Is there any diving near Jakarta?

[Wisnu]

there's few operator/person arrange day trip to 1000 island or anyer area.
here's one of them - sorry in bahasa, he offer day trip on 7, 8, 15 and 16 March 2015. Not the best sites though.
forumselam.com
sure there's other operator offer the day trip
check with local diving community; some time they arrange day trip cost sharing.

 

[angelfish2]

Hi Matt,
Thanks very much for your reply. Sorry, I missed it before! That's a bummer. I thought it would probably be hard but was hoping I could manage to swing something. From all I've heard, traffic in Jakarta is horrendous, so I was wondering how easy it would be to get out of the city to a dive area (but still hoping it would be easier at least over a weekend).
If I were interested in trying to price out something to see if it would be remotely feasible, do you have any suggestions for dive operators to contact? Unfortunately, although I used to be an avid diver, my situation has changed so it's pretty hard for me to get diving often (hence, my serious desperation to take advantage of being in Jakarta for a few days). It would need to be something safe with good dive master as I traveled very dive-light and need to rent all equipment. If totally not worth it, that's good to know too. I'm grasping a bit here.
Thank you!
Angel

 

[matts1w]

As with all things in Indonesia, if you are willing to shell out the money you can most likely get it done.

I would contact these guys as a starting point (Divemasters - Official Website or Sea Pearl | Home) and see what they have to say. Your two options are a Sunday day trip to 1000 Islands or Anyer. Both DiveMasters and Sea Pearl are good people and solid shops.

I can save you the time and tell you it is totally not worth it. The 1000 Islands above water are beautiful and perfect for those of us who live in Jakarta for an easy weekend escape. The diving is just fine for training/certification purposes, but that is just about it. Understand it will cost you hundreds of dollars and hours of time to do two below average dives. It is still rainy season and the odds are good the weather will not cooperate. I know Jakarta looks to be right in the middle of good to great diving on a map, but it ain't. The best part of living here is that I can take a short plane ride and dive the best waters in the world 5 or 6 times a year, but diving day-trips really don't ever happen. Trust me, I have tried about everything to figure out a way to make checkout dives easier, more affordable, and less time consuming...it is not happening.

 

[Zippsy]

.....hmmmmmm...... I wouldn't travel from far only to dive so close to Jakarta but I certainly enjoyed the long weekend trip I took from Singapore to Anyer / Krakatoa. The diving was very good, not world class, and if I was in Jakarta again with time to spend, I would dive there again. I don't recall the price as it was quite a while ago but Matt is in a better position to judge that.

 

[matts1w]

Agree, Zippsy. Diving around Krakatoa is decent, and the underwater geology(?).. ummm....topography(?)...rock formations are very cool. I have only done it as a 2 night boat trip that leaves late Friday night, three dives on Saturday, two on Sunday, and back to Anyer Sunday afternoon. The OP is looking for a Sunday dive trip. Anyer is 2-4 hours away depending on traffic, then Krakatoa a few hours by boat across some potentially big water. I remember a decent dive on an island fairly close to Anyer on the way in...but that was years ago so I could be wrong. Anyway, the OP would need to arrange and pay for transport to and from Anyer, a guide, gear, a boat, and hope rainy season behaves for a day trip that includes about 10 hours of boat and car time. Yuck.

 

[FairyBasset]

Im really sorry Angelfish2, I only just saw your post! So am a bit late!!! I guess I missed it.

But for anyone else reading this later, I would say that I have traveled to Jakarta a few times with work and Ive been out to 1000 islands twice, because for me any day diving is a good day! I just like being underwater.

To be honest, I did a few really nice dives there - not brilliant dives, but colorful one with some nice drifts. Plenty of beautiful sponges, crown of thorns, turtles, box fish etc. I did also do some less interesting dives there. I had a few good decent dive masters and two completely useless ones who could hardly dive.

I stayed on Kotok one time and Putri another time. I think Kotok was better if I remember right. However, the trip was from Sat morning til Sunday afternoon, as it is quite a boat ride out there. You can't really do it in a day. It was pretty expensive as well, considering you are not staying in a luxury place, it does have luxury prices.

For me, it was a nice way to add something I love to a business trip, so it was worthwhile. Better than wandering around malls and the like. But I can imagine if you live in Jakarta then you just wouldn't bother, as there are so many better places to dive.

If I go again, Id love to do the Krakatoa trip. In fact, I had booked it one time but it got cancelled… so its still on my list. Apparently that happens quite often.