WHEN to dive WHERE in SEA?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

View attachment 389868 I love that Dirtfarmer, one mans muck is another critters home.

Ambon in October - for those who complain about the amount of trash in Lembeh, rhinopias galore at this spot

Ugh. We should add another column for how much trash is in the water at the various spots.

Only slightly tongue-in-cheek.

- Bill
 
Japan is a very large country when it comes to diving as it is chain of islands that runs North-South. So we have ice diving in the north and subtropical areas in the south.
Okinawa is the southern most prefecture and stretches from the main island of Okinawa to Yonaguni in the southwest.
Okinawa diving is year round with the different seasons bringing different critters.
Jan-Mar is humpback whale season in the main island and Kerama islands with the giants of the sea coming in for calving and mating. This allows for numerous sightings and even chances to snorkel with these guys. (Water temp 20-22C)
Also in Jan - April we have the schooling hammerheads in Yonaguni- huge schools come visit this tiny islands that is actually closer to Taiwan than any place in Japan (Water temp 24-26C)
Starting in April water temps will rise to 29-31C by June and diving in Okinawa concentrates on colorful reefs and crystal clear water with lots of variety of sea life.
The main islands of Okinawa are: Okinawa, Miyako, Ishigaki,Iriomote, and Yonaguni
There are also numerous smaller islands with great diving: the Kerama Island group, Tonaki, Kume, Aguni, Ie, Iheya, Hateruma, and the numerous small islands around Ishigaki/Iriomote area.
As you travel north of Okinawa Yoron and Amami island both have outstanding diving year round.

I hate to do this, but IFL Science is I think a fairly reliable source:

Over 70 Percent Of Japan's Largest Coral Reef Is Dead After Bleaching
 
Bill, OK I am firmly in the grumpy club, along with Luko and others. My attitude will change upon my first slip of a cold margarita...

Similar to many magazines that report on science to the general public, IFL Science exaggerates for clarity (I use this term in my professional talks) and exaggeration and emphasizes gloom and doom for the marine environment. The 2016 El Niño event was global in extent, but the warming did not completely devastate circum-Pacific coral reefs. The "70% of Japan' largest coral..." It is catchy headline, but it probably not very accurate. Notwithstanding my previous sentences, as a scientist I am not optimistic about the future health of our planet.
 
Do you need me to wake you up Charlier?

Actually AFAIK you are the only other person I know who has dived Cubadak - I've done it in May and February - what times of the year have you been there.

Muck...super muck..how about creepy muck lol. At Banda Neira there is a jetty as you come into the 'harbour' - we did a night dive there's a few months ago - absolutely bizarre the amount of pigs skulls and other bones down there. Not an arborek jetty type dive that should make the lists but ...interesting. I want a creepy muck column!

Re Malaysia - langkayan, rendang and pom pom

I visited mostly in the June and July. Post-2004 tsunami,the drive from Padang to the rpjump,off point was hell. We commuted everyday for two weeks. This year, I might conduct a 3D Lidar survey along the coast, south of Aceh, so I will might fly to Padang and dive at Cudadak.
 
Bill, OK I am firmly in the grumpy club, along with Luko and others. My attitude will change upon my first slip of a cold margarita...

Similar to many magazines that report on science to the general public, IFL Science exaggerates for clarity (I use this term in my professional talks) and exaggeration and emphasizes gloom and doom for the marine environment. The 2016 El Niño event was global in extent, but the warming did not completely devastate circum-Pacific coral reefs. The "70% of Japan' largest coral..." It is catchy headline, but it probably not very accurate. Notwithstanding my previous sentences, as a scientist I am not optimistic about the future health of our planet.

thanks for that very useful perspective.
 
Hmm interesting you mention the road from Padang - both times I've been on that road I've had motion sickness - the only time or place I can ever recall my entire life. I was telling my mother it was actually a good road for rural indo compared to the road to Tangkoko.

Bad road column :D
 
I am a bit confused with the diving seasons in Japan. From what I read, it seems that summer is the peak season for travelling to Japan, but it is also typhoon season (especially Aug.-Sep.). How would that impact diving?
We dive year round in southern Japan (Okinawa Prefecture)- the typhoon season officially runs from Jun 1 through Oct 31. That also coincides with the warmest water and the summer season in Okinawa. Now June-July there are very few typhoons and when we have one it tends to be small- disrupting diving for one day or two on the outside as they tend to move fast over these islands. Late August through Sept tends to be the height of the typhoon season where we see the big storms but again they cancel diving for usually one or two days. Storms will limit the choice of dive sites and the outer islands or long boat trips may be disrupted due to rough seas but for the last 2 years we have only lost 2 days of diving to typhoons- we have lost more days to just normal wind rain storms throughout the year then to typhoons. The other thing to realize is that Japan is a very modern country and everything here is built to withstand typhoons and earthquakes, within 12-24 hours after a large storm Cat 4 or 5 passes the islands life is back to normal. When the small one Cat 1-2 happen you do not even notice its just a windy day here. Japan does not see the destruction that some other areas get from these storms due to strict building codes and modern drainage systems etc...
If planning from overseas a trip to dive here - Late August through Sept is good time to miss but the diving if there are no storms then is awesome. May-June is very good and chance of storms is minimal while Oct - Nov are also very good.
 
Someone made mention earlier that they didn't know the dive season at Gorontalo. November to April, due to favorable winds then, meaning absence of big waves sweeping the shoreline.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom