Bunaken vs Sipadan??

[nlo]

What's up SCUBA peeps. We are going on our honeymoon in January and I wanted to ask those who have dived at Bunaken AND Sipadan. Which one is better? Also if anyone is familiar with resorts in Sipadan or Bunaken...Any suggestions, recommendations and advice will be appreciated. Have a great week everyone

 

[Luko]

I wanted to ask those who have dived at Bunaken AND Sipadan. Which one is better?

Hahahhhahaahahahaha... it's a joke, right?
The answer is Sipadan... by a mile or two. Went 5 times in Sipadan always at Borneo Divers, only once in Bunaken at Bastiano's, would never return even if someone's paying me, my wife would get the divorce easily.

Now if you ask me which is better between Sipadan and Bangka (in between Bunaken and Lembeh), where I've been three times that would be another story.
I would assume that Gangga island is perfect for a honeymoon in Bangka, and Kapalai resort or Sipadan-Mabul Water Bungalows in Sipadan.

edit : Ho wait.. January... not a good season for both especially for Bunaken and Bangka. Sipadan would be better then, though not optimal.

 

[nlo]

Hahahhhahaahahahaha... it's a joke, right?
The answer is Sipadan... by a mile or two. Went 5 times in Sipadan always at Borneo Divers, only once in Bunaken at Bastiano's, would never return even if someone's paying me, my wife would get the divorce easily.

Now if you ask me which is better between Sipadan and Bangka (in between Bunaken and Lembeh), where I've been three times that would be another story.
I would assume that Gangga island is perfect for a honeymoon in Bangka, and Kapalai resort or Sipadan-Mabul Water Bungalows in Sipadan.

edit : Ho wait.. January... not a good season for both especially for Bunaken and Bangka. Sipadan would be better then, though not optimal.

Thanks for the info luka. Yea I was just reading up on bunaken as well and you know how it is on the Internet. Some sites would rate bunaken as one of the top 10 dive sites and other sites would rate sipadan as their top. I will look into bangka as well. Would you say bangka is nicer than sipadan?

We've been diving in tulamben, manta point at Nusa penida and crystal bay and we thought that was top notch. Is sipadan even beyond those places??? If so we have a lot to look forward to

If we stayed at kapalai do you think we would have a good chance to get a permit at sipadan since it is a little farther away than SMART? Also would the currents be bad in january or more the visibility and rainy weather? Thanks for your help

 

[Midget]

Yes, Sipadan is better than Bali and Bunaken........way beyond, IMHO.

The permits for Sipadan are a crap shoot. Distance isn't a factor. The number of divers staying at the resorts is a factor.
Hope you are NOT going around Chinese New Year week (Jan 23).

If you want guaranteed permits for multiple dive days, go on the Celebes Explorer Liveaboard.

 

[kathydee]

Sipadan is amazing if you like steep walls, very deep blue water, sharks, turtles, etc.

Bunakan is good but not one of the best.

 

[TwoFish]

Hi Luko, I'd be interested to know why you did not like Bunaken. I've lived here for 12 years and still love the diving - there are 5 islands and coast-line as well as muck diving sites in manado bay and popo, 30-40 dive sites. There is also thw world-famous Lembeh Straits only 2-3 hours away which is fantastic, giving another 30 dive sites.
Sipadan is very good but its a tiny island, turtles are great but after 3 days you start to dive the same thing. Also, since there are no more resorts on the island you have to travel by boat to get there, and I believe that there are some issues about the number of days each operator can go per week (or something like that).
Bangka is good, I have dived this alot and I think thats its good for a few day-trips from Bunaken or Lembeh but I think that the variety of Bunaken & Lembeh is much better. Gangga is a good option but expensive, and is based in Bangka so you have the opposite problem of getting to Bunaken & Lembeh for day-trips.
You also have to decide on the type of holiday you want - you can choose a small island-based boutique resort such as ours with max 20 divers and get very personal attention, or a larger outfit and be one of a crowd.
January can be an issue with weather as we get some more wind & rain, but it mainly affects the amount if sun-bathing time you get so if you just want to do tons of diving then this should not really be a problem.
Hope this helps!

 

[Centrals]

Last dived Sipadan 15 yrs ago and never have any desire to return. Too many divers then. The permit issue is a joke nowadays. It is a lottery.
Jan is not a good time to dive those mentioned places.
If i have to make a choice between Bunaken and Sipaden then it has to be the former.
Go to Palau or Phuket for your honeymoon.

 

[gee13]

I would say that in January you wont get the best conditions in Sipadan or Bunaken. Head over to Philippines instead - to Anilao or Moalboal for better diving conditions. If it were Mar-Aug then I would choose Sipadan over Bunaken. Its because the fantastic macro sites of Mabul, Kapalai and Si Amil are around along with diving in wide angle Sipadan you will get best of bost worlds. So it doesnt matter if you do or do not get to Sipadan you will get some fine diving in. I recently had 5 days out of 7 going to Sipadan island and I pleaded on one of those days to stay in Mabul, there were so many critters around Mabul to photograph. On Bunaken you are pretty stuck with samey dives on walls, nice but it gets repetitive after a few days. Yes some nice muck diving in Wori area at Manado but Lembeh is a trek away and you'll lose almost half a day at least in transfer.

