DREAMING OF RAJA AMPAT - Virtual Dive

[DivingChipmunk]

Thank you for watching my video and your comments. How was the diving in Komodo in December? I thought that the best time for Komodo is in spring: April to July. Have you stayed at a resort?

The divining was awesome and December was our only time available for a long (2 week ) vacation in 2019. We took a liveaboard in Komodo and loved it.

 

[GF99/99]

Thank you for watching my video and your comments. How was the diving in Komodo in December? I thought that the best time for Komodo is in spring: April to July. Have you stayed at a resort?

Thank you for your comments, John. I wish you have a great trip next November. I am planning for another visit to Sorido Bay Resort next October.
Val

To answer your questions yes you can dive Komodo in December but its raining season right now. I have some friends that actually just got on a boat 3 days ago and they have had rain maybe every other day. Mostly in the afternoon. Raja is a better location for December travel does not get the rain like Komodo does. But if you have not been to Komodo yet you MUST go!! this is arguably one of my most favorite places to dive in the world. I have a good friend that owns 2 liveaboards and he runs trips in Komodo, Raja, Banda/Alor, Lembeh and his favorite place is Komodo also. The other reason I like Komodo is its much easier and quicker to get to than Raja and Komodo is much cheaper. You can either fly into Jakarta or Bali and then from there take a quick domestic flight to Labuan Bajo (Komodo) super easy and cheap and there are usualy 5-10 flights a day from each of these locations. I just looked on Skyscanner and lookes like on Monday you can get a one way flight from LAX to Jakarta for about $500 and then the domestic flight from GGK to LBJ is about $80

Now for your question about where to stay, Komodo its best done on a liveaboard. Its like Raja its such a large area and like Raja the liveaboards will take you to all the "good" dive sites. You can stay in Labuan Bajo in a hotel and just do daily boat dives but you will just be going to all the "regular" dive sites but there still amazing!! I am not to sure what kind of vacationer you are but just a heads up Labuan Bajo is very SE Asia its not a pristine Caribbean holiday island which is a good thing that's why the diving is amazing in all of Indonesia it has not been over taken by tourist and huge all inclusive resorts. Its still raw untouched and has culture.

But that being said Indonesia has so much to offer for diving if have already done Raja try something new Komodo, Manda, Wakatobi, Banda Arch regions, Lembeh, Bunaken, Gili T, Lombok, the list goes on.

Not my video but here is a little Komodo teaser.

<iframe width="789" height="335" src="" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[drrich2]

The other reason I like Komodo is its much easier and quicker to get to than Raja and Komodo is much cheaper.

Made a note to follow this up, as it's important. My perspective is U.S.-based; you're in Australia, but you mentioned a prospective flight option from LAX, so your comment may also be pertinent to U.S.-based travelers?

Is this the general consensus, that Komodo is easier to get to/from and makes for a cheaper overall trip than Raja Ampat?

I ask because Raja Ampat and Komodo seem (judging from Scuba Board posts, including frequency of posts about them) to be the 2 premier Indonesian dive destinations. People talk Bali if topside is important, PNG for the 'absolute best' diving and WW2 wrecks plus a culturally interesting topside and 'road less travelled, edge of the Earth' experience, and the Solomon Islands for more great diving + WW2 wrecks...but Raja Ampat and Komodo look to be the big two.

So any factors favoring one over the other are quite important. Thanks.

 

[Illini_Fan]

Made a note to follow this up, as it's important. My perspective is U.S.-based; you're in Australia, but you mentioned a prospective flight option from LAX, so your comment may also be pertinent to U.S.-based travelers?

Is this the general consensus, that Komodo is easier to get to/from and makes for a cheaper overall trip than Raja Ampat?
.

At this point, I've only done Komodo (RA is booked for Jan 2022), but from my actual Komodo experience relative to my RA research, yes, Komodo is easier. Especially if the liveaboard leaves and returns to Bali. I did a trip that started in Bali but ended in Maumere. So on the return I had the intra-island flight to get back to DPS.

My routing (driven somewhat by award ticket availability and somewhat by my desire to try Qatar Q-Suite product and have a trip that went around the world):
DFW-DOH-DPS (just a one stop flight)
MOF-DPS-TPE-LAX-DFW (I think this return routing is probably similar to how I will get to RA, at least in number of hops - hopefully less).

I don't know of any options to make just a single stop to get to Sorong for the RA trip

 

[JohnN]

At this point, I've only done Komodo (RA is booked for Jan 2022), but from my actual Komodo experience relative to my RA research, yes, Komodo is easier. Especially if the liveaboard leaves and returns to Bali. I did a trip that started in Bali but ended in Maumere. So on the return I had the intra-island flight to get back to DPS.

My routing (driven somewhat by award ticket availability and somewhat by my desire to try Qatar Q-Suite product and have a trip that went around the world):
DFW-DOH-DPS (just a one stop flight)
MOF-DPS-TPE-LAX-DFW (I think this return routing is probably similar to how I will get to RA, at least in number of hops - hopefully less).

I don't know of any options to make just a single stop to get to Sorong for the RA trip

I'm planning a trip to Komodo and then on to Raja for November 21.

There are non-stops between Sorong and Jakarta and the price looks nice:
https://www.google.com/travel/fligh...xIIL20vMDQ0cnZwAYIBCwj___________8BQAFIAZgBAg

 

[Illini_Fan]

I'm planning a trip to Komodo and then on to Raja for November 21.

There are non-stops between Sorong and Jakarta and the price looks nice:
https://www.google.com/travel/fligh...xIIL20vMDQ0cnZwAYIBCwj___________8BQAFIAZgBAg

Thanks, I know that. So for me best case is one stop from DFW to Jakarata. So it would only be a two trip hop in total - which really isn't bad. Pricing for that option is obviously higher than a two-hop trip to CGK. I hope to use miles again so I'll see what is available when the Jan 2022 schedules become available.

 

[SSC-uba]

beautiful video! Did a 10 day liveaboard in Raja just about a year ago and am aching to go back! Personally, I liked the diversity of going from South to North and finally finishing off in the Dampier Strait, especially because there were some weather patterns that we managed to avoid that way, but it sounds like a great resort that may be worth checking out if I end up traveling with people who might not want to go on a liveaboard, so thanks for the tip!

 

[drrich2]

I'm planning a trip to Komodo and then on to Raja for November 21.

I hope you'll post a 'compare and contrast' trip report; I suspect for some of us it may be a once in a lifetime trip, one or the other. Any idea what your longest continuous single flight is likely to be in the trip?

 

[Illini_Fan]

. Any idea what your longest continuous single flight is likely to be in the trip?

From DFW - if I go west, the shortest total trip length includes 13h30m DFW-NRT leg. There is also an option to do Singapore Air and that includes a massive 17h10m LAX-SIN leg.

Going east - the DFW-DOH leg is 14h30.

The "shortest" long leg I found would actually be DFW-DEN-NRT-CGK with the Denver Tokyo leg clocking in at 12h0m. But this routing is actually longer door to door, probably due to the extra stop vs the DFW-NRT-CGK routing.

All of these would then need the flight to Sorong.

 

[JohnN]

I hope you'll post a 'compare and contrast' trip report; I suspect for some of us it may be a once in a lifetime trip, one or the other. Any idea what your longest continuous single flight is likely to be in the trip?

I'm using airline miles and flying Cathay, so it's the haul between Vancouver BC and HK (13:35), all made a little less painful by flying in Business. FWIW, the return leg is downhill and clocks in at only 9:20