Here is the information that sent by Richard E. Wilson (aloha95@olg.com) to Undercurrent Magazine

On August 15th, 2002, My wife and I completed a 10-day dive trip aboard the Baruna liveboard in Indonesia.We dove the Gili Island, Moyo Island (near Sumbawa), several sites around Komodo and Rinca, as well as sites around Flores, Alor and other, less well-known, islands.

Every aspect of the trip was excellent.The diving was superb, thanks in large part to te cheerful Indonesian dive staff, who were as good or better than the dive staff on any other liveaboard we know (this was our 5th liveaboard).They do not speak perfect English, but they work on their English all the time, and they always make themselves understood. They are enthusiastic divers, and they were usually able to answer our quations.

Every dive was preceded by a good briefing. During the dives, some of which were strenuous due to low visibility, low tempareture and/or strong current, the dive masters kept a close watch over us without being intrusive or overbearing. Like most diving professionals, they have fascinating stories. Growing up with the long-standing difficulities in the Indonesian economy, each of them had show an extraordinary amount of determination and courage in order to become dive masters, and they are good at their jobs.

We also think the food was superior, in large measure thanks to the on-board chef who has been cooking on the boat for a number of years. Naturally enough, Indonesian dishes make up a large part of the menu. Breakfast is entirely Western, if that's what you want. All the divers on our trip were American or European, and we heard no complaints about the food.

The boat was not built as a dive boat, so the aft area, whish is used as the dive deck, tends to become crowded as divers are suiting up.However, the divers are organized into 3 groups, each group with a different dive master, and after a couple of dives all the divers know the system, so divers soon learn not to get in each other's way,Groupa are called at about 10 - minute intervals, and after the initial learning experience on the frist day there is not much confusion. The covered camera area is small but adequate.

To board the dinghies, it is necessary to carry equipmant and thank down a short stairway, but the staff will cary thanks for any one with physical problems. I'm in the senior citizen category, and i had no difficulty. The dinghies were rubber inflatables-common on liveaboards, in our experience-and the dinghy drivers were real experts at getting drivers into the dinghies following each dive. And, more importanly, the dinghies were always close by when we surfaced.

Most of the dive sites were pristine, and some of these dives I rank among the most memorable in my experience (700 dives). I will palce dives at Anemone Gardens, Cannibal Rock (near Komodo), Yellow Wall and Tatawa Island inthis ultra-memorable category. In my dive log I call Yellow Wall "too much to describe".There were many other dive sites that at other dive destinations would have ranked 5 stars, but here the competition is though, so I will rank them as merely outstanding. We saw evidence of dynamite fishing in a couple of places, but most of the area is so remote that there will always be new and unspoiled sites. We saw many cuttlefish (one pair was mating), some sharks, and other fish too numerous to list. On one night dive, I found what may be a previously anidentified species of eel, about 2/3 meter long, the thickness of a pencil running the length of its spine. At first I thought it was a piece of string. I have not been able to find anything in any book that identifies it.

Divers must be prepared for cold water, currents on most dives and occasional low visibility. The temperature on several of our dives was in water that was 72F or less. In one instance, my computer recorded 73F on one dive and then, 2 hours later on the nest dive, registered 81F. The two sites were no more than 5 miles apart. On a few dives the visibility dropped into the 10 - 15 meter range, but most of the time the visibilty was 40 meters and more.

We do not expct cruise ship accomodation when we go on dive trips, and the Baruna is not a cruise ship, ut its living quartes are more then adequate. We had a deluxe cabin (twin beds, no bunks), so our state room was larger than the otthers, but the regular cabins also loocked comfortable.

We intend to make another Baruna Cruise in the future, and we are happy to recommende it to others.