One Year in Bali

[billt4sf]

My wife and I are planning to spend a year using Bali starting June 2016 as a base from which to dive in the "greater Indonesia area", if you will.

Recommendations or suggestions?

We already have a trip planned to the Philippines, and so far on the radar are:

Komodo, Flores
Raja Ampat
Wakatobi
Gili Ialands, Lombok
Papua New Guinea
Andaman Sea, Thailand

But I haven't done any detailed research yet.

What about Malaysia? Vietnam or Cambodia?

We are purely rec divers, our comfort zone is less than 100 ft and we like easy diving. We have over 150 dives each. We prefer seeing life to seeing wrecks. Price is important, but it is not the only thing.

Things I need to think about besides the logistics and cost of getting to a dive location, include whether we use a liveaboard or whether the site is appropriate for day trips (typically we find that any liveaboard we would want tends to be considered very expensive, but potentially do-able for us).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or ways to orient (no pun intended) our thinking about this adventure!

- Bill & Emily

 

[Luko]

We already have a trip planned to the Philippines, and so far on the radar are:

Komodo, Flores
Raja Ampat
Wakatobi
Gili Ialands, Lombok
Papua New Guinea
Andaman Sea, Thailand

But I haven't done any detailed research yet.

What about Malaysia? Vietnam or Cambodia?

Hmmh apart from Coron in the PIs, SEA is not really the richest place for wreck diving, pacific islands are much better in that respect (Vanuatu, Solomons, PNG) but they are far away too! you'll get a few wrecks in Bali (Liberty, kubu, Japanese in Amed)
My feeling about these you mention
Komodo, Flores : well that's a really nice spot but so currenty! Needs to be on a liveaboard.
Raja Ampat : probably the best diving in the area, so many fish, prone to current too. beautiful wildlife, expensive resorts.. There were wrecks in the area I don't know whether they are still dived.
Wakatobi : too expensive for what you get, walls and not so much fishlife.
Gili Ialands, Lombok : easy to get from Bali, nice to chill on the beach but the diving is one or two levels below the others.
Papua New Guinea : far far away, need to go to australia... most expensive flights ...
Andaman Sea, Thailand : yeah... well... was nice espacially for the food on board the dive boats, for the ambiance, clealy not up to Indonesia for diving.There's the Kingcruiser wreck in Phuket, nothing really super special.

Other than that :
North Sulawesi Bunaken, Bangka, Bali : nice easy diving, walls in Bunaken, lots of corals in Bangka, lots of macro critters in Lembeh and Bangka. great resorts, also one or two wrecks.
Maluku, Ambon : great critter diving bit alos nice coral dives, one of my favorite places. no so many resorts feels like more (soft) adventurous diving. there's one wreck too.
Alor : great blue diving and wonderful colors, current like in Komodo, can be deep, sometimes hammerheads, also good macro, One very good resort.

Malaysian Borneo, sipadan : a great spot in SEA, one of the only place where you can see impressive schools of fish, jackfish, cudas, bumphead Parrotfish, loads of turles, lots of reef sharks, sometimes hammerheads,. really nice. you're in resorts but it feels like on a liveaboard : dive, dive, dive..

Vietnam : nice countryside, food to die for, I wouldn't go especially for diving (Nha Trang area)

Cambodia : forget the diving which is really tame, shallow depths whee everything has been fished out, poor viz on top of that you wouldn't see a wreck if there were. hated the food, focus on Angkor temples which are fantastic,

Maybe if wreck diving is really your kick, then you could take low cost flight from SIN or KUL to Sri Lanka and try to organize diving on some of their wrecks. this is probably the place for the most wrecks in Asia.

 

[Zippsy]

I think the OP said they were more interested in marine life than wrecks but Luko's comments are still useful.

If if you are flying through Makassar, consider Bira which is a decent backpacker / day trip place nearby. Lembeh, Bangka, Minado and Bunaken are all perfect for land based diving. Komodo and Rajah Ampat are much better by LOB but there are some cheap, downmarket (not cheap AND good) options available. Sipadan is in the area and a great option outside of Indonesia during visa runs. Maratua can also be worthwhile.

 

[Luko]

I think the OP said they were more interested in marine life than wrecks but Luko's comments are still useful.

ooops, here's a case of bad diagonal reading... I am officially a ... sorry OP!!

 

[billt4sf]

Those comments are very useful, Luko!

 

[lamarpaulski]

I thought Komodo was absolutely awesome and saturated with vibrant life in a mind-blowing variety but like Luko says..current is pretty strong. Current is one reason life is so vibrant. My wife who is not the strongest diver handled it so it can be done. Good guides are essential. Maybe get experience in Bali with currents and then go. You have to visit Komodo/Flores etc..if you're a year (lucky you) on Bali. I loved Bali too its just not quite as amazing, diving-wise. Wouldn't drive in Bali.

 

[billt4sf]

Hello Luko,

I went through your list in some detail and it is a WONDERFUL list! You must have quite a bit of experience living and diving all over SE Asia! Thank you for spending your time to respond to me. We really appreciate it!

I did have some questions...

North Sulawesi Bunaken, Bangka, Bali :

Did you mean Pulau Bangka in N. Sulawesi? An island.

Malaysian Borneo, sipadan : a great spot in SEA, one of the only place where you can see impressive schools of fish, jackfish, cudas, bumphead Parrotfish, loads of turles, lots of reef sharks, sometimes hammerheads,. really nice. you're in resorts but it feels like on a liveaboard : dive, dive, dive..

