Best Value in a Komodo Liveaboard

[bqualls]

I'm aware that there is quite a bit of stuff on this topic in the archives, but I'd like to get the most up to date info on this subject. This will be my first liveaboard adventure and I want to make sure that I choose wisely.I have been diving for over 3 decades and have been fearful of a liveaboard trip because I tend to be pretty susceptible to mal de mer. I've tried all the remedies and have recently learned that scopolamine works really well for me. So, I'm ready to give a LOB a try and most everyone seems to think Komodo is best done by LOB.(plus I can see having more "fish feeding" problems with those long distances on the day boats) I think I would rather embark from laubanbajo than bali. Ive ruled out the ari jaya b/c the wife must have aircon. Can't find much info on (I think) a newer boat , the blue dragon. Read a couple of reviews on the Moana and she seems O.K. Dive komodo says they no longer book the mona lisa and when I try to go to the mona lisa website,I get a warning telling me that my computer is about to be infected. I would prefer 5 or 6 nights,but a week would be o.k with lots of scopolamine. Thanks in advance.

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

We will not go over other remedies for your problem as we are sure you have tried them all. A really nice thing about diving in Komodo National Marine Park is that once ther it is usually calm on top of the water, underneath is where you will deal with some of the challenging currents but well worth it for the incredible diving you will experience. The crossings is the only part that can have some rough seas most of the time. May we suggest a new boat called the Tambora, it is beautiful and well priced and UWE the owner built her from scratch pupose built for diving and stability in mind though we believe Tambora mainly dives komodo in Nov. and Dec. go to http://tamboradive.com
You may also want to check out Dive The World as they can book you on several different liveaboards at different classes and prices to suit your budget Indonesia Scuba Diving - Bali Diving - Liveaboards in Komodo - Raja Ampat - Bunaken
You may also want to look at diving raja Ampat which is another world class dive site in Indonesia and is also more tummy friendly.
In general we believe you would like the Liveaboards in south east asia over pacific boats when calmer waters are a key even though if a storm comes up there is not much you can do but ride it out. You may also want to look into places like PNG.
If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Thank you Kevin&Stacey for the recommendation.

Am in agreement with your advice and believe once you have experienced a liveaboard you will be keen to experience many more.

We did, however, find that the diving in PNG was not nearly as diverse or spectacular as what was on offer at raja Ampat.

Have a look at some information on KLM Moana and let us know if have any questions.

 

[jcclink]

For Komodo look at liveaboards "Mermaid I" & "Mermaid II". Did MI last year & had a great trip. Very well operated & seaworthy vessels.

 

[Shasta_man]

While you can survive them, we ahd some pretty good rocking and rolling on some of our crossings. On a particularly heavy crossing, I happened to get up at 3 AM and go into the salon. The water dispenser with the big bottle on top was lashed to a pole but it was rocking back and forth until suddenly dumping the bottle on the floor. Coming back into Bali, we headed into some serious swells. I have some video which would make you instantly reconsider your choice. However, we survived it and all was fine. You typically anchor in nice spots at night and during the day and only have specific crossing, with many idyllic cruises during the day. You just take your Bonine every morning when you get up and just go about your business. You position yourself to look in at something on the boat and not look at the bobbing horizon. You keep busy and keep your mind off it. The only boat where you get no bobbing was in Palau (anchoring in a channel) or in Raja Ampat on the big Paradise Dancer.

 

[Woodiver]

While you can survive them, we ahd some pretty good rocking and rolling on some of our crossings. On a particularly heavy crossing, I happened to get up at 3 AM and go into the salon. The water dispenser with the big bottle on top was lashed to a pole but it was rocking back and forth until suddenly dumping the bottle on the floor. Coming back into Bali, we headed into some serious swells. I have some video which would make you instantly reconsider your choice. However, we survived it and all was fine. You typically anchor in nice spots at night and during the day and only have specific crossing, with many idyllic cruises during the day. You just take your Bonine every morning when you get up and just go about your business. You position yourself to look in at something on the boat and not look at the bobbing horizon. You keep busy and keep your mind off it. The only boat where you get no bobbing was in Palau (anchoring in a channel) or in Raja Ampat on the big Paradise Dancer.

One very important thing to do if you're taking Bonine (or the genaric, meclizine which is very cheap compared to the brand name) is to be sure to take it the night before boarding so it's already in your system, then take another pill in the morning. If you wait until you board and the seas are heavy, you may not have enough time for it to take effect. We learned this one the hard way!

 

[bqualls]

Thanks for the responses. I gave up on both dramanine and bonine early on, they made me too drowsy to be alert enough to dive safely. I was barely ok without any stressers....but add a sudden downcurrent, a stuck this or that, or a buddy in need...and I would not be as focused or as clear headed as I should be. And I tried taking the dramamine or bonine the night before(and not the morning of the dives) so that the meds had worn partially off. And I tried halves and quarter pills the morning of ...and I tried every which way to fix the dosage and timing. Bottom line:to get an efficacious amount of medication I had to feel loopy. Not so with scopalamine-it just takes away that awful feeling. Now, I have been sick 2 times on the scope---but ,I wasn't the only sick one on the boat and the swell was horrible ...once in little cayman when we had a cat. 1 hurricane sending us swell and once in fiji and those were some serious ugly fiji wave lengths. But the scopalamine seriously reduced the severity of the symptoms....in fact I just fed the fish... felt better immediately and made both fiji dives--before scopalamine I would have been down for the count and all diving would be over until I was on dry land for a good while.
I do think though, that I would be better off doing Komodo from one of the lauban bajo liveaboards so as to minimize the crossings.
Thanks again to all...I'd love to hear more esp. from those who have embarked from lauban bajo.
I do not have any financial interest in scopalamine...It just works wonders for me.

 

[bqualls]

Hey Shasta man,
I'd love to see that video of your crossing that would make me reconsider my choice--any chance of you posting it? At this point, I'm looking real hard at the mermaid II...lets see if you can make me look elsewhere.

 

[Valwood1]

I think that you are exactly right in planning to base out of Labuanbajo. I haven't experienced real rough seas in two trips while actually inside the Komodo Pass (though I'm not saying that the area is always calm), but I have felt some rough seas when traveling north of Lombok, etc from Bali to Komodo. The current between the islands can be pretty strong, and you're really in the open sea. Plus, if you board the liveaboard in Labuanbajo, you don't waste several days going by sea from Bali.

 

[anjanuar]

If you want to join a cruise in the Komodo National Park, better don't go there in July or August. While this time of year waves might be higher. Usually there are only small or no waves in April, May, October, November and sometimes also in December. Because I'm feeding the fishes very fast as well, I didn't want to book a liveaboard but finally I did in December 2009. It was a 6-days cruise on board Moana, starting and ending in Labuan Bajo. Only the first time after leaving the harbor, I felt a little sick. In the park it was possible to forget about this problem, the ocean looked like a lake and I enjoyed my stay on board. Diving was fantastic as well as the atmosphere on board of this liveaboard. You'll love it and I will book again end of this year.