Beginner Indonesia
Ambon
A harbor bay with Indonesia's rarest macro life and a frogfish with a very restricted range
A harbor bay in the Maluku Islands, with a sediment bottom and naval activity all around, is home to a species of frogfish that has been found in very few places on the planet. And that's not the only strange thing down there.
In this guide you'll find why Ambon Bay concentrates so much endemism and rare fauna, what the psychedelic frogfish is and why observing it is regulated, when to go, and what level is needed.
It's one of the most singular macro destinations in the world for its level of endemism, and a reminder that a seabed degraded by human activity can still harbor species that exist nowhere else.
Geography and access
Ambon is the main island of the central Maluku Islands, in eastern Indonesia, and its deep bay has been a natural harbor for centuries.
The bottom of the bay is fine sediment, with rubble, remnants of harbor activity, and patches of coral and sponges. It's the classic muck-diving substrate taken to the extreme.
The Malukus sit at the center of the Coral Triangle and have a history of biogeographic isolation that explains their level of endemism: there are species described here that haven't been found anywhere else.
The most famous is a frogfish with a maze-like pattern and striking coloration, described relatively recently and with an extremely restricted known distribution.
Access is an international flight to Jakarta and a domestic flight to the island, with short transfers to the bay's lodges.
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