I wasn't quite sure what Sipadan is -- an island? A dive site? Google finds many things named Sipadan off the coast of Borneo. It sure sounds great!!! There is an island that seems to be named Sipadan about 35 miles (?) off the coast of Borneo to the east.


Sri Lanka has good diving (aside from wrecks). We have in mind Sri Lanka as a tourist destination at some point.


Thanks again! Feel free to mention some specific resorts or whether any of the places you mentioned are best (or only) done off a liveaboard.

Thanks!!

Bill & Emily

 

[Luko]

I did have some questions...


Did you mean Pulau Bangka in N. Sulawesi? An island.


I wasn't quite sure what Sipadan is -- an island? A dive site? Google finds many things named Sipadan off the coast of Borneo. It sure sounds great!!! There is an island that seems to be named Sipadan about 35 miles (?) off the coast of Borneo to the east.


Sri Lanka has good diving (aside from wrecks). We have in mind Sri Lanka as a tourist destination at some point.

Hi again,
yes Pulau Bangka is a small island 15 minutes boatride off mainland North Sulawesi, pulau means island in bahasa language, so in a country of 14.000 islands you will have lots of "pulau" before the naming. This N/Sulawesi Bangka island is not to be confused with another Bangka island which is located nearby Sumatra (and a hell hole due to intensive mining btw).
Just click on my signature down this message, you will easily find Bangka underwater pics.
Personally I am a Murex Bangka 6 times returnee, wooden bungalows, lovely beach, very nice friendly staff.

(Pulau -another one-) Sipadan is also a very small island and a marine park, located on a 600m UW pinnacle. Before 2004 some lucky divers (like myself) could stay on the island but after that all resorts have moved to nearby Mabul island, still 30miles off malaysian Borneo (Sabah) Diving sipadan requires permits that the resort allow to 120 divers per day, this is excellent diving along the walls, lots of fish schools and anything big that can go past the 600m deep walls around the island. I like Borneo Divers resort, been there 5 times both on Sipadan (now closed) and Mabul islands.

Sri Lanka is nice for tourism and food (the hottest curries in the world... damn ...), I am not sure though diving will be up to par (understatement) with Indo or the Phils if you're looking for nice corals and fish life. Thsi is primary a wreck diving destination.

That said if you're going to travel extensively through out Asia, I would also recommend lesser known Andaman islands (India), not to be confused with the Similan islands in the Andaman sea that belong to Thailand.You need to go through Chennai India (and btw do not miss 2 weeks land touring south India, Mamallapuram, Madurai, Trichy.... this is really something !!!) fly to Port Blair an take a 3hrs ferry to Havelock, an island which has some of the most magical beaches in the world(Radhanagar, beach #7) along with tasty curries of giant crabs, the size of a small table and most if all good remote diving with PLENTY of fish (sweetlips, snappers, cudas, jackfish, sometimes manta rays).
Dive India, for diving and lodging in comfortable safari tents, gets my vote.

if you need specifics about some of the places I mentioned, do not hesitate PM me.
(yes, all in all I may say I have been traveling and diving a lot in Asia these 20 past years)

 

[Manneca]

I second Sipadan. I dived there a year ago. We were lucky and got permits for 4 of our 5 diving days. Extraordinary. I would add Layang Layang in the Spratleys. You get there from Kota Kintabalu on Sabah on Malaysian Borneo.

For Sipadan we stayed with Sea Ventures. It's an old exploratory oil rig perched on the water off Mabul. When I looked at the trip, they promised more diving at Sipadan than the other operators. I'd check how many Sipadan permits for how many days were offered. They were also cheaper than many of the resorts on Mabul (but not the backpacker places.)


You can easily dive Nusa Penida from Bali. Be careful with the dive operator, though. I'd recommend staying on Lembongan. We stayed and dived with Two Fish there. We also dived with Two Fish in Bunaken and Lembeh. They have started operations on Lombok. I found them to be very safety conscious.

 

[srt1548]

All these comments and guidance is spot on.

If you like muck diving, as well as Lembeh Straits, go to Ambon. Raja Ampat is vast and there are two distinct areas to explore - North for the big stuff, and South for macro - it is pgymy seahorse lovers idea of heaven. Komodo is also great - the soft coral colurs are just incredible and yes, currents are often raging.

I have dived both the Andaman Islands and the Similan islands on liveaboards - and both are highly recommended and well worth splashing out the $$$. Similan islands are however a lot more crowded, but better value. Still amazing diving. My report is here Diving Richelieu Rock and the Similan Islands, Thailand | Bags of Adventure

I also dived Sipadan last year and it really is a bucket list, despite its popularity and considered risks - I stayed at Borneo Divers on Mabul. My report is here, including the numbers of permits and how they are divided amongst the resorts - Fish soup for breakfast – sampling Sipadans’ diving feast | Bags of Adventure

There is diving in Cambodia and Vietnam, but it isn't worth travelling there especially for - better to invest time and resource doing other big ticket items. The vis is very poor. I dived in Koh Chang, which is close to the Cambodian border.

Wakatobi should not be completely dismissed though. Yes, it is very expensive and it is mainly macro but there are some amazing coral fields - the worlds largest potato coral outcrop I think - and it is impressive.

Hope that helps a bit. Should be an amazing year!