Looking for Indonesia Diving advice

Hey Everyone,

I will be in Borneo and Sulawesi for about 9 weeks total. There are obviously so many incredible places to dive, and I am on a budged so I need to prioritize and make the most informed decision when passing on dive locations that would surely be incredible. I am open water certified, a passionate diver, although inexperienced (15 or so dives).

Right now on my list I have:

Sipadan Island
Derawan
Manado and surrounding area
Hoga Island and the Wakatobi Marine National Park

For the experienced divers out there, which of these locations would you most recommend for someone who is not advanced certified (mainly concerned about depth issues since I can only go 20 Meters) and who is basically hooked on diving like nothing else? Furthermore, since I am on a budget, which of these locations allow for the best snorkeling? It would be great to get some dives in and a fair amount of snorkeling as well.

I appreciate any input.

Also, I am interested in Banda in the Molukas, but I cannot seem to find any consisten information on the internet about weather. I am specifically interested in the month of June. Has anyone actually been there in June? Could you tell me what you experienced? I have found info online that say it's perfect weather during June and also that it rains all day every day, so I really don't know what to make of it.

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Bunaken and the surrounding islands (Manado Tua, Siladen, etc.) should be at the top of the list for both snorkling and diving. There are many great diving sites in this area, but for snorkling you should stick with the Bunaken reefs called "Lekuan 1 and 2" which are far far superior to everthing else you will see elsewhere. See www.sulawesi-info.com

Manado, bunaken island is an option for you. As what was write by Mr. Steve...

From the 5 divespots you mention, I've only been to Bunaken and Siladen. I was there in June 2008 and the weather was very good for diving and snorkelling. Crystal clear water, many fish, healthy coral, steep walls, amazing. I can highly recommend it. Personally, I am very interested in Wakatobi and the Maluku Islands from what I've heard and read the last two years, but I haven't been there yet. Here's some info that might help you: http://www.dive-the-world.com/diving-sites-indonesia.php

In my opinion Hoga is too time-consuming and difficult to get to. I can't tell you if it would be worth it as I have never been there, and I don't know anyone who has actually been there.

From what I've read, Pulau Hoga and Wakatobi aren't very difficult to reach.
Laszlo has been there, among others. Do a TT search and find a thread like this: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1628703

My husband and me just came back from Hoga Island. Simply amazing !!

Hoga is exactly the kind of lost island you can imagine in the middle
of the Indian Ocean: white sandy beaches with coconut trees all along,
few tinies bungalows facing the sea and a coral reef that runs all
around the island and that conceals marvels. Corals whith all kind of
shapes and colours, anemonies, seafans,an incredible amount of
nudibranches and others invertebrates, Napoleon wrasses, tortles,
hugges groupers, raies, murray and garden eels, baracudas, and so many
angel and butterfly fishes that you don't know where to look anymore.
The closest spots can be reach by swimming in less than 10 minutes
(for snorkelling notably) and you don't need more than 30 minute by
boat to go to the farthest, wich allow until 3 dives per day.

There are two principals residentes on the island: The
Operation Wallacea who had established a complex for underwater
biology studies on the extreme south part of Hoga because of the
abundance and biodiversity of the reef, and the small bungallows
complex Pak Kasim where we stayed and that offer the only diving
opportunity by renting gears and guide service.

the most difficult part of the trip is to reach Hoga but that's also
why the island is still preserved: here you would not be disturbe by
your neighbour on the beach or by others divers. The fastest is to fly
from Makasar to Wanci with Express Air but the aircraft company allows
only 10 kg for check in luggage because it's a small plane. Otherwise
you can fly from Makasar to Bau Bau with Lion Air, then take an
overnight ferry (daily) from Bau Bau to Wanci, then in the morning
another boat going from Wanci to Kalédupa (2 hours trip), the island
in front of Hoga where someone will pick you up. Three times a week
there's a direct ferry from Bau Bau to Kaledupa but I don't know the
schedules. You will need approxymatively from 600 000 to 700 000
indonesian rupees (more or less 65 USD) for the trip from Makasar to Hoga.
It's long, it costs some monnay but it's definitely well worth to go there!

For information, the stay in Pak Kasim costs 300 000 indonesian rupees
per day and per person, three meals included (more or less 30 USD).
Bungalows are really nice and the food is delicious: fresh home-made
bread for breakfast and fresh fishes for lunch and diner. For diving
it's 350 000 indonesian rupees per dive, gears and boat trip included
(more or less 35 USD). For backpackers or peoples that don't want to
dive there are others bungalows to stay, cheaper.

