I m planning a trip to Indonesia next year and am busy thinking of where to go......
I would like to go to the Banda, and Kei Islands. I m just wondering what the weather would be like, as shallow as this sounds, I don t mind a bit of rain and sun etc, but is there a period when it is monsoonal? (ie rain 18 hours out of 24).....I have just emerged from the floods in the south west of england so I have an aversion to floods..........
I would also like to go to sulawesi, the same applies for this island, Is there a period of constant rainfall.....
Also I have seen you get a 30 day visa on arrival (I m from the UK), how is easy is to get a 60 day and what do you have to do?
Also did anyone take malaria tablets?
and finally I really enjoy scuba diving and snorkelling, therefore any recommendations?
If anyone has some positive, interesting info please reply.......
cheers
That's the bad time for Maluku. It's like they flip a switch, and on come the waterworks. On the other hand, it's the best time for Flores and the rest of Nusa Tenggara, and it's OK for Sulawesi. Look at Manado, then going up the Minahasa Peninsula and on to Gorantalo, from where you can get a boat to the Togian Islands. Better snorkeling than the Bandas, although not as interesting historically.
I went to Ambon, Banda and Kei in May last year.
These pics of Banda and Kei Kecil were taken then.
Weather was fine most of the time, with the occasional heavy downpour mostly in the afternoon.
This is typical of rainy seasons in Indonesia in my experience.
However a TTer who went to Ambon and Banda in June reported a week's almost constant rain there - note that he neither proceeded to Kei (where climate pattern is different from Central Maluku) nor stayed longer to try and "sit it out".
So the key might be to go in May or August (statistically, rains peak in June) and stay long enough to allow some flexiblity - eg. if it rains in Ambon and Banda heavily, move to Kei first, etc. With 60 days, you'd be guaranteed to have lots of sunny days even if you encountered a week's constant rain.
Also, with 60 days you could easily combine Maluku with Sulawesi to compare the two regions.
I would strongly disagree with Karlo's comment about snorkelling in the Togeans being better than in the Bandas.
In fact I found lots of damaged reefs (from dynamite fishing) in the Togeans already back in 1998, and thought the snorkellking there was pretty average. In contrast, Banda has had no such damage till now, and offers some of the best snorkelling in Indonesia.
As for malaria tablets, I always advocate taking them - malaria is a definite possiblity in eastern Indonesia.
I have visited the Togians 4 times (1993, 1995, and 1997, and 2001). I doubt I will ever go back there. In 1993 and 1995 the snorkling was really outstanding. The reefs were pristime and there were lots of big fish. In 1997 it was still good, but the Crown of Thorns starfish had begun to devastate the reefs and commercial fishing operations by the Japanese (and local fishermen) made it rare that you could see the big fish anymore. By 1997 it was much worse and marginally worth it to even go there. Extrapolating the situation to the present, it is probably terrible by now, unless you are happy to just swim in the clear waters and look at the small tropical fish. In contrast, over those years the snorkling at Bunaken remained much the same --- no coral reef damage and there are still big fish to be seen.
Sorry to hear about the Togians. I haven't been back there since the mid-90's, and it was definitely excellent then. The downside of the Bandas is that aside from the end of the airport runway at Bandaneira and a couple of other small patches, snorkeling requires a boat charter of some kind, often at fairly high cost.
trusted partner
