Bucket List Trip Recommendation

[PatW]

Wakatobi, split between the resort and their liveaboard, the Pelagian.

I can recommend Wakatobi. I have not done the LOB. The resort is very good - great food, great lodging, really really nice dive boats and very good dive masters. You see a fair bit of macro and small to medium fish and great corals in the shallows. The people are wonderful, You see a fair number of turtles. But you do not see that much big stuff. Also, it has very, very good snorkeling. I got to tour the LOB. It is really good looking and it travels out farther so you get to see diving that you do not get at the resort,

 

[NitroxNemo]

I can recommend Wakatobi. I have not done the LOB. The resort is very good - great food, great lodging, really really nice dive boats and very good dive masters. You see a fair bit of macro and small to medium fish and great corals in the shallows. The people are wonderful, You see a fair number of turtles. But you do not see that much big stuff. Also, it has very, very good snorkeling. I got to tour the LOB. It is really good looking and it travels out farther so you get to see diving that you do not get at the resort,

Thanks @PatW. That is the general vibe I am getting. Fabulous resort and an easy choice if you can live without the larger pelagics. Sounds like you are vouching for the resort. I will definitely keep it on the list. Thanks.

 

[NitroxNemo]

Plenty of threads on this forum for LOB and land based options for Palau. Just use the search function

Thanks. I was just wondering if you had a preference that you were familiar with. If not, I definitely will search for some recommendations. Thanks again for suggesting Palau.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Thanks. I was just wondering if you had a preference that you were familiar with. If not, I definitely will search for some recommendations. Thanks again for suggesting Palau.

Just posted. I have not dived Palau yet myself even though I have a direct flight of 5 hours. Was meant to dive there in 2020 but covid came along lol

Trip Report Post in thread 'Palau Black Pearl liveaboard'

Jul 28, 2025

Pity only 3 dives a day I would expect at least 4. What were your dive times?

Each dive was planned for one hour and surface intervals three. Some divers had to short their dives because of air consumption- and changed to 15 liter tanks because of this. I think that most of the dives were an hour, give or take a few minutes

We were familiar with the guide (and I consider wife and me experienced divers) so we usually jump first and surface last, dive duration not really a constraint factor, although we never exaggerate not wanting all the group to wait for us too much in rough...

• Jai Bar

 

[JohnN]

If you do go to Raja, add a trip to Triton Bay. You'll be able to dive (not snorkel) with whale sharks. You will not see the (large) crowds that frequent Raja sites, and you'll be in a tropical, white sand and palm tree paradise. In the rare times a LOB comes to Triton Bay, the owner works with the LOB so everyone goes to separate sites.

 

[rmorgan]

Tursiops's recommendation is a good one. The Pelagian is a lovely boat, and a week aboard it gives a lot of varied dive opportunities. And Wakatobi resort is without equal, I think, above water, with excellent diving.

Another boat worth considering, if you decide on Raja Ampat, is the Dewi Nusantara.

 

[Living4Experiences]

If you want romance + diving, I can't think of a better place than Fiji. The only liveaboard in Fiji is the Naia, if you're looking for that. For land-based, Volivoli on Viti Levu is a beautiful resort and you can customize a dive package. Their ocean-front villas have a private pool for each unit. The massages are wonderful, and the food is really good. The diving in this part of Fiji is in the Bligh water and is known for soft corals. No big pelagics. I'm returning for a third visit next month. I wrote trip reports for my visits in April 2024 and April 2025.

Taveuni island in Fiji also has good diving at the Rainbow Reef, and if you time your trip with the moon schedule, which is published a year in advance, you can dive the Great White Wall.

 

[CWK]

Added to the research list. @CWK Do you have a favorite dive company there?

The dive shop that I dived with in Bora Bora in 1996 doesn’t exist now. More recently I dived with the FP Master in 2019 but this LOB also no longer exists. Sorry I don’t have a dive operator to recommend to you, but I’m sure others will be able to assist.

 

[LFMarm]

• Red Sea on a safe LOB
• Maldives
• Komodo
• Sipadan
• Cenotes in Mexico
• Chuck Lagoon

 

[greatwhite1]

• Red Sea on a safe LOB
• Maldives
• Komodo
• Sipadan
• Cenotes in Mexico
• Chuck Lagoon

But you can't stay on Sipidan and you are only permitted to X amount of dives aren't you?