Question Indonesia itinerary August 2025

[Lu Y]

Hello,

We are planning a diving holiday to Indonesia and would welcome some advice on itinerary.

- 2 divers, 50 logged dives each, AOW & Nitrox
- Date: likely 1-26 August

Questions:
- Would you recommend transiting in Singapore or Jakarta? We will fly from London.
- We are currently thinking about 5-night liveaboard in Komodo and 7-night land based diving in Bali. Would you recommend adding Flores (Maumere) or Alor or Manado as 3rd destination? We were initially thinking about Maumere however I read on this forum that flights were very unreliable in 2024.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Kind regards,
Lu

 

[hedonist222]

I would suggest London to Abu Dhabi to Singapore via Etihad.
All three flights are non-stop.
Then from Singapore, take a Scoot Air flight to Manado.

Then fly from Manado to Bali via TransNusa airline (ready up on this airline and itinerary - I have no context but this flight appears on skyscanner.com).

From Bali, take a direct flight to Labuan Bajo, Komodo.

Return from Labuan Bajo to Bali and make your way up to Tulamben or Amed.

Return from Bali to Abu Dhabi to London via Etihad. All flights are non-stop.

You could do the same exact trip with Emirates as well.

 

[Luko]

adding Flores (Maumere)

Absolutely not wortwhile and not because of the flights.
The fish have gone AWOL in Maumere bay plus the dive operations are quite mundane.

Then fly from Manado to Bali via TransNusa airline

Yep... though for early wakers! I found that TransNusa had much better reliability than the LionAir MDC-DPS that stops to UPC but systematically leaves you 4hrs waiting in the airport because of delays.

 

[Lu Y]

I would suggest London to Abu Dhabi to Singapore via Etihad.
All three flights are non-stop.
Then from Singapore, take a Scoot Air flight to Manado.

Then fly from Manado to Bali via TransNusa airline (ready up on this airline and itinerary - I have no context but this flight appears on skyscanner.com).

From Bali, take a direct flight to Labuan Bajo, Komodo.

Return from Labuan Bajo to Bali and make your way up to Tulamben or Amed.

Return from Bali to Abu Dhabi to London via Etihad. All flights are non-stop.

You could do the same exact trip with Emirates as well.

Thanks a lot, this indeed feels like a good itinerary without too many flights!

 

[Lu Y]

Absolutely not wortwhile and not because of the flights.
The fish have gone AWOL in Maumere bay plus the dive operations are quite mundane.


Yep... though for early wakers! I found that TransNusa had much better reliability than the LionAir MDC-DPS that stops to UPC but systematically leaves you 4hrs waiting in the airport because of delays.

We will eliminate Maumere in this case.

Just to clarify, do you mean the TransNusa direct Manado to Bali is often delayed by 4h??

 

[Luko]

We will eliminate Maumere in this case.

Just to clarify, do you mean the TransNusa direct Manado to Bali is often delayed by 4h??

Not at all
It's the LionAir MDC-DPS which is delayed on the Makassar/UPG stop.

 

[Lu Y]

Not at all
It's the LionAir MDC-DPS which is delayed on the Makassar/UPG stop.

great, so the direct transnusa one is OK.

 

[Plutonist]

Unpopular opinion: Skip the tourism-hell of Bali. Go to North Sulawesi and take your time to learn the Indonesian way of diving and the critterarium in a beginner-friendly environment. Don't spend all your time on diving. Indonesia is much more than that. It would be a sacrilege to stay in a resort bubble. Get to know the local culture, cuisine and checkout the nature above water.

Come back another time for Mantas in Komodo, etc. They're not going away anytime soon, no need to rush things. Avoid the peak of high season.

 

[Lu Y]

Unpopular opinion: Skip the tourism-hell of Bali. Go to North Sulawesi and take your time to learn the Indonesian way of diving and the critterarium in a beginner-friendly environment. Don't spend all your time on diving. Indonesia is much more than that. It would be a sacrilege to stay in a resort bubble. Get to know the local culture, cuisine and checkout the nature above water.

Come back another time for Mantas in Komodo, etc. They're not going away anytime soon, no need to rush things. Avoid the peak of high season.

Hi Plutonist,

We are indeed still debating if we should skip Bali, as we really don't like overcrowded dive sites.

Regarding North Sulawesi, do you have any recommendation on accommodation and land based activities?

Regarding Komodo, we were interested in mola mola and corals, I don't really care about mantas as we have swim with hundreds in Hanifaru bay in Maldives.

Thanks again for the advice!
Lu

 

[Luko]

Regarding Komodo, we were interested in mola mola

Mola mola are in Bali not Komodo.
There are sites in Bali which are not overcrowded, for instance I wouldn't call Gili Tepekong or Gili Mimpang overcrowded (the sites near to Padang Bai where you can have the most chance of spotting Mola Mola).

More over if you stay in Tulamben and dive with local dive centers/ops there are chances that you won't be diving with the herds of divers coming from Sanur or Amed. One thing for sure is that sites like Crystal bay or manta bay on Nusa Penida will be crowded, I wouldn't recommend diving them in august.
On the other hand N/Sulawesi Bunaken sites like Likuan are overcrowded in august season.
There is no generic figures about locations and their dive spots, it's only a matter of timing and specific sites.

For the record, Yansu the owner of Let's Dive Tulamben organizes Mola mola dives from Padang Bai : he has a very very good record of Mola spotting. (check his Facebook page you'll see)