Hello all,
We’re a couple of dive instructors who recently hopped back to Indonesia from working in Palau, for what we hope will be long holidays (6 months max - we haven't had proper downtime in years...).
We’ve dived in quite a few places in Indonesia as fun divers and also worked in Komodo / Central Raja4 in the past, but haven’t been back since the pandemic broke out.
Currently based in Bali, we’re waiting for the rainy season to ease up a little before going on some dive trips around the country.
We’re well aware that we’re currently in a less-than-ideal shoulder season for diving in most areas, but since we’re staying around for a bit, we hope to catch good conditions sometimes during our stay (even though everything seems off weatherwise everywhere these days, so not raising our hopes too high..).
We’re planning on doing some shore diving trips to Amed/Tulamben (plan is to stay a week or so at a time), but a little worried about the pouring rain and storms we're getting currently.
Doesn’t look good from Sanur anyway.
Otherwise we’re interested in checking out some of Indonesia's many diving areas, especially those we’ve never been able to reach for lack of time and seasonal issues.
Ideally, we would love to go to Misool / South Raja Ampat (never been, and we know it's the season...), but it’s a little out of our reach financially, as are most proper liveaboards trips – yes, we could splurge on a lob, but would be spending a big chunk of instructor-savings diving budget for a single trip, which is not what we’re after at the moment, which is why we're thinking land-based only.
As much as we love these places, we’re not super keen to go back to central Raja or Komodo, and would rather see somewhere different (and also we haven't dived as fun divers for a while, so would rather dive sites we don't know as guides).
Overall, we’ve already dived Bangka, Bunaken, Bira, Gilis, Togians, Lembongan/Penida, Pulau Weh, Komodo and Central R4.
As tempting as it is we’re not super excited by Lembeh, as we think we can get enough of a macro-fix in Amed/Tulamben.
On our list of places we’d like to check out are:
Some places that have also caught our interest are Sangalaki, Sumbawa to dive west Komodo. Tomia / Wakatobi area in Sulawesi (seems hard to reach for beautiful coral with mostly macro, though), Belongas in Lombok (but is it just the Magnet?).
We were planning on checking out Timor Leste, but will be staying in Indonesia for visa purposes.
Diving-wise, we both like a bit of everything, but our favorite remains Indonesia’s beautiful reefs and abundant fish life, fish schools, behaviour and current/action.
We have all our gear, speak Indonesian and not afraid of remote travels - that said, we're not a great fan of dodgy ferry-rides after a few borderline experiences in the past (but understand there's no way around it in quite a few places...)
I realise this is a little broad, but any fresh tips and suggestions would very welcome!
Also would love some feedback on current sea/weather/diving conditions from people currently in forementioned places, that would really help with planning!
Cheers!
Ben
We’re a couple of dive instructors who recently hopped back to Indonesia from working in Palau, for what we hope will be long holidays (6 months max - we haven't had proper downtime in years...).
We’ve dived in quite a few places in Indonesia as fun divers and also worked in Komodo / Central Raja4 in the past, but haven’t been back since the pandemic broke out.
Currently based in Bali, we’re waiting for the rainy season to ease up a little before going on some dive trips around the country.
We’re well aware that we’re currently in a less-than-ideal shoulder season for diving in most areas, but since we’re staying around for a bit, we hope to catch good conditions sometimes during our stay (even though everything seems off weatherwise everywhere these days, so not raising our hopes too high..).
We’re planning on doing some shore diving trips to Amed/Tulamben (plan is to stay a week or so at a time), but a little worried about the pouring rain and storms we're getting currently.
Doesn’t look good from Sanur anyway.
Otherwise we’re interested in checking out some of Indonesia's many diving areas, especially those we’ve never been able to reach for lack of time and seasonal issues.
Ideally, we would love to go to Misool / South Raja Ampat (never been, and we know it's the season...), but it’s a little out of our reach financially, as are most proper liveaboards trips – yes, we could splurge on a lob, but would be spending a big chunk of instructor-savings diving budget for a single trip, which is not what we’re after at the moment, which is why we're thinking land-based only.
As much as we love these places, we’re not super keen to go back to central Raja or Komodo, and would rather see somewhere different (and also we haven't dived as fun divers for a while, so would rather dive sites we don't know as guides).
Overall, we’ve already dived Bangka, Bunaken, Bira, Gