Prioritizing Indonesia dive trip - help!

Hey TT,

I am planning a 6 week trip to Indonesia that hopefully will involve a lot of diving. Hoping the experts can help me prioritize. (Thanks to those who got me started with comments to an earlier post in the Indonesia branch.)

My short list includes:

Bali - Tulamben, Menjangan, Nusa Lembongan
Lombok - Belongas Bay; maybe the Gilis, although TT overall leads me to believe not worth it for the diving alone
Komodo area
Alor area
North Sulawesi - Bunaken/Manado/Lembeh straights

My first question is: If you had to cut one or two locations from this list due to time and money constraints, which would it/they be and why?

My second question is: For those who have dived any these locations, what would be an ideal number of days to spend there, bearing in mind that several other dive spots will be visited on the same trip, and time and money are somewhat limited.

Background: I am advanced certified, somewhere around 60 dives. I've done great diving around Sipadan and the Bay Islands in Honduras and lots of fine or mediocre diving in other parts of Asia and the Caribbean. I like both the big stuff and the small stuff. I can deal with current but don't want to do anything crazy scary or exceptionally strenuous. Overall trip budget is sort of flashpacker for the diving, backpacker for everything else (that's why I've ruled out amazing places like Raja Ampat). I don't have my own equipment. Any liveaboards would have to be no frills or of the last-minute-discount variety. Diving would take place mid-October to late-November.

(Cross-posted in Indonesia branch)

hey alliwini, your plan sounds great. i'm doing a very similar route starting early next week, and will try and keep posting on the experience.
are you travelling overland or flying between the sites in bali/nusa tenggara? if you overland it, you should consider pulau moyo near sumbawa besar. the bali-komodo liveonboards stop by here and it's supposed to be good. there doesn't seem to be much info on dive operators in sumbawa besar though.

dive-zone (www.divezone-lombok.com) seem to be the only operator covering belongas bay. their website notes that you need >100 dives in october-nov to dive the magnet, where you see the hammerheads. so it would be best to speak to them first about dive conditions around the time you're keen on visiting.

in terms of cutting destinations, i think manado/bunaken would be the most obvious candidate. it's going to be fairly pricey flying from nusa tenggara to north sulawesi (i think you need to change at makassar), and the boat takes a fairly long time as well. one option closer to makassar would be wakatobi, though i've heard it's pretty pricey

sent you a PM

With 60 dives and Sipidan experience you should be good for just about anything. You should be ready for Batu Bolong which is one of the best dive sites I've ever done. Book a flight to Flores and enjoy diving around Komodo. There is current, and it can be nuts, but think of it as a roller coaster combined with great coral, large pelagics, and anything else you might want to see. The diving was great. Wear a long suit though and be prepared to hug the coral but don't touch it. I didn't find the diving to be that hard, or keeping my buoyancy right that hard, but the drift diving and current did make it a lot more exciting and not for the novice diver.

I also did the Gilis and they're nothing special. I hadn't been diving in a while though and they were a good place for me to warm up. The problem is that if you've done a place like Sipidan then a bleached and dynamited dive spot is going to be relatively disappointing for you.

I tried to dive around Bali but I couldn't find a dive shop that made me comfortable. I made an exception for Sipidan (where the dive operators were very unimpressive but the diving was great) but normally I won't dive if a company can't make me comfortable or instill confidence in their ability and gear. If you really want to dive Bali then you probably want to time it right. The Sunfish in the south were peaking around June iirc. Menjangan might be ok but I can't imagine it holding a candle to Komodo and the dive operators I talked scared me away.

I didn't dive Sulawesi but I heard good things. I am saving that for another trip.

Overall I walked away from both Komodo and Sipidan thinking that you'd want to do those sites many times so you could experience them with different current conditions. Rather than do a plethora of dive sites, some mediocre, I'd probably recommend doing the good ones a few times each. I did Barracuda point twice for example and the two dives were very different.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far! All extremely helpful!

