Indo diving advice for May!

My boyfriend and I have finally decided that we are going to go to Indonesia for our diving holiday! We are planning on going the last 2 weeks of May! We want to primarily dive, but see a few sights and laze around some beautiful beaches.

We are experienced divers ( 80+ dives each) so are looking for something really great! Having done some research on this site/web, we've narrowed it down to the Komodo area as well as Bunaken and Palau Weh. We've head those areas are fantastic for diving and seem to fit into our budget. Would love to dive Raja Ampat but seems soooo $$$$!! Since we are limited on time, where would you suggest we go? We are mainly interested in seeing the bigstuff, corals, walls, not too much into muck diving.One route we were thinking was fly into Bali, spend a few nights there, head to the Gilis then over to the Komodo area. Do the Gili's have great diving beacause Ive heard the beaches are superb? To compare to past diving experiences in Thailand, we're not looking for average diving like Koh Tao but rather more Similan islands type quality.
Another option would be to spend our time in Bunaken and or Palau Weh? Can anyone recommend a route? Would we then fly into Bali or Jakarta? Does that area have a good beach scene?

Are liveaboards the way to go and are they reasonably priced? Should we book in advance or book once we arrive?

If we end up going to Bali, can anyone recommend sights that are a must see and nice part of the island that are not too touristy to stay? We are looking for mid range accomodation ( not super cheapy cheap but def not 5* budgets!!)

Thank you all for your help!!! Really appreciate it!!

Aleessa

For Komodo, a liveaboard is ideal. But your choice of boats may be somewhat smaller in May than it would be a few weeks later. For the other places on your list, I see no reason not to do land-based diving.

Bunaken isn't known for big fish, but it does have beautiful walls.

My favorite dive area on Bali is Tulamben. No good beaches, though, and it is known for muck diving, plus the shipwreck of the Liberty. Nusa Penida has a dive site called Manta Point where you can pretty much count on seeing those big animals.

Pulau Weh is still pretty rustic. To get there (and to Bunaken, and to Bali) the easiest port of entry is Singapore. You can get flights to all these places from there.

I've done a good amount of daytrip diving into the Komodo National Park from Labuanbajo, and always had fun - excellent diving! The Gilis have a good ambience and beaches, but the diving is much better in Komodo compared to the Gilis.

Great, thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!! We've decided to do Bali for a few days then straight to Komodo then the Gilis. Are there any dive shops in Labuanbajo you would recommend?
Cheers!
Aleessa

Hi, I dive with Reefseekers myself. Other operators there include Bajo Dive and Divine Diving

I would also go for Reefseekers myself. Really enjoyed their pre- and postdiving talks. And they are great "spotters" for all kinds of small creatures. Besides being very friendly... We thougth we would stay in Labuanbajo for aprox. a week when we arrived, after two our malariapills was running low, so we ended up leaving, but could have stayed longer. Gilies are one of my old-time favorites, and the diving is layed back, relaxed and will not blow you anywhere. If I ever go there again, I will dive, but I would not go there for diving. Considered southern Lombok instead, wonderful beaches and very good diving?

For a flight route KL also has many indo connections though sadly they stopped the Air Asia flight to Manado for Bunaken recently they still do Bali though. Check out Air asia if you still need to travel in the area.