About Fenides
We keep Fenides on a tight turn in the Dampier Strait because the current swings hard between Boo Islands and Cape Kri – you want to hit those walls with the tide pushing you along, not against. At 41 meters, she’s nimble enough to tuck into sheltered coves like Wayag’s east lagoon by mid-morning, then reposition overnight for a calm anchorage near Arborek Jetty. Her single cabin layout means we’re not shuffling guests around – it’s one party, one rhythm, set by the tides and your dive preferences. Our crew of eight knows every snag on the reef and where the pygmy seahorses cling to gorgonian fans just ten meters down.
The day starts early. By 05:30, the generator’s running quietly to power the camera room’s dehumidifiers – we’ve seen too many lenses fogged from tropical swings. You’ll find your rinse tanks already set on the aft deck, and the dive platform lowered if you’re set for a dawn entry at Manta Sandy. Fenides doesn’t blast music or rush meals; breakfast is coffee brewed strong, local bananas, and a choice of eggs any style. If you’re shooting, you’ll appreciate the dedicated charging lockers and padded storage – no loose batteries rattling in drawers.
We built the upper deck bar to face west for a reason: sunset at Piaynemo is best seen from the water, and you won’t want to miss the light shifting across those karst peaks. The sundeck has shaded and full-sun zones – we keep the spray misters on low when it hits 32°C midday. Afternoon dives are timed to avoid surface chop, usually at Sardine Reef or the south tip of Kri – places where the thermocline kicks in around 18 meters and the batfish schools go vertical. We brief you topside with laminated charts, not tablets, because salt spray and electronics don’t mix.
Meals come from the galley hot and on time. Our cook sources papaya, taro and fresh reef fish from local villages when we pass by – you’ll taste the difference at dinner, especially with the sambal made fresh daily. There’s no menu roulette; we coordinate with you the night before. The indoor lounge has a library of fish ID books and backup dive logs, but most guests end up on the forward observation deck by nightfall, listening to the water slap the hull while tracking bioluminescence in the wake.
This isn’t a floating hotel with interchangeable faces. Fenides runs one guest party at a time – one cabin, one group, one itinerary shaped by your stamina and curiosity. We’ve paused dives for nesting turtles at Yenbuba and rerouted to catch a passing whale shark near Mioskon. You won’t find a call bell, but you will find us ready – we’ve prepped spare regulators, packed your lunch early, and timed the engine start so you arrive at the site with daylight to spare.