I'm leaning on getting warmed up in Bali (probably just Tulamben and Nusa Lembongan, unless anyone wants to make a pitch for Menjangan) and then flying to Flores to do Komodo and maybe also Maumere. (Anyone have any comments about diving around Maumere?) Then, depending on timing, we might try to get ourselves to Flores and check out Belongas Bay, assuming the dive shop there finds us up for it. I'd still like to get to northern Sulawesi, if possible, although there's no doubt that the flight is going to add to our expenses.

Astrocase, I'm curious about your concerns about some of the Bali operators. I guess I have an idea, because I ended up with a very sketchy shop in Sipadan, but if you'd be willing to share more, please do! (Feel free to PM me if you prefer.)

Bali....leaky tanks, holey wetsuits, leaking BC's , old old old equipment and the assumption that as a customer, you know nothing... OH yeah, just what is a proper profile???? YOu pay NOW.

Before I get alot of flack for this one, this is not the norm, but more regular than it should be.

Edited by: TravellinAndi

TravellinAndi pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'd only add that the people I spoke to in Bali were very arrogant (or simply had no diving experience at better sites) and would talk to you like you're an idiot and should be thrilled to see a common lion fish on one of their dives. I politely walked away. I really couldn't tell if they were refusing to give me info on other dive sites, in the hopes that I'd dive with them, or simply hadn't dove anywhere else in Indonesia.

Komodo 7
Raja Ampat 7
Bunaken 3

Lembeh is a totally different experience than the others.

Hi,,
I have dived most of the locations you mention except South Lombok and Alor (the latter supposed to be outstanding).
The destinations I liked most in Indonesia were Komodo ( report here ) and Bangka area (N/Sulawesi : Bangka photo gallery)

Firstly I would cut Lombok and the Gilis and concentrate on the best diving. This is how I would envisage the trip in 6 weeks.

Rush to Labuan Bajo for 1 week diving in Komodo NP, better on live aboard because you can't access South Komodo site from landbased operations. I would pick Komodo dives (I've had a pretty bad experience with Reefseekers)
Continue to Kupang then Alor for 1 week of clear water diving.
Back to Bali for a one week safari : don't forget Candi Dasa area (Gili Mimpang and Gili Tepekong)
Fly to Manado for one week in Lembeh and 4 days in Bangka. you can drop Bunaken which will seem tame compared to corals you had in Komodo and Alor.
If you still have time you could slip either a few days in Ambon for muck diving or a few days on the northern tip of Sumatra in Pulau Weh.

About Maumere, I dived there last months, it's nice to see when you know the story and when you have dived many places in Indonesia, but I wouldn't recommend if you're tight on time. You can read my Maumere report on Scubaboard and look at my photogallery

I have dived Tulamben, Menjangan, and the Gili's. Of the three locations I was least impressed with the Gili's. I found a couple of the dive guides to be a bit on the reckless side there. I was quite pleased with the dive shops that I dove with in Tulamben and Menjangan. I based myself in Lovina to dive Menjangan, dove with Bali Spice Dive. One of the guide was able to find and retreive my watch when it got knocked of my wrist when climbing back onto the boat.

On caution about Tulamben. The rock-covered beach can be really tough on your feet and ankles. I wouls recommend a really good pair of booties if you go to Tualmben.

As for rental gear that is not in great shape, that is the reason that I bought my own gear and haul it with me wherever I go diving.

I did my open water in Nusa Lembongan. I realise this means I have little experience, but I really liked the dive school so thought I would mention it. It was quiet, and I felt very reassured.

http://www.world-diving.com/

Been diving a couple of times around Bali, with different dive schools.

Nusa Lebongang....very cool dives if you like Manta Rays (manta point) and are looking for the Mola Mola (Blue Corner). Manta point is quite a dangerous current dive on most days, but there can be up to 20 manta's at one time. There's nothing else to see except for manta's on that site! And a lot of the times the sea is too rough to go there!
Blue corner is a nice dive site, with quite some currents...water can be quite chilly! (18-20 degrees)

I went diving in Tulamben aswell....really nice dive site! Nice warm water (26-30 degrees) and a very cool wreck with many things to see! Loved this dive site!
Went diving there with a dive school from tulamben (took a taxi there, and arrived at around 10 in the morning) there's a couple of dive guides there that take u out for a way better rate than all the dive schools in Kuta / Sanur etc!

