Bunaken, Perhentians or where?

[George Scherman]

Oh great knowledgeable ones, here is my dilemna.
I would like to plan a trip to SE Asia. I have never been there. There seem to be so many great places to dive and I have no local source of first hand information. I would like a week of economical diving and then move on to land based attractions, both cultural (historic or contemporary) and wildlife/jungle oriented. Some caving, hiking, temple viewing or just interacting with local folks would be good. Total time, about three weeks. Any and all suggestions would be apreciated.
George

 

[h2odragon1]

Philippines!!!
econical, OYEH! My wife and I just returned from the Philippines (Dec 2) after six weeks. If you dive in Puerto Galera there are rooms available for $18/d (fan no aircon), but they do have aircon rooms fro $28/day @ Deep Blue Sea Inn. we dove through Action Divers for $22 per dive $5 / dive for equiptment rental. We met some woman from England who was staying for a month, and was renting a small cottage for $180/mo. actiondivers.com can arrange rooms for you. Food is resonably priced, there is a market in nearby Sabang, ( about 1-2 km away) but Deep Blue Sea Inn does'nt have a kitchen, (something my wife will be looking for next time). there were these fisherman who came ashore near our room with a Tuna about 30 lbs they were asking 150 P per Kilo (about $1.50 per lb), if we had a kitchen and/or a refrigerator we would have been eating good. There are also some nature hikes available through agencies in Sabang. there is a chance you can visit a local tribe in the hills that still lives the traditional Philippine tribal ways.
Make sure you visit Corregidore when you are in Manilla. If you never heard of Corregidore, pick up a history book on early WW II fro the Pacific theater. when you go there you can feel the history. also a weekend trip to Villia Escudero will be rewarding, lunch in the pool and traditional dances, only on the weekend though, we missed it this trip.
You won't be dissapointed in a trip to the Philippines.
There are thousand of dive sites thruout the country. Boracay, Cebu, Dumagete, Anilao, Malapascua island (thresher sharks!). many more! pick up a book on diving Philippines for more sites.

 

[Batfish]

3 weeks is a good long trip, enough time to mix it up a bit.

I would quite possibly suggest Borneo, specifically Sabah (Malaysia), where you find Sipadan. The dive resorts are maybe not the most economical, for example Borneo Divers Mabul Resort is about 1000 U$ for a week. Also in Sabah you have Kota Kinabalu, center for plenty of other activities, like hiking up Mount Kinabalu. Also in Sabah you have Sepilok nature reserve with its Orangutans, there's white water rafting and more. You could then fly from KK back to Kuala Lumpur - a very nice city (as cities go), and up to the Cameron highlands or Penang or to the east coast. I think in 3 weeks you can see a lot. Air Asia is a good way to get around in Malaysia.

The diving :

Sipadan Dive Sites

Borneo Divers Mabul Resort

Now, since you asked about Bunaken (Sulawesi)..

Sulawesi Dive Sites

Tasik Ria Resort (Manado)

Onong Siladen Resort (Bunaken)

or Thailand?........

I'm sure you'll spend days making a decision. They are all the right decision.

 

[AC Boy]

3 weeks is a good long trip, enough time to mix it up a bit.

I would quite possibly suggest Borneo, specifically Sabah (Malaysia), where you find Sipadan. The dive resorts are maybe not the most economical, for example Borneo Divers Mabul Resort is about 1000 U$ for a week. Also in Sabah you have Kota Kinabalu, center for plenty of other activities, like hiking up Mount Kinabalu. Also in Sabah you have Sepilok nature reserve with its Orangutans, there's white water rafting and more. You could then fly from KK back to Kuala Lumpur - a very nice city (as cities go), and up to the Cameron highlands or Penang or to the east coast. I think in 3 weeks you can see a lot. Air Asia is a good way to get around in Malaysia.

The diving :

Sipadan Dive Sites

Borneo Divers Mabul Resort

Now, since you asked about Bunaken (Sulawesi)..

Sulawesi Dive Sites

Tasik Ria Resort (Manado)

Onong Siladen Resort (Bunaken)

or Thailand?........

I'm sure you'll spend days making a decision. They are all the right decision.

Hi George,

Agree with batfish that Sabah's not a bad choice for your planned activities, and Kota Kinabalu's fairly easy to get to by air - either via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.

However, SE Asia does get rainy during the monsoon months, and you may wish to factor this in during your planning. Just out of curiousity, when are you planning to visit?

 

[George Scherman]

I would probably like to go in June or August. Has anyone been to the wild preserve in the area of Manado. I think it called Tankoko?

 

[Indah]

Hello George,

On our site http://www.diving-on-sulawesi.com you will find the complete information about Tangkoko. But to be honest with you I think that you not spend more than one or two days there. The reserve is rather small. The Minahassa Highland is also worth a visit of a couple of days. For diving the combination Lembeh Strait and Bunaken is a excellent one. Happy New Year, Rob.

 

[rockandrolljack]

Diving and culture...? try Bali George....

 

[shugar]

ditto on the philippines! and this isn't just biases talking heheheheh

Jag

 

[pelan-pelan]

Visited Tangkoko in July 2005 - definitely worth an overnight. But probably not much longer. Get there early to ensure you can get a room, have lunch and then set off into the reserve. The guides are very helpful. You will expect to see black macaques, tarsier monkeys, hornbills etc. We stayed at Mama Ros and it was fine. The food was good - but it is very simple accommodation and you will need mosquito repellent, toilet paper.

As Indah says - there is lots to do in the highlands behind Manado. Walk up volcanoes, take a night in Tomohon which is the area's market and centre, fabulous scenery, historical graves, see the village where they build the Minnehasan houses etc etc. For the traveller, Manado, Tomohon and Bitung are not tourist centres. They are busy, noisy, dusty, thriving towns with a purpose. And it helps to have a few words of Indonesian to help you along although the people are helpful. But you already know two words - Indah and Pelan-pelan which are both appropriate to the diving and touring the area!

North Sulawesi is a peninsular. Suggest you start on one side eg Lembeh to chill out and do fantastic diving, take in Tangkoko, then travel across to Manado via Tomohon.
Then some more fantastic diving and trips into Manado and the surrounding area. Our favourites are www.lumbablumbadiving.com and then get lumbalumba to take you over to Froggies on Bunaken for more chill out.

Sulawesi is not an expensive part of the world so cost should be reasonable. Access is easy from Singapore and also Kuala Lumpur. Sam Ratulangai airport is convenient for both Lembeh and Manado.

I have not visited the Perhentians but when I was in Kuala Terrenganu I spoke to people who'd dived there and loved it. But there didn't seem to be much else to do but chill out.