White Manta

White Manta is a 46-metre steel vessel that carries divers around eastern Indonesia all year round. The operator is the Singapore company White Manta Diving, whose fleet also includes Blue Manta and Manta X. The operator itself calls the hull “New White Manta” — that is how every line of its schedule is labelled — but the name painted in large letters on the bow and along the sides reads White Manta, and that is the name it sells under. Dark blue hull, white superstructure.

It is one of the largest purpose-built dive vessels in the region: RINA class, 46 metres long, 10 metres wide, around 580 tonnes displacement. Two 450 hp Cummins engines, three gensets, two watermakers producing 10 tonnes of fresh water a day each, 45,000 litres of fuel and a 3,000 nautical mile range. Hence the geography: the ship comfortably runs Sorong to Kaimana, Manado to Ternate, Ambon across the Banda Sea to Raja Ampat — routes wooden phinisi cannot do. Cruising speed 10 knots.

There are fourteen cabins, all en-suite, all with individually controlled air conditioning and all around 20 sqm. Six sit on the upper deck (C1–C6), four on the main deck (C7–C10) and four on the lower deck (C11–C14); upper and main deck cabins have proper windows, the lower deck has small blinded windows. Cabins C9 and C10 on the main deck sleep three — a rare layout that suits a family or a group of three. The schedule sells a maximum of 20 places; the operator says it takes up to 24 guests on some destinations and on a full charter.

The crew is 20 people: two captains and deck officers, three engineers, five dive guides, two chefs, a masseuse, two hostesses, a cruise leader with an instructor rating and four dinghy drivers. There are four tenders, 5.8 metres with 60 hp outboards, so groups go in small batches. Photographers get their own kit: an enclosed dry camera room, a wide work table on the dive deck, blow-dry stations and a four-photographers-per-guide ratio.

Five meals a day, Western and Indonesian cooking, buffets and plated dinners; there are two dining areas — air-conditioned indoors and open on deck — plus a saloon with sofas and a bar on the main deck. Satellite Wi-Fi runs around the clock but is paid: 35 USD for a 10 GB card. There is massage, laundry and hot fresh-water showers, including on the dive deck.

Two things about money are worth knowing in advance: the trip price excludes two compulsory payments the operator collects before departure — the marine park and harbour fee, and the fuel surcharge. Together they run 450 to 650 USD per person, and the amount depends on the route: Triton Bay and the Lembeh — Halmahera round trip are cheapest, the Misool — Fak Fak — Triton Bay and Raja Ampat — Halmahera — Lembeh crossings the most expensive. The operator states plainly that the rates are dynamic. Two more items are compulsory — dive insurance and travel insurance: without them you are not taken on board. Nitrox, rental gear, alcohol, massage and internet are settled on board at the end of the trip.

The operator describes the required level the same way on almost every route — Intermediate to Advanced — and publishes no formal minimum number of logged dives. Lembeh and Sambit bank are the gentlest: there the wording is “beginners to advanced”. The hard rules are elsewhere: a dive computer is compulsory for everyone, no-decompression diving and no solo diving are the policy, maximum depth is 35 m, and guests are asked to stay at 20–25 m and always shallower than their guide. In the Banda Sea it is three dives a day instead of four — deeper dives, longer crossings. Anyone treated for decompression illness in the last twelve months, or with a condition affecting fitness to dive, needs a doctor’s clearance before boarding; the operator also warns that many sites are a long way from the nearest recompression chamber.

The vessel goes into dock and announces it in advance: 17–27 August 2027 and 14–30 August 2028. There are no trips in those windows. Single occupancy costs 20% on top of the trip price, and on White Manta it is offered on the main and lower decks only — never on the upper deck.