Furthermore I can really recommend diving in Padang Bai!
Some really nice muck-dives to be found there, and cheap aswell!

I went to manta point with a diving school from Padang Bai aswell....Blue Lagoon divers! Good equipment and a very good and friendly instructor!

I would cut Lombok and the Gilis, and maybe Alor because it sounds hard to get to. Bali sounds good as an introduction (also to the food, the culture etc).

Do not miss Komodo, Bunaken or Lembeh (minimum 5 days each).

To save money, do some snorkelling on Bunaken instead of diving. The reef on the east side is great. You can snorkel from the beach for free. One highlight for me was snorkelling at night, with wetsuit and torch, from the tip of the village pier :-)

UPDATE: Our trip is currently in progress and I thought I'd give a quick report about the diving we have done so far.

We started our trip at Tulamben and stayed/dived with Liberty Dive Resort. Great place. Rooms are very comfortable, food is good, diving is inexpensive. My husband was doing his advanced course with a freelance instructor we liked a lot and I dove along with them, so I can't speak to the in-house guides. But their equipment is good and they are very professional. The staff is incredibly friendly. Diving was great. In addition to the wreck, we really liked the muck dive Seraya and the boat dive Ala Manda (pregnant pygmy seahorse currently in a sea fan). Overall, we liked the diving around Tulamben almost as much as diving we did in the greater Sipadan area, although it doesn't have a site like Baracuda point. But high quality diving with lots of interesting, rare creatures.

We also did a morning of diving in Candi Dasa (Gili Tepekong and Gili Mimpong). We went with Yes Dive because they offered us a really good price ($60 for two dives, rather than the $90ish other places in town were charging). The equipment is really new and works fine, but don't expect much from them overall - our local guide was nice enough, but did zero briefing and seemed pretty disinterested in what was going on with us underwater. He wasn't reckless or anything, but wasn't checking on our air or keeping a close eye on us like the typical guide does (he trusted us, I guess?) I wouldn't say DON'T go with them, but be warned that you need to look after yourself. Gili Mimpong was pretty murky that day but looks like it could be a very nice dive. Tepekong was in better shape and we enjoyed it greatly.

Glad to see you've enjoyed your diving in Bali. If you decide to dive in the Gilis or the rest of Lombok, check out Blue Manta.

In North Sulawesi, I would strongly recommend diving with Bastianos (check out www.bastianos.com). They will offer you great service, but they also offer free transfer from Bunaken to Lembeh or vice-versa, as they have resorts in both locations. I would request diving with Winston in Lembeh and with Donny in Bunaken, if they are both still around. All the other guys are good, but these guys are top-notch!

In Komodo, I've dived with Dive Komodo. They have a new live-aboard boat and it's worth every penny! If you go on the boat, ask if Herry is the one guiding. He was a great guide who catered to divers' requests. We loved Cannibal Rock so much we requested to dive on that site 3 of our 4 dives on a certain day. The food was wonderful, too.

Hope this helps!

Cat

Each dive destination in Indo seems to have it's own character. I did some diving around Manado which was great diving - albeit surphace side was a wee bit boring! Quite resort orientated up there. Komodo is of course great diving with big stuff to see and I thought the town of Labuanbajo was pretty cool - a few nice cafes and a bit of an outback feel to it. Lots of friendly travellers to bump into. Diving on the Gilis? ummm, well I think somebody summed it up in a previous post... diving is something to do for a break from partying there!

Best time I had diving in Indonesia was on Nusa Lembongan off Bali. Diving was superb!!! And it was such a funky, relaxing island that I ended up staying there for much, MUCH longer than anticipated. I met a Canadian marine biologist who was building a dive centre there - Blue Corner Dive (www.bluecornerdive.com) although they were still under construction when I went diving with them, the operation was top form - safety checks, well trained staff, and just a genuinely fun atmosphere to be around. Learned a ton about coral! I'd definately recommend them! They also were building a pretty sweet looking dive training pool.