Banda Islands Oct 2026 snorkeling trip report

Date: September 28 – October 10, 2026

Water Temp: 26 – 27 C / 79 – 80.6 F

Seas: Windy at the start, becoming calmer as the trip went on

Ambon

As one of the premier destinations for critters, Ambon delivered again! Two species of frogfishes, seven leaf scorpionfishes, A juvenile cowfish, adult and juvenile blue-ribbon eels, six different types of nudibranchs…oh, and a blue ring octopus! That was just the morning snorkel. In the afternoon, we continued the trend with two cockatoo waspfishes, three different types of headshield slug, a juvenile lionfish, ocellated parrotfish, and leopard wrasse, and more ribbon eels. We leave this area wanting more!

Lease Islands

Our first snorkel in the Lease Islands took place over a lovely coral garden, diverse with all kinds of hard and soft corals of all shapes and sizes. Though we didn’t have the best visibility, low tide gave us easy access to the reef below. Reefs like this I call ‘deceptively diverse’ because the reefs may not be super lush with table and branching corals, but the lack of these dominating corals allows for a large variety of other species to settle and grow on the reef. Along with the coral diversity, we had juvenile peacock razorfish, several nudibranchs, and were surrounded by schools of damselfishes which was a change from our focused critter hunts in Ambon!

Our second snorkel was along the reef margin of seaward-facing reefs where we had the chance to see coral communities quite different than in the morning. With a bit better visibility, we were treated to larger schools of fish that associate with fields of Acropora branching and table corals. A humpback scorpionfish and white-capped shrimpgoby were some of the highlights of the afternoon!

Banda Islands

Pulau Run

We snorkeled the wall that stretches along the north coast, from the tiny satellite island of Nailaka to the main village towards the west. The shallow reef that drops off quickly offered great chances to see big schools of fish, including red-tooth and black triggerfishes, black snappers, and surgeonfishes. Napoleon wrasses, bumphead parrotfish, blacktip reef sharks, and turtles were reported as some of the larger denizens of the reef. In the invertebrate category, though we had lots of nudibranchs, guard crabs, and coral, the winner was a broadclub cuttlefish placing her eggs in between the branches of fire coral. Current was minimal with light drifts along the wall and in front of the Nailaka Island. This is an amazing area with several sites along the shallow reef with dramatic drop-offs!

Gunung Api

Lava Flow is one of my favorite snorkels on the planet. It never fails to deliver a huge variety of corals and fish, all very robust and healthy. Fields of Acropora and Porites begin in just a few feet of water and grow extensively into the depths. Schools of damselfishes and red-tooth triggerfishes hover high in the water column feeding on the food delivered by light currents. Adjacent to the reef are patches of black sand and boulders that offer any nudibranch enthusiast dozens of tiny treasures. We had everything from common nudibranchs like species of Phyllidia to rare nudibranchs like Antonietta (a type of aeolid). Lyretail groupers, pink-tail triggerfishes (many with orange rather than pink), and Solor boxfishes were some of the highlights on this snorkel. 

We also did an exploratory snorkel along the north coast of Api, and were rewarded with super lush, shallow reefs that harbored an enormous variety of corals and fish. Our night snorkel adjacent to Lave Flow produced lots of nudibranchs, scorpionfishes, crabs, and eels. Fish with their night colors flittered in and out of our lights and, our last critter for the evening was a beautiful fimbriated moray eel that stationed himself amongst the folds of a leather soft coral.  

Hatta

Hatta is the eastern-most island in the Banda archipelago. It is limestone in origin formed as a low-lying raised platform reef. It is surrounded by an extensive reef flat with a steep drop-off at the margin. We snorkeled from the beach to the drop-off to traverse a variety of reef zones including sea grass, reef flat, reef margin, and the drop-off. In the afternoon we snorkeled the reef margin along the drop-off to see huge schools of fish including fusiliers, triggerfishes, pyramid butterflyfishes, and unicornfishes. We also had a huge stonefish and equally huge stingray that sat in the sand in shallow water as if to bask in the admiration of our group! Blacktip reef sharks and turtles were also spotted in both the morning and afternoon sessions. 

Pisang Islands

Pisang is a small island with a nice little reef in front of the village on the west side. Deep undercuts into the limestone island set the backdrop for our snorkeling. The water was warm as it always seems to be here which was a nice change from the cooler water, we had almost everywhere else. We did two snorkels here (separate days) and between the two, had several nudibranchs including the banana slug, longtail flabellina, and a Spanish dancer. On the fishy side, along with large schools of triggerfishes, surgeonfishes, and parrotfishes, we also had smaller schools of teardrop butterflyfishes. Our finale for the second snorkel included a hunting lionfish and a broadclub cuttlefish!

Pulau Ay

We snorkeled the northwestern corner of the island and had a variety of habitats to explore. Seagrass, shallow reef flats, and seaward slopes and walls. The coral looked fantastic and we had a pair of robust ghost pipefish hanging out in the seagrass. This area is also rich in sea urchins, with several species including long-spine, banded, and collector urchins available in plain view.

Lease Islands

We visited sites in the Lease Islands as part of our return to Ambon. Weather was not great the first time around but was perfect on our return. At Nusa Laut, glassy water with a brisk current whisked us down the lush, healthy reef where we had huge schools of snapper, triggerfishes, fusiliers, and goatfishes. While the large day octopus was a treat, the two dog-tooth tunas that came through were a highlight for sure! This day also offered us some of our best visibility of the trip. It was a nice last snorkel to cap our adventures in the Banda Islands.

Overall Impression of the Banda Islands

The Banda Islands have much to offer snorkelers. Shallow, healthy reefs abundant with a huge diversity of tropical fishes. Critter hunts were very productive with lots of nudibranchs, unusual fishes and bizarre invertebrates. The islands are lovely and even though the town has grown much over the years, still has its charm as a remote location once favored by the modern world for its nutmeg and natural history. Check out more photos in our portfolio and we’ll be back as part of the Ambon to Triton Bay tour in 2027!