Did I make a mistake?

[BBQ77]

If you can't find good diving in the Philippines, you aren't looking!

I could not agree more. There are so many dive places in the Philippines, but they are also so so different from one another. If you dive Indonesia in an ordinary place on bad viz days (and did not go to Raja for ex.) you will think Indo sucks.

I think anyone who wants to put "Sipadan*, Komodo and Raja" as a comparison would truly love Tubataha. I have done it 4 times and I never get tired of it.
Anda has great walls and easy fun drift.
Malapascua, I can do the thresher dive 5 days in a row without any 2nd thought about waking up so early.
Coron for the wrecks: I did them in "recreational" mode and found it OK at best only (viz limited, lack of colour) and also did them in tech penetration set up and this was quite good with amazing views from inside (again, proper training + set up please).

*To show how things are in the eye of the beholder, I would not put Sipadan nowadays on equal level with Komodo or Raja or Tubataha... It has declined lots over 25 years.

 

[Clernix]

To show how things are in the eye of the beholder, I would not put Sipadan nowadays on equal level with Komodo or Raja or Tubataha... It has declined lots over 25 years.

That is very true. I have dove Sipadan twice in the past couple years and just love everything south of Hanging Gardens I would put if above Komodo. That being said the fact you can only do two of your three dives on Sipadan and one in the surrounding area which is subpar at best. Also the government charges a fee of $100 each day you dive it.

Going back to the Indo side of Borneo in November.

I would love to do Tabbatha but honestly I think if I was going to drop that much cash I would just do Raja. But its still up in the air the video of Tabbatha is impressive.

 

[BBQ77]

Going back to the Indo side of Borneo in November.

I would love to do Tabbatha but honestly I think if I was going to drop that much cash I would just do Raja. But its still up in the air the video of Tabbatha is impressive.

I never tire of Indonesian diving in the good spots. I just sometimes get "meh" from the infrastructure and the lenght of time to get to where I want (and I live in BKK).
I have been to Raja and Tubataha 4 times each. Raja is much bigger (46 000 km2 vs <1000 km2 for Tubataha) so you cannot cover it all in one 10 day trip and there can always be new dive sites to explore. But Tubataha ranks up there with Raja IMHO. It's well organized, usually dive sites are not crowded and you can see anything from whale shark "just passing by" to smaller stuff just lying there...

I particularly liked Seadoors LAB to go there. The co-owner Pierlo is French who also dives tech sometimes (can ask to accomodate within certain limits). Total number of divers on boat is on the smaller side (16). Cruise director Yannick is Belgian. So they have good food and good beers also on board!

 

[Blackcrusader]

We were researching, and we just think there isn't enough time to make it to Green Island even if we experience zero hiccups/delays. Do you think (south) Kenting is worth the trip, or should I stay and dive in Taipei? I was referred to Fun divers in Taipei, they speak English and dive out of the north; it would be shore diving, and they said you'll see dramatic rock formations. I just can't seem to find anyone who has dived more than one Taiwan dive area; most have dived Green Island only. The Taiwan section forums on here aren't very active, as it understandably isn't as desirable as other SE Asia locations

I live in Taiwan. When I want dive vacations I do not do so in Taiwan. The issue is the business is really part time mostly weekends. Rock formations are great if you like looking at rocks and nothing else.
There simply is not a lot of marine life. You go on a dive you see one or two clown fish, maybe a nudi, and lots and lots of rocks. Plus the dive operators try to tell me that 35 - 45 minute dive times are normal and divers cannot do longer times due to gas consumption. I've done green Island and Kenting. Compared to other places these dive sites do not offer much at all. Not worth the money spent diving there.

Londong near Taipei is where some people dive but again it's nothing special. Some entry points are quite dangerous and slippery and people fall and get injured often. That's because they are walking climbing over slippery rock formations.

It's actually cheaper for me to fly to the Philippines where the diving costs half what it does in Taiwan with cheaper accomodation as well.

 

[Centrals]

I live in Taiwan. When I want dive vacations I do not do so in Taiwan. The issue is the business is really par time mostly weekends. Rock formations are great if you like looking at rocks and nothing else.
There simply is not a lot of marine life. You go on a dive you see one or two cloen fish, maybe a nudi, and lots and lots of rocks. Plus the dive operators try to tell me that 35 - 45 minute dive times are normal and divers cannot do longer times due to gas consumption. I've done green Island and Kenting. Compared to other places these dive sites do not offer much at all. Not worth the money spent diving there.

Londong near Taipei is where some people dive but again it's nothing special. Some entry points are quite dangerous and slippery and people fall and get injured often. That's because they are walking climbing over slippery rock formations.

It's actually cheaper for me to fly to the Philippines where the diving costs half what it does in Taiwan with cheaper accomodation as well.

I had great times diving at Green island, Kenting and XLQ.
Diving is NOT expensive in Republic of China and food is certainly much much better than Philippines.