 

[Luko]

Hi Luko, I'd be interested to know why you did not like Bunaken. I've lived here for 12 years and still love the diving - there are 5 islands and coast-line as well as muck diving sites in manado bay and popo, 30-40 dive sites. There is also thw world-famous Lembeh Straits only 2-3 hours away which is fantastic, giving another 30 dive sites.

You also have to decide on the type of holiday you want - you can choose a small island-based boutique resort such as ours with max 20 divers and get very personal attention, or a larger outfit and be one of a crowd.
January can be an issue with weather as we get some more wind & rain, but it mainly affects the amount if sun-bathing time you get so if you just want to do tons of diving then this should not really be a problem.
Hope this helps!

Hoho, great, my answer finally led one of Bunaken's operator to register on Scubaboard. I think I won the membership incentive gift, was it a microwave or something ...
I expected a more "documented" reply (on the Sipadan part) from a professional outfit or at least something that would sound less "commercially oriented"... probably it would be funny to read your colleagues from Bangka step in.

Ok, I am going to elaborate my reply on Bunaken :
- I found the dive profiles quite boring with mostly walls and with current,
- I wasn't impressed at all with the corals,
- I expected more fish, I even woke up early in the morning to find big ones deep, which never came, so all I had to do was stay above crushed or dying coral.
- The vizibility was crap, I felt like it was snowing underwater except when waking up at 5AM.
- There is no decent beach anywhere on the island where I could accomodate my non diving wife and daughter. (It's no joke when I say my wife would rather divorce athn come back to Bunaken, we had cut the stay short after a few days and go back to mainland Manado).

Bangka is good, I have dived this alot and I think thats its good for a few day-trips from Bunaken or Lembeh but I think that the variety of Bunaken & Lembeh is much better. Gangga is a good option but expensive, and is based in Bangka so you have the opposite problem of getting to Bunaken & Lembeh for day-trips.

Well I beg to differ on this one, since :
- from Bangka area you dive Gangga, Bangka, Likupang and Pulisan areas where you get from the clearest coral dives like Sahaung with a density of fish and variety of coral that Bunaken could not even dream of to the muckiest sites where the array of macro critters can rival Lembeh (Can you please tell me which places guarantees pontohi seahorse, mimic octopus, wonderpus and such stuff in Bunaken?).
- there is absolutely no problems going to Lembeh or Bunaken from Bangka's operations, it's a matter of an hour boat ride.
- there are 4 options to stay on Bangka area, not just Gangga which is the most upmarket and mots comfortable one. personally I enjoyed Murex who "invented" the diving on Bangka.
- I have been 3 times on Bangka each time for about a week and I can state I wanted to see more each time since there are so many spots including Bangka and mainland area (that -probably- the Bunaken operators do not know), altogether there are MORE than 30 sites which matches Bunaken, doesn't it?

Sipadan is very good but its a tiny island, turtles are great but after 3 days you start to dive the same thing. Also, since there are no more resorts on the island you have to travel by boat to get there, and I believe that there are some issues about the number of days each operator can go per week (or something like that).

Well maybe I can teach you a few thinks about Sipadan after 5 stays and a hundred dives or more around.
A part of what you're saying is remotely true :
- from Mabul, it takes no more than 20 minutes to go to Sipadan.
- You are right saying there are only a number of dive spots in Sipadan, but unlike Bunaken, since it is far off the mainland except for the huge scholls of trevallies and barracudas, the dozens of turtles and sharks you see one each dive (something you couldn't even imagine on Bunaken ...) the interest is that anything acn happen from the deep, you may spot hammerheads (sometimes lots of them), mantas, whale sharks, etc. taht are swimming past the 800 meters deep walls around the island.
- the operators give you a minimum number of days you dive on Sipadan, the rest of the time you dive on Mabul/Kapalai which are also a highlight for macro critters. If you dive with Celebes Divers they will guarantee 4 days a week on Sipadan, if you're diving with Borneo divers they will say a minimum of 2 days a week but in fact most of the time you will get 3-4 days and in low season you will have to ask to dive Mabul.

The permit issue is a joke nowadays. It is a lottery...
...

How can you pretend that since you haven't been in 15 years????
I never had issues on the 3 times I stayed last year...

 

[Centrals]

How can you pretend that since you haven't been in 15 years????
I never had issues on the 3 times I stayed last year...

You were pretty lucky.
Some of my buddies who are tour leaders and they all came back with the same opinion over last several yrs. Several times every yr and always during peak season.
Who want to dive when it is wet and windy(low season)?
Many divers go to Sipadan simply because of Sipadan and nowhere else will do. Liveaboard is NOT everyone cup of tea.