For more informations, here is the adress of the web site:
www.tukangbesidiving.com

Thank you for your report!

I know this is a rather late reply I have only just logged onto LonelyPlanet. The comment in one of the posts in response to your query that Wakatobi Marine National Park is hard to get to was by someone who admits to never having been there and does not know anyone who has. Consequently the comment is of no real use so I thought I would let you know from my experience which dates back to 1996-2000 and again more recently this May-June 2011.

In the past it did take some time and effort to get to the Tukang Besi Islands and one had to rely on a variety of slow local transport such as the PELNI ferry and then small local wooden ferries. Also there were only two options of places to stay and dive: Operation Wallacea (a research outfit) on Hoga Island or the expensive, but very nice, dive resort of Wakatobi Divers.

However, now not only is it quicker and easier to get to the Wakatobi Marine National Park in the Tukang Besi Archipelago but there are also various options as to where to stay and where to dive.

Getting there: To get there you can fly daily to Bau Bau, Buton Island, SE Sulawesi via Makassar (Ujung Pandang) south Sulawesi from one of many principal Indonesian cities. From Bau Bau you can take one of the daily Express Air flights to the new (about 3 years old) airport of Matahora, Wangi-Wangi Island which is the northernmost island of the group; this flight only takes 15-20 minutes. From there you take a taxi to the Pelabuhan dock, Mola just on the outskirts of Wanci, the main town on Wangi-Wangi where you do the final move, if going to Hoga Island on the speed ferry (2 hours) at about 10am each day. You can also get a ferry to Tomia from there as well.

Flights to Bau Bau are with Lion Air and can be booked direct with them on their website or through a travel agent. The Express Air flights have to be booked locally using someone or a company with an Indonesian bank account. Most resorts are happy to do this for you and you just reimburse them on arrival. The cost of a one-way ticket Bau Bau to Matahora in June 2011 was Rp450,000. Cost of flights to Bau Bau will depend on the departure point, day of week and time of year.

Another option for getting from Bau Bau to the Wakatobi is to take the local ferry either going to Wanci (every night) or to Kaledupa (3 times a week). However the months of June-September/October can be pretty uncomfortable because of the wind direction and the strength.

Diving can be found at several locations:
a) The dive shop in Wanci near the Hotel Wakatobi;
b) Patuno Resort Wakatobi (mid to high end) on the north shore of Wangi-Wangi;
c) Hoga Island Dive Resort on Hoga Island (budget to mid range) next to Kaledupa Island;
d) Alam on Hoga Island (budget to mid range) outside the Operation Wallacea 10 week period June-September each year: phone number only;
e) Wakatobi Divers (high end) on Tolandono (a tiny island next to Tomia which has a private airstrip used exclusively by the resort);
f) Tomia Dive Centre (budget) on Tomia itself;
g) There is also a local liveaboard boat which runs out of Wanci. Phone number only at present but website said to be coming soon.

The diving in the Wakatobi Marine National Park is very varied and very rewarding. There has been a problem with locals stealing sand from the beaches (now banned) which exposed underlying sediment which then gets washed out onto the shallow reefs. In some places (a few) this has killed the upper corals and sponges but the walls are still in beautiful condition as they were 10 years ago. Many places have been completely unaffected by this such as the North Wall on Hoga Island. Diving is not necessarily expensive particularly if taken as an accommodation / full board and diving package. Best to check out each option personally and most have websites or even Facebook pages with full contact details.

Diving in Bali is generally a more expensive proposition and all dive operations there have websites. One very nice resort on the NE coast is Scuba Seraya which is set away from the crowded Tulamben area but still offers dives on the Liberty Wreck plus their own special sites.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, let me know: will try to help.

Hi Lindz96,
I'm happy to find someone who's been there recently ... We are going in August, probably flying from Makassar. We would like to avoid luxury-resorts (such as TV, AC, etc.) and stay in as simple as possibile bungalows. Do you have any suggestion among the ones
you listed above?
thank you, alex

Hi Alex
The two I would suggest are Hoga Island Dive Resort which has 8 rooms on a twin-sharing basis or Tomia Dive Centre - I am not sure how many rooms they have but have been told they are very simple but nice. Both dive resorts have websites and facebook pages you can check. Patuno and Wakatobi Divers are upper end with TV, ac, etc. Alam is not available in August as Operation Wallacea takes over the whole place until some time in September.

Hope that helps.
All the best
Lindsay

Hi Lindsay,

Thank you so much for your very detailed posts!!
My boyfriend and I want to go to Wakatobi at the end of this month. We hesitate between Hoga Island Dive Resort and Tomia DIve Center, cause we can't really afford the high end resorts!

