Molucca Festival '97, Postscript

Waterlogged Date: 3/30/97

Well, the film is shot, the dives are done, the prizes have been awarded, I am once again drydocked in Dallas, and the 1997 Moluccas Marine Festival is history. The entries were outstandingly good and the judges' selections elicited no cries of "I wuz robbed". The big winner in this festival was Monique Walker of Switzerland, with seven awards out of a possible nineteen. A partial list of the winners is as follows: Wide Angle - 1st -Doug Hoffman of Hawaii, with a diver with sponge; Animal Behavior - 1st -Wolfgang Fuchs of Austria, with a lizardfish being cleaned; Close-up - 1st - Monique Walker of Switzerland with a shrimp on featherstar; Best of Show - 1st -Monique Walker of Switzerland with a shrimp on featherstar and Governor's Cup - Monique Walker of Switzerland. The allure of prize money is certainly a reason for entering contests like these, but the real value comes in meeting talented people from all over the world interested in a similar pursuit, in this case diving and underwater photography. From the judges to the competitors to the organizers, I enjoyed meeting and sharing our common interests and made friends which will last far beyond the limited time we were able to enjoy together in Ambon. This reporter managed only a fifth place in Wide Angle, out of the money, but I still feel I came out a winner for the new friends and experiences I shared. After the closing ceremonies of the festival, the diving in Ambon was not finished. The trip to the near- mythical Twilight Zone, king of the Muck Dives in Ambon, was not to be on this visit. The wind direction and velocity took the renowned muck from the bottom and distributed it throughout the water column, and the surge just insured no macro photography would succeed until it calmed. We had to resign ourselves to the normal dive sites visited by the Ambon Dive Center; which as it turned out, were outstanding. I finished another week with ornate ghost pipefish, blue ribbon eels, bold mantis shrimp, bizarre-looking nudis, swarms of fusiliers, huge bump-head parrotfish, and even a manta ray as my underwater companions and willing (mostly) models. Oh yes, I did have a few air breathing companions, too. An attraction of Ambon diving is the complete lack of crowds. Sites I visited three years ago are still beautiful, and nowhere did we share this beauty with anyone not in our boat. As an aside, I also had the rare experience of experiencing an earthquake underwater while buddying with Becca Saunders, the head judge of the festival's underwater photo contest. Just a small tremor, really; but it sounded like a boat starting up and coming over. But when we looked up, there was no boat. Later that night in a restaurant in Ambon over some incredibly good Chinese food, the TV news announced that Ambon had felt a minor quake that day. I guess you could say the diving was so good that the earth moved for us. For those wanting to visit Ambon, Garuda Indonesia Airlines will begin a new route from Denpasar, Bali direct to Ambon around the end of April. This will greatly ease the journey. Up until now, Merpati offered the best connection available to Ambon, and did not offer a direct flight. The potential for excess baggage charges and somewhat irregular deparures made this a bit of an adventure. Accommodations for diving in Ambon are best arranged through Ambon Dive Center. The Santai Beach Resort offers the best accommodations and food at this time, and though it is not convenient walking distance, the dive center does provide transport. The Lelisa Beach Resort, where I stayed, is a short walk to the dive center, but it suffers from a lack of maintinence. Still bearable and a pretty property, though. The Ambon Dive Center plans to build a resort which will offer guests a complete package, lodging, food, and diving in one location. They have already bought the property, and will begin construction on a forty bungalow beach resort soon. Report by Woody Mayhew

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