeonfish depending on who you ask). And… and… and… I saw the biggest shark I have ever seen! A massive eight-foot black-tip shark swam past down in a trench! What a shock to see. I had to work to get my breathing under control as I was shaking so hard after that! I’m all by myself! So many horror movies come to mind (when in reality, coconuts kill more people than sharks, so why the fear?).

Then I got really lucky one day because one of my original snorkel buddies decided to snorkel with me off Banana Island while his wife scuba’ed. We had a fabulous time, and he pointed out another nudibranch to me that I would have never seen on my own. Thanks, new friend! And we saw a massive Napoleon Wrasse. They are so big! We also did a drift snorkel where the current slowly carried us along in front of these gorgeous cliffs, and we watched the show until we found a current-free zone to explore. It was amazing.

Later on, he is going to scuba and I’m going to snorkel by myself. The current is strong in the area, but the cruise director says I’ll be fine as long as I don’t go to one side of the island, which is blocking the current. In theory, I shouldn’t get swept out to sea. Well, I must have mistaken which side he was talking about, because I had the dinghy driver drop me in where the divers went in, thinking that was the side. So wrong!

I got so lucky, because just then my new friend popped up from his scuba (the current was ripping) and joined me. We did fine for about three-minutes but the current kept getting stronger and stronger… and it was taking us around that corner we were absolutely not supposed to go around. We quickly went from snorkeling to needing to be picked up, but there were no dinghies in sight.

Are we going to die this time?

We swam and swam and swam against the current, but there is only so much you can do. Now, mind you, I only have snorkel gear and fins. No floatation device of any kind. My new friend filled up his scuba BCD, I grabbed on to his arm, and around the corner we went into the open ocean. That was scary! He put up a bright red safety-sausage (I should get one of those) and a dinghy driver spotted us right away.

That current took us fast and far before we jumped into the boat. Then we spotted another safety-sausage way out to sea and off we went. The thing is, the scuba diver we picked up was in the same group as my new friend’s wife along with my travel companion. She was actually his assigned buddy, so we were both instantly worried. The lady had gotten split up from the group and swept out to sea by the current.

The dinghy driver took us all to the big boat and rushed back out to pick up stray scuba divers out in the drink. It was crazy stressful, but everyone made it back safe and they all had a story to tell. Down drafts! Washing machine! Separation anxiety! Open ocean! Holding on for dear life but running out of air! Getting smashed into stinging hydroids! They were (mostly) all cursing Banana Island after that. Off we went to cross more ocean.

Will I ever feel better?

For the next crossing, someone suggested I take one of my dreadful motion-sickness patches and cut it into eighths. I tried it and I did much better. Still a bit sick but not bad at all. We finally made it to Raja Ampat, and they were not kidding. This place is absolutely gorgeous! It is out of this world with tiny green islands and calm seas. Not the best snorkeling right now with the weather and unusually poor visibility, but having the boat deck all to myself on occasion is lovely.

But let me tell you about this amazing solo snorkel I had off Boo Islands. I got dropped off on top of a couple of divers, so I got to swim through their bubbles. The curtain of bubbles is all effervescent and tickley but the big bubbles are the best. They expand as they come up such that they become big rounded mirrors under you. It’s really pretty.

The divers disappeared into the deep, and I wandered in between two pinnacles where I spotted a large sea turtle munching on the coral below. Sea turtle!!! That was my spot for the next twenty minutes. There was a current, so I had to keep slowly kicking but without too much effort. So many fishes and coral and I even saw a massive brown striped grouper. Fish were all coming up to me to check me out.

Sea turtles!!!

But then… but then… this juvenile sea turtle shows up and starts swimming toward me. That gorgeous creature came right up to my face as we both stared at each other. It was the coolest thing! Then I watched him chill at the surface and breathe for a bit before the current carried him further out. Pure magic. Can you believe this is real life!?!

Reality set back in for a bit when I got internet on the boat and realized that my credit card had been compromised back at the golf resort in Manado. I very rarely use that card, and the desk agent wrote down my CC number to reimburse some charges. So either he made fraudulent charges or he didn’t shred that piece of paper and someone found it in the trash. The card has been canceled, but it will be a pain to get a new one all the way on this side of the planet. Sigh. At least I have backups. On we go!

We traveled into southern Raja Ampat near the island of Misool, doing dives along the way. So then… so then… we get to a site where the divers are going to be doing some spelunking! ‘Cave diving’ for all you peeps who don’t watch horror movies. You dive down to a hole in the limestone cliff, wander inside to follow various paths to caverns and sinkholes carved out over millions of years of water runoff. Think cenotes and try not to freak out.

I asked if I could snorkel, and the cruise director cringed and shrugged. The current gets really strong here, so it’s easy to get swept out to sea. But me and my dinghy driver have a very good connection at this point, so he’ll just pick me up if that happens. I’m so glad I went because I got to watch as the scuba divers’ bubbles disappeared into the cliff wall, and the wall was stunning with all manner of sea life. Absolutely gorgeous! And… and… and… I saw another sea turtle, which makes me happy.

Jellyfish!

After the spelunking (which sounded both amazing and scary), it was on to jellyfish lake. You might have heard of the popular one in Palau (technically, Palau has 5 jellyfish lakes, but only one open to visitors). Well, Indonesia has a few as well. The various types of jellyfish in the lakes have evolved to no longer need or have stingers. If you are careful (and don’t wear any sunscreen or lotions), you can snorkel with them without causing them too much damage.

The challenge is getting to them! It was a strenuous vertical hike up into the island and then down to the lake in the middle. The water was crazy warm and brackish, so floating was easy peasie. I was instantly surprised that there were big fish in the lake. Plus a whole lot of jellyfish mucus and algae. Kind of gross, but also super amazing to be floating around with millions of jellyfish of various sizes. And tiny black sea-stars! And maybe catfish!?!

After the challenging hike back, I jumped into the ocean with my snorkel buddies to clean off and see some massive clams and sea-cucumbers. So many colorful creatures of all different shapes and sizes! Just wow! Then it was back to the boat and off to the island of Batanta, near our final destination of Sorong, West Papua. Have I mentioned that Batanta has saltwater crocodiles?

I’ll miss you all

Well, I generally don’t like to snorkel in areas that have saltwater crocs. Just as a mild safety guideline. But the cruise director said that they have never seen crocs in this particular spot. They were skipping a different spot further up the island because a tourist got ate there a while back. I’m snack-size and snorkeling solo. This does not make me nervous at all. Sigh.

I squashed my fears and snorkeled up and down the beach. Visibility wasn’t great (not helping my overactive imagination!) but I had a great time. And I spotted a couple of my favorite scuba divers, which is always fun! Diver-fish! I’m going to miss these beautiful reefs. Now it’s off to Sorong to spend the last night in the harbor drinking and singing and giving metals to all the Iron Divers (those who did every single dive).

While I should have gotten an Iron Snorkeler (as I did every single snorkel), the cruise director said I slept too much for that honor. Fair. Catching that mild cold that made its rounds through the boat didn’t help. But I do like sleeping in. Speaking of which, I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t get up at 6am the next day to say goodbye to all my new friends catching flights. The seasickness got to me again the night before, and I ducked out early. I’ll miss you all, and thanks for all the chocolate!