Beginner questions for liveaboard and Komodo NP

[Ready4Launch]

Looking to do a liveaboard trip in early December. Liveaboard.com shows the Moana as available. Price seems reasonable to me.

Any experiences with the Moana?

Another question that I've got specific to some liveaboards that I've read for SE Asia ... will I have to be lead around by a guide? I'm not really keen on that. I'm diving the Channel Islands NP in California mostly, and we buddy up, hop in the water, and are free to roam as we choose. Divemaster stays on the boat. I've read some stories of people being upset that they get "kiddied" and toured around.

Any other info/recommendations would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Zippsy]

I believe that just about every boat / resort in SE Asia offers guides who normally enhance the diver's experience to some extent (somewhere between being slightly useful and invaluable). Depending on circumstances and diver's experience and skill, shops may allow a buddy team to head off on their own after the briefing or, if possible, a guide may just follow the group. I would note though that the few times I have seen buddy teams go off on their own in Komodo, Raja Ampat, Layang2, Sipadan, Maratua, etc., they aren't as happy as the other divers when they get back after the dive. Even in the Similans, most divers with guides seem happier. That all said, I would not like to be "kiddied" around a dive site.

 

[Papa3]

Only my 2p worth but I wouldn't want to arrive on unknown dive sites and just head off with a buddy.

Our local diving would be done no justice by this approach as most of the sites have some unique feature that would likely be missed without a local guide. Caverns, swim throughs, spots known for certain marine life are all known to those diving regularly but could be missed by a few meters quite easily.

I can't give specific experience of liveaboards, they are still on the to do list, but this was certainly the case when diving in Mauritius last year.

 

[highdesert]

So you're a new diver, certified less than a year, and you're inquiring if a liveaboard in Komodo will just say 'Toodles!' and let you dive your own plan, just you and your buddy? Now I'm not a fan of hand holding either, but really, why would they do that? Komodo isn't all current, all the time, but it can and does rip on occasion. I'm having a hard time seeing the upside of that for you or the boat.

Aside from that, if it's your first trip to Indo, I'll just take a wild guess that you would miss more than half the marine life on a given dive without someone familiar with the life there pointing it out. A good dive guide there isn't going to herd you around, but they will certainly improve your experience. Speaking of which, you may want to be inquiring about the guides more so than the boat. Maybe after 50 dives in Indo you'll get a feel for what to look for there yourself.

 

[Luko]

This is quite worrying to read such post related to a liveaboard plying Komodo NP and written by a diver who according to his SB profile has an experience limited to probably 30-40 dives. In other times, a serious operation would advise any participant to show an experience above 50 dives to purchase a ticket for such a liveaboard, that in order to ensure necessary safety not only for the fun of the experience. Komodo currents are not to be considered lightly.

I suggest you read first about the great indonesian throughflow that is running between Komodo, Rinca and Flores. I wouldn't want to be with a new to diving buddy and without any guide on Shotgun or Castle Rock, when the current starts to pick up.
FYI 4 years ago, 5 divers led by an experimented instructor were lost drifting and found only the morning after on a remote beach, trying to repel inquisitive Komodo dragons with a stick.
I guess you wouldn't like this to happen to you, So you'll be better off "kiddied" as you say.

And oh yes, on the fun part, if you want to see the critters, a guide will be handy too.


Edit : Highdesert was faster to write what I thought. 50 dives in Indo, you say? Well I'm more than 500 and still ask for a critter spotter .

 

[Cali_diver]

I have to agree with all the above. I have done the Channel Islands and Komodo a few times. I do run into ridiculous (at least in my eyes) people who can't understand why the guide keeps showing them "tiny" things but for the most part the guides are invaluable to the experience of Indonesia. The critters nor the diving are not the same as the ones you experience at the Channel Islands. There is no anchor line to go down and come back up with. For the most part, if you don't want the guide to find things for you you just let them know. But, they are there for your safety as well since most of the diving is drift diving and you have to go certain directions in order to end up in the right place. They are also quite keen on sensing when the current is changing and will often redirect the group to another location. The ones who aren't paying attention to the guide are usually the ones who get blown off the pinnacle. I can't speak for the boat you are inquiring about, but my experience is they keep the groups pretty small. They only Kiddie around divers who need to be kiddied around and we are all thankful for that since you are a long way from help.

 

[Damselfish]

There are different types of guided dives.

At one end of the spectrum are guided dives where divers get herded around in relatively benign conditions, sometimes with restrictive limits on time or depth for no good reason. This is the type of thing that gives "guided dives" a bad reputation. For some people it may still be the right thing. Others will find it unacceptable and experienced divers are going to try and avoid this. With a little experience diving in CA you probably don't need that sort of thing, though you might like someone to show you the local critters at least at first.

At the other end of the spectrum are guided dives in areas where the conditions are often fairly challenging in some way, usually because of strong and sometimes unpredictable currents. Many places in the Indo-Pacific fall into this category, and local knowledge can be really important to dive safely, never mind find the critters or a specific place you're trying to get to. Most probably you really do want a local guide in those places. At your level of experience you want a guide someplace like Komodo - assuming you are even ready to dive there. I haven't been there yet, and at nearly 1000 dives I sure as heck want a guide there. Most places like this you will usually find that you appreciate the guide most of the time. If there are simpler dives where a guide isn't needed to prevent things from turning into a total cluster, and they've seen that folks have a clue, doing your own thing if you really want may be an option. (There are places where guides are required because of some local law, sometimes for good reason and sometimes not, but thems the rules.)


Guides are also hopefully good at finding and showing you the local marine life. How much you need this is going to depend how much you have dove in an area. Usually I don't need anyone showing me stuff in most places in the Caribbean (though I'm certainly not going to object to having a seahorse or octopus pointed out!) Most things there I've seen plenty of times and it's more fun to find it myself. But for most dives in the Indo-Pacific, with it's greater biodiversity and where I don't get to dive as much, a good guide should be showing me a ton of stuff I would probably not see on my own.


I just realized another thread I replied to where there were concerns about how advanced Belize diving was, was yours as well. Let's just say worrying about Belize, and not worrying about Komodo, is WAY backwards.