silent running
Contributor
Hello Jpslim, Komodo is worth doing, but it is probably best done by liveaboard. I took a small one owned by Blue Marlin divers in Lombok. Did it off season, which turned out to be a good choice, less boats. Very good diving. Did a lot of homework on the Philippines and went to Bohol/Panglao, diving was good, but not great-no med or big stuff. Most of PH is like that. Don't know enough about the other SE Asia places you mentioned, but I would pick whichever places seem to have the least population. As for Great Barrier, I would choose any part of Papua New Guinea over it. It's a little expensive to get there, but worth it. I have been to PNG 4 times and spent several months there, all over the country. I think it's the best diving in the world-one of the highest diversity of species and plenty of big stuff. But it will be best done on a liveaboard. I would stay away from the bigger operations in favor of the small owner operators like Telita, Golden Dawn, Febrina or Chertan. Had great trips on the Golden Dawn. Some operators will have special transition trips where they move the boat seasonally from one part of the country to another and you can get a good deal that way. I'm sure Palau is great, but after talking to others who have been to both PNG and there, they all said that there was a greater variety of life in PNG. Good luck-Andy
