Diving in Indonesia with a baby -- liveaboard/land based, Komodo or Bunaken?

[MH]

Hello,

We´d like to get some advice/tips for our diving holiday planning. Me, my husband and our 9-10 month old baby will be travelling to Bali for the month of May, more specifically for 2.-28.5. We are AOWD certified with appr. 30 logged dives each, and would like to dive and snorkel as much as possible on our trip. Reliable and reasonably priced babysitting service while we are diving would be awesome at least now and then so that we could go diving together.

We are thinking of staying in Nusa Dua for 3N, Amed for 4N, Gili Air for 4N and Nusa Ceningan for 4N. That would take from 2nd of May until 17th and then we´d have another 11 days to go to Komodo or Bunaken. Are all of those places worth seeing and is 3-4 nights enough in each? Of course it´s a little lot moving from one place to another with a child but should be fine.

Komodo seems to show its best sides on a liveaboard trip. Are there any child and budget-friendly options in May that would allow a child onboard? We are flexible with the dates. From what I´ve read, Komodo is more recommended than Bunaken as far as diving goes. Is snorkeling possible in both places? How about babysitting on a liveaboard? Or are there good land based operators and resorts in the Komodo area where we could stay instead of a liveaboard? We are travelling on a budget and do not want to spend fortunes but want good value for our money.

Any tips are much appreciated!

 

[Wingy]

I have met a couple with a baby and a 3yo diving in Bunaken - the resorts will organise a babysitter for you - who seemed very much to enjoy their stay, cannot speak for Komodo as I havent been there in a decade. Liveaboard - last LOB I did the owners have their baby onboard and IMO this added to not distracted from the trip - such a cute little guy. Other divers may want total relaxation and you may find some negative views - others minds may have an opinion on this. On the other hand, As a sailor to be honest I would be concerned about having a 9 month old onboard even on a day trip purely for safety sake.

 

[Immeriswas]

I would rather try to find a nice place on Bali with good snorkeling on site and a babysitter than travelling around too much. Think about a médical service nearby unless you are a doctor.

 

[tangfish]

I wouldn't recommend bringing a baby on a Komodo liveaboard. You are out in some pretty remote areas and far away from more advanced emergency services. There can be all sorts of unexpected weather and diving conditions in Komodo (which is part of what makes it awesome), and also the condition of the boat can be a factor in the baby's comfort and safety, and once you're onboard there is no going back unless the whole boat is diverted, whereas on land you can sit out a day of diving if you need to tend to your little one.

There are plenty of great land based options, skip the liveaboard.

 

[AlMitch]

MH I'm glad I'm not the only one traveling around with a tiny tot! I thought I was the only crazy irresponsible parent! haha

As of 6months old my kid has been to Bali and Bangka Island (twice) and Lembeh. (Search my posts for trip reports) They have been for a week at a time. Living in Singapore certainly has its perks!!

In all honesty your itinerary looks pretty ambitious. I know my little one needs a bit of continuity. He is very distracted/ disturbed the first few nights at a place. So if I were you and I had 4 weeks holiday I would pick 3-4 places and stay a week and a bit at each. That way your kid has a chance to acclimatise to a place and you also get a chance to get to know the people who will be looking after your kids. Also you will be able to get to know the underwater world in that area properly. 3 days is never enough. And the travel!! Minimise the travel! Each time you move place you will basically be losing a day of diving. Another hint, make sure you get a place with AC. I'm 99% sure your kid will struggle with the heat and humidity at night, especially seen as you guys come from Finland. I struggle to sleep without AC or minimum a fan going full blast.
You may also think about buying one of those travel cots, that way at least your kid will be sleeping in the same bed every night. Just a thought.

As for recommendations, in Bali Tulamben really does have it all, macro, wide angle snorkeling and lots of places to choose from. We stayed at Scuba Seraya and loved it (and are going back in July), but there are cheaper places available. There are a bunch of threads about dive resorts in Tulamben. I would assume you would want to stay at one of the resorts in Tulamben itself and right on the rocks so that you can easily go snorkeling. Luko swears by Tauch Terminal Tulemban for accommodation but dives with Liberty Dive Resort (I think).
Nusa Dua is for beach time not diving. The Gili islands are also great for just relaxing but definitely does not have the best diving in the area. Nusa Lembongan has great diving BUT most dive ops do a two tank morning dive which means you are away from your kid the whole morning. Just a note make sure you ask them how they schedule their diving. Many places in Indo go out and do two tank dives in the morning and come back at lunch time, so if you are OK with being away the whole morning then OK.