Which one would you recommend? Which one did you stay in? I read Tomia Dive Center accommodation is in a local guesthouse. Do you know anything about this guesthouse? Does it have private bathrooms? Is it located on the beach?

As for the diving, is it safe to dive with either of them?

Is there any other things to do on these islands when you're not diving? We're also interested in meeting locals, visiting villages, climbing up a volcano...?

Thanks a lot for your reply!
Marion

Hi there
I have never dived with Tomia Dive Centre but I believe it is a well-run location. They do not have accommodation but can arrange this for you. I'm afraid I don't know what the accommodation is like. Take a look at their facebook page - this might give you more information.

More details and photos of Hoga Island Dive Resort can also be seen on their facebook page as well as their website (www.hogaislanddiveresort.com). Diving with them is perfectly safe and Geertje who organises the diving here has been doing this for over 10 years so knows the sites well. The diving is beautiful all year round but particularly during September, October and November when the winds calm down, almost stop, before switching from coming from the East to the West.

Things to do on Hoga when not diving: check the resort reference library, bird watching, walk around the island at low tide, visit the bajo sea nomad village of Sama Bahari (Sampela), visit Kaledupa Island and see local weavers, walk to the top of a hill to see the village of Sampela and Hoga Island from another perspective, snorkelling in Sombano brackish water lake, watch pencak silat (type of martial art) performances by local people. Get to know local people. It is a very friendly place.

What you could do is base yourself at Hoga Island Dive Resort and then do a day trip to Tomia Dive Centre (approx 2 hours there, 2 hours back) to see what it is like. If I have time to do this soon, I will let you know what I find. The resort can take you over to Kaledupa where you would take an ojek (motorbike) ride (approx 20 minutes) to the village of Peropa on the other side and from there take the ferry to Tomia (approx 1 hr).

Hope this helps. If you need more info, more quickly just sms the resort phone number: 62-852-4162-8287 or 62-853-9429-0576

I am at HIDR now till mid October so hope to see you soon.
All the best
Lindz

hi lindz96,
your information are really very helpul
i was planning to do the same thing as you suggested fly to bau bau from makassar , which is not that difficult afterall
i would like some info though about the wasage divers? and the patuno beach resort?
anyone else dived with them?at trip advisor the reports on the resort were quite nice for a divers accommodation(not intrested in something more) but how about the diving operation?
thanks in advance
amalia

I would like to add that you will find very useful information here: http://south-sulawesi-and-wakatobi2012.blogspot.co.uk/ - about Wakatobi and South Sulawesi

Im planning to dive in Wakatobi next october. I have read most of the posts here regarding operators in the area. I´m wondering if anyone has some updated information regarding the dive masters experience. Seems there´s one dive operator in Hoga next Wallacea Operation. Tomia Dive Center and Wakatobi resort in Tomia. Since we can´t affort to stay at Wakatobi, i would like to know if the Tomia Dive Center has improved in the last 2 years or so. Would anyone recommend Hoga DM´s instead? Seems Tomia has much more Dive spots than around Hoga. is this true? besides beautiful coral, what kind of fish/turtles/big fish can we expect around october?

My other question is regarding location. I´m travelling with other friends that aren´t divers, so to have a nice beach would be important. I saw on google earth Tomia is way bigger than Hoga, and also the beach that you see on the pics from Wakatobi Resort are in another smaller island next to Tomia so im not sure how the sorroundings of TDC are. what about hoga? why is it the Wallacea operation decided to be based there diving wise? any advice regarding location would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Im planning to dive in Wakatobi next october. I have read most of the posts here regarding operators in the area. I´m wondering if anyone has some updated information regarding the dive masters experience. Seems there´s one dive operator in Hoga next Wallacea Operation. Tomia Dive Center and Wakatobi resort in Tomia. Since we can´t affort to stay at Wakatobi, i would like to know if the Tomia Dive Center has improved in the last 2 years or so. Would anyone recommend Hoga DM´s instead? Seems Tomia has much more Dive spots than around Hoga. is this true? besides beautiful coral, what kind of fish/turtles/big fish can we expect around october?

My other question is regarding location. I´m travelling with other friends that aren´t divers, so to have a nice beach would be important. I saw on google earth Tomia is way bigger than Hoga, and also the beach that you see on the pics from Wakatobi Resort are in another smaller island next to Tomia so im not sure how the sorroundings of TDC are. what about hoga? why is it the Wallacea operation decided to be based there diving wise? any advice regarding location would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!