Best land based diving, any time of year? Where to go?

[qwimjim]

One of my two favorite places so far with Sipadan. But Sipadan was many many years ago when you could sleep on the island. this is not the case anymore. The tuamotu's is a great place for divers but you need to be a relatively experienced diver becaus most of the dives are drift dives in a pas with, sometimes, A LOT of current. The tuamotu's are atolls . Most of them have pretty beaches but there is nothing else to do than sun bathing sorkeling or diveing. So be aware of that if you bring your family. If you go there, make sure you are going to Fakarava South. You do not need to stay ther more than 3 or 4 days because the pass is relatively small. But the wall of sharks ( virtually dozens if not hundreds ) will blow your mind.

Right but in my post I said I wanted amazing diving, land based, and a beach for my kids. So Rangiroa and Fakarava seem like they would be perfect given that criteria Amazing diving, short boat trips to dive sites, affordable pensions to stay in, great beaches. What am I missing?

Other options:

Palau - no beach except for small manmade beach at PPR for $600/night (no thanks). long boat rides to dive sites. Palau is probably the second most mentioned diving destination on this board and it looks awesome, but looking at youtube videos it seems Rangiroa/Fakarava is similar diving except with way more sharks, etc..

Indonesia - komodo island resort. nice beaches, but VERY long boat rides to dive sites. diving is apparently amazing but won't get the big fish action of Rangoria/Fakarava with hundreds of sharks or barracuda, etc..

 

[Manneca]

The most jaw dropping diving I've had is at Sipidan. We stayed at Seaventures which wouldn't work for the family, but there are resorts on Mabul with nice beaches. The plus is you can visit amazing sights on Borneo, see orangutans in the wild, maybe pygmy elephants. The permit system for Sipidan is a PITA, but you might luck out. There were schools of sharks, over 20 turtles sighted on one dive, schools of everything. I haven't' done Komodo or Raja Ampat or Rangiroa and Farkava, so I can't speak to those. I love Lembongan. It's cheap and good diving. Mantas, mola molas, the occasional shark and turtle. The beaches are nice, there are plenty of children around, too.