Best land based diving, any time of year? Where to go?

[qwimjim]

So my wife will be on maternity leave for a year starting this summer and I will be taking a couple of months off as well, and I'd like to go diving somewhere amazing. So far I've been to Cozumel Mexico, Dahab Egypt, and Zanzibar Tanzania. They were all fun but I didn't find any of them jaw dropping. Cozumel was the best, the water was crystal clear and it had the most interesting underwater topography, lots of pinnacles and swim throughs and the most sea life of the three.. but I wouldn't call the waters there teaming with marine life. And the biggest thing I saw was an eagle ray and nurse shark.

So for this trip I want to go somewhere world class, where my jaw will drop. The one thing is, I can't do a liveaboard. It has to be land based, even if it means me being gone all day that is ok. And we can go anytime of year so whatever combination of destination and time of year that will provide the best experience, we're extremely flexible. I'd ideally like clear waters, and sheer bio mass. So big fish, whale sharks, manta's, etc.. and/or teaming schools of fish. I haven't done enough diving that I care about rare species or critters. I want spectacle and sensory overload

I know Indonesia and specifically Raja Ampat and Komodo get the most praise, but it seems that a liveaboard is what everyone does there. Same for Papau New Guinea. Philippines seems very well liked but I don't even know where to begin there. Palau seems good but there's no beach for my family so it's a bit of a deal breaker. Fiji? Maldives? In SE Asia, Thailand seems to be the best choice on the Andaman Sea side but not sure how it ranks with the others, but it has the beach part covered. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jamesdiving]

Plenty of land based options in Raja Ampat - Kri Eco Resort, Sorido Bay, Raja4Divers, Misool Eco Resort (the only one I've actually been to - it's absolutely amazing, but not cheap and a long journey from anywhere).

There are at least a couple of resorts in Komodo too I think.

If you want spectacular then Komodo or Raja Ampat will certainly deliver.

 

[Wingy]

French Polynesia - Tuomoto Archipeligo

 

[chillyinCanada]

I think you could get your excitement in Maldives. I've only done it by liveaboard but some of the best manta, i believe are also dived by certain islands. And that leads me to believe you'd also get the shark action dives. Do some further research, might be just the place. I had lots of jaw drop moments, some heart in chest, some major current and amazing fast drifts. Huge schools of fish. But as I said, I was on a liveaboard.

 

[cbm32]

I have heard good things about the Maldives from a PADI Master Dive Instructor that I know that has worked their twice....but she also said it is damn expensive.

There are a lot of places in Fiji that would fit the bill and can be done relatively reasonably (once you get past the $1K airfare, give or take).

 

[bqualls]

I agree with Jamesdiving-- Komodo or Raja Ampat. I also think Bali is highly under rated & is spectacular above water. But, it is a notch or two below Komodo and R4 below water. That said ,Bali is still great and I like it better than anywhere in the carribbean. Bali is also a great price/value destination.
But,if jaw dropping is truly what you are looking for, then.... Nuff said

 

[qwimjim]

Plenty of land based options in Raja Ampat - Kri Eco Resort, Sorido Bay, Raja4Divers, Misool Eco Resort (the only one I've actually been to - it's absolutely amazing, but not cheap and a long journey from anywhere).

There are at least a couple of resorts in Komodo too I think.

If you want spectacular then Komodo or Raja Ampat will certainly deliver.

Ok I thought you really needed to be on a liveaboard for Komodo/Indonesia, but you can still get to the best dive sites doing land based diving? For big stuff and big schools, would Komodo be better? Any idea how it compares to maldives which also seems to be quite nice above and below water

 

[Luko]

Ok I thought you really needed to be on a liveaboard for Komodo/Indonesia, but you can still get to the best dive sites doing land based diving? For big stuff and big schools, would Komodo be better? Any idea how it compares to maldives which also seems to be quite nice above and below water

It can be a long way and a tedious boatride (near to 2h) if you're not staying at Komodo resort on Sebayur, other than that you still cannot access to the better sites in the south.

I think for colors and diverse fish life KOmodo beats the Maldives hands down. It's also quieter, more genuine (softaventure like) than the kind of boring resorty places of the Maldives... for beautiful locations you can't beat Raja Ampat though.

 

[qwimjim]

It can be a long way and a tedious boatride (near to 2h) if you're not staying at Komodo resort on Sebayur, other than that you still cannot access to the better sites in the south.

I think for colors and diverse fish life KOmodo beats the Maldives hands down. It's also quieter, more genuine (softaventure like) than the kind of boring resorty places of the Maldives... for beautiful locations you can't beat Raja Ampat though.

Well I'm looking for crazy diversity, everything is interesting to me, I haven't done enough diving where I've seen everything and need to seek out rare hard to find species. I really want to go somewhere ideally where there is:

1. Big things (rays, sharks, whale sharks, big fish, etc)
2. Big schools of fish
3. Nice beach for family
4. Clear waters

---------- Post added April 10th, 2015 at 08:27 AM ----------

Well I'm looking for crazy diversity, everything is interesting to me, I haven't done enough diving where I've seen everything and need to seek out rare hard to find species. I really want to go somewhere ideally where there is:

1. Big things (rays, sharks, whale sharks, big fish, etc)
2. Big schools of fish
3. Nice beach for family
4. Clear waters

Whoops I meant to say I'm NOT looking for crazy diversity. Not to say I don't welcome it but since I haven't done a ton of diving there's so much "common" stuff I have yet to see I don't need to seek out the ultra rare critters that are only found in such and such spot

Doing some reading it sounds like Komodo might be a good choice with a couple of days in Bali on the way in or out. Komodo Dive Center on Sebayur looks like the only realistic land based option to get out to the best sites in the north, I read castle rock from Flores would take almost 3 hours?? Seems Sept-Oct would be the best two months for diving in the north? And also for Mola Mola in Bali?

Can anyone point me to the actual location of the Komodo Resort and Dive Center on Sebayur? Google points to an island but there's nothing on the island, no buildings. Would this be an appropriate place to stay for 4-5 nights with two toddlers and two grandparents? All they need is a nice beach to play with the kids while we dive, and sit and read a book when we're back. Is the island/beach/waters beautiful? We could also all visit the dragons on the last day.

Is land based diving equally possible for Raja Ampat?

And how does Sipadan compare? I see a lot of threads about it.

Thanks!

 

[drbill]

Where do I begin? So many places to have a great land-based diving experience in Asia. My most recent one was the Philippines... Anilao and Sabang (Puerto Galera) but there are so many options. I just got back from Palau which isn't exactly Asia (although plenty of Asians live and visit there) and spent 2 1/2 weeks diving with a land-based operator (Palau Dive Adventures). It was an amazing trip.