Based out Bitung in North Sulawesi, Ocean Rover offers dive cruises focusing on the best of North Sulawesi and the Sangihe-Talaud archipelagos to the north, Pantai Selatan to the south of Lembeh,  the Northern Moluccas including Halmahera to the east, and Raja Ampat on the western tip of West Papua.

In North Sulawesi, the dive areas include the Bunaken Marin Park, renowned for its deep coral walls, and the Lembeh Strait, world famous as a muck fivers haven. The Sangihe Islands add an unusual dimension with underwater volcanic vents providing habitat to more unusual critters that like the warm water.

Northern Sulawesi and the Sangihe-Talaud Islands

Northern Sulawesi, especially the area around Manado, is one of the best-known diving destinations in the country. It is easily accessible by air from Singapore with Silk Air, from Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia as well as from Jakarta and Bali with Garuda Airlines or Lion Air. Our cruises depart in the afternoon, so you can fly in and board the vessel on the same day.

The topside scenery is dramatic with jungle clad mountains and volcanoes dominating the landscape. Unlike most of Indonesia, Northern Sulawesi’s inhabitants are devout Christians and a pleasant sense of calm and peacefulness prevails.

Ocean Rover‟s dive crews have logged thousands of dives in these waters, and excel in finding small and rare marine life specimens that are hidden to the untrained eye. They are happy to show you how to photograph these creatures with- out harassing them and without damaging the coral.

Ocean Rover‟s departure point in North Sulawesi is the deep-sea port of Bitung in Lembeh Strait. Each cruise will start and finish with a full day of diving in this popular location for underwater photographers in search of unique macro subjects. Divers will also spend time enjoying the world-class diving around Bunaken National Marine Park and Bangka Island. Here divers will encounter spectacular walls and reefs of hard and soft corals, an underwater environment that has enchanted divers from all over the globe. Ocean Rover then journeys further north to a chain of volcanic islands, the Sangihe Archipelago: Dozens of islands (77), some of which are over 4,900 ft/1.500 m high and densely covered by coco- nut palms. This area has some of the deepest and clearest water on the planet.

Some of the highlights include an underwater lava flow, a natural hot spring Jacuzzi and a dive at Mahangetang, an underwater volcano that releases silver bubbles into the sea, an unforgettable sight! Conditions permitting, we also do spectacular pinnacle diving at Para Island.

Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat is one of the youngest provinces of this huge country. With a population of only four people per square kilometre it is seen as a vast un-tapped area. Oil and copper represent over 90% of the value of the province’s exports.

In the last few years the Indonesian province of Papua, in the western part of the island of New Guinea, became famous because of its untouched, colourful reefs and great island scenery. Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool are the main islands that make up Raja Ampat, an area which consists of more than 1500 islands in total. Cruising through this unique area is breath-taking, to say the least.

The biodiversity of Raja Ampat is unique. In this archipelago are recorded more than 1000 species of reef fishes, more than 700 molluscs and more than 560 species of hard corals, which is more than 75% of all know hard corals worldwide. More than 4.6 million hectares of more or less untouched underwater areas are waiting with mangroves, colourful coral gardens, deep walls, huge schools of fish, manta rays, sharks, as well as nudibranchs and critters.

Sorong, with 130,000 inhabitants, is an important city for oil and the starting point of our cruises. The city is easily accessible from Singapore with Silk Air via Manado, (night stopover), then with Merpati or Wing Air on to West Papua.

Ocean Rover’s crew will meet you at the airport or your hotel and bring you to the departure point in Sorong for boarding. During the itinerary you will dive at the best locations in Raja Ampat. Oceaqn Rover's experienced dive guides will seek out interesting marine life for you plus macro subjects and wide angle impressions for the underwater photographers and videographers.

Overall, Ocean Rover offers a comfortable way of experiencing all that North Sulawesi has to offer in one single cruise.