after diving both in bunaken area and raja ampat. i have to say that

[anenomefishman]

bunaken is great wall drift diving., but raja ampat was better diving IMO. RA is mostly just drift dives. they might or might not be next to a wall.

a couple pics for you..

i rarely see 4 clownfish lined up in an anemone.

mandarinfish. they really only come out at dusk.

the dock at the resort. sorido bay. you can see cape kri on the right. great dive site.

nudibranch. weird looking, but cool.

 

[Dan]

Nice shots! No manta?

 

[anenomefishman]

no not really manta season, went to some manta ray sites a couple times. the divemaster goes in the water to look for mantas at those sites. if none, we move on to next place.

 

[WetPup]

Nice photos

My experience is that Bunaken is "prettier" but Raja Ampat has more fish. YMMV.

Also, I saw more turtles in Bunaken than I've ever seen anywhere else in my life - including Sipadan. I quite like Bunaken, but maybe we just got lucky

 

[dirtfarmer]

My experience is that Bunaken is "prettier" but Raja Ampat has more fish. YMMV.

Oh boy will that ruffle some feathers. I can hardly wait for the opinion storm to begin, I was getting bored.

 

[WetPup]

*shrug* The reef in Bunaken is in better condition, it's more colourful, and it has far better viz. At least when I've been there.

Like I said, YMMV.

 

[Dan]

no not really manta season, went to some manta ray sites a couple times. the divemaster goes in the water to look for mantas at those sites. if none, we move on to next place.

I was there (Manta Sandy & Manta Ridge) 2 months earlier (May) & saw 2. 8 months earlier (December), I saw 3. Back in January 2010, I saw 4 of them popping into the ridge in a row, like a train waiting their turn to be cleaned. Scorpiofish saw 14, but he didn't mention the month of the year. I guess July is not a good time to be there.

 

[anenomefishman]

Nice photos

My experience is that Bunaken is "prettier" but Raja Ampat has more fish. YMMV.

Also, I saw more turtles in Bunaken than I've ever seen anywhere else in my life - including Sipadan. I quite like Bunaken, but maybe we just got lucky

i have seen more turtles in HI, than anyplace in the world. Cayman islands is not far behind.

 

[OrcaTorch]

All the photos is great! Nice shot.

 

[anenomefishman]

All the photos is great! Nice shot.

it is just a really cool place to dive. we have dove a number of them. wakatobi, indonesia and palau are fabulous as well in that area.