L’Austral drops anchor at Pulau Bui, part of the Kei Islands group in the Banda Sea at about 7 am. Today is intended to be an easy snorkelling and beach day, with moderate temperatures of 27⁰C in the morning, and 26⁰C in the afternoon. Zodiac transfers to the beach start at 8:30 am, with my group last to depart at 9:15 am. Captain Marchesseau and the Staff Captain are in their diving gear, taking the opportunity of a warm water dive to inspect the hull of L’Austral.
Landing at the Kei Islands is onto a sandy beach, with some locals as interested bystanders. Despite paying royalties to the local tribal chief, one of the officers needs to see off one of the locals who appear to be demanding a zodiac as payment for our presence, using a machete as his negotiation strategy. All is resolved peacefully with the intervention of one of the other locals, and the rest of our visit to the Kei Islands is uneventful.
The snorkelling at the Kei Islands is straight off the beach, and way too shallow as the tide is going out. An hour in the water is more than enough, with bruised knees from running aground once too often. Not being a sun worshipper, I head back to the ship at 11 am. The plan this afternoon is to go snorkelling again in the same spot, followed by a zodiac ride around the island.
Raphael Sane, the expedition leader announces at 1:30 pm that there has been a change of plans. The tide is still way out, conditions off the beach are too shallow for snorkelling, so the afternoon has been replanned to be just a zodiac cruise around the Kei Islands. Better snorkelling conditions are promised for the next 3 landings, starting from tomorrow.
It is a pretty disappointing zodiac ride. One woman talks incessantly, and the highlight is a shipwreck protruding from the seabed during low tide. It appears to be the remains of a sizeable ship that has broken apart over a wide area. Other than a couple of turtles, there is no wildlife to be seen, and it feels like a ‘get used to getting in and out of a zodiac’ session for the newly arrived passengers.