Komodo is really off the beaten track and I would be careful about taking a live aboard with an infant. Stuff happens! And you are 100's of miles from proper help.
I did spot one small operation that have small "family sized" boats, check out Aridive - Diving trip Non diving cruise Safari with children someone on SB suggested them on a post. But just be sure you are OK with the risk.
As for resorts in Komodo, the Komodo Dive Resort looks the best, but again they do 2 tank dives in the morning. But the snorkeling looks amazing right in front of the resort.

Lembeh is great, we stayed at Black Sand Diver Retreat, it is simply amazing! Cheaper options would be Froggies and NAD (but check with both as to how they do their diving, I'm pretty sure both do 2 tank dives, whereas Black Sands goes out does the dive and comes straight back).
Bankga has amazing varied diving (and most people say the diving is better than Bunaken). Blue Bay Dive resort is beautiful, but they dont have AC. Ask them to keep the electricity on for the whole night so that the fans stay on at night. Usually it cuts off at midnight and then you cook! Bangka/ Lembeh/ Bunaken is at least fairly close to Manado which has a hospital and compression chamber.

OK enough nattering from me. Enjoy!! Indo is incredible and so far our kid has loved it.
Oh I need to make one confession, we have been lucky to be able to take our helper along with us so she looks after the little guy while we go diving. We have not had any baby sitting as yet. But most places do offer babysitting and the Indonesian ladies are super warm and affectionate so I'm sure they will be ok.

 

[MH]

Thanks a lot for your opinions and tips! I found them very very useful! We are ditching the idea of going on a liveaboard at this time of our life as it seems not to be the best option with a baby.

This resort Komodo Resort - Diving Club looks perfect but is too expensive for us, almost the same price as the liveaboards. Does anyone know of any nice cheaper options for accommodation in or near Labuan Bajo? Is that a city one would not like to stay in with a baby or are there nice beaches too? How about reefs for snorkeling? We´d like to find a place to stay in Indo where there would be a reef very close to the hotel/whatsoever and the accommodation would be on the beach, preferably on a smaller island. In Komodo area, are there any such resorts? Another option for us is Bunaken and staying in a resort there. May be even better as the currents are not so strong and if we can´t dive together, it would not be so scary to go without a trusted buddy under water.

I´m also going to check out Bangka (had not heard of that before...) and Lembeh (although not so keen on macro stuff). Which of these has best diving: Komodo, Lembeh, Bunaken or Bangka... or can they be ranked?

I think we better choose max. 4 locations where to stay during the month to avoid "being on the road" all the time. Our baby is quite used to travelling and does not seem to mind change of places as long as she has us nearby it doesn´t seem to make a difference where she is. We´ve been to Mallorca (1 wk), Florida (4 wks) and Seychelles (1 wk) already and she´s been with a babysitter on boat while we´ve been snorkeling (but have not gone diving yet). Which ones should we forget: Nusa Dua (can´t cancel for free the first 3N so will stay there for sure), Amed (is that practically same as Tulamben, or is one area better for snorkeling and diving than the other?), Gili Air (most suitable of the Gilis for us?), Nusa Ceningan (found nice accommodation and it´s close enough to Lembongan IMO)? On top of these Bali/Gili locations we want to go to Bunaken/Lembeh/Komodo/Bangka to check out the great diving. That´s already 5 destinations, too much I think. If we get to go to Bunaken/Lembeh/Komodo/Bangka, should we then ditch the Gilis as the diving is not so great there?

 

[Wingy]

Bangka can be quite currenty at certain times of the year with some spots notorious for down currents. Also be aware that Bangka (which I love dearly) is approx 2 - 3 hours car and boat back to manado. AFAIK no shops on Bangka so you will need to stock up on everything from snacks to nappys/diapers in Manado at the mega mall if you choose Bangka. Depends what your interests are - Lembeh is muck diving, Bunaken is walls, Bangka is Pinacles - you said you are not keen on macro so move lembeh lower to the list but im not sure if you are thinking macro or muck, muck diving at Lembeh will show you critters you have never imagined - just my opinion but I prefer Bangka to Bunaken. Murex have a good deal on at the moment. Id drop Gilis out of your list of destinations that interest you...not fantastic diving IMO. Lembongan will offer you much better bang for your buck. If you choose Bunaken I can recommend Froggies who also have a Lembeh op now.

 

[MH]

After all we have decided to stay on Bali and take it easy... Stay some days in Nusa Dua, Menjangan/Permuteran, Tulamben/Amed and Nusa Lembongan/Ceningan... Perhaps visit Gili Air or Gede. There should be enought to see and some good diving too! Good tips/recommendations regarding resorts/places to stay are warmly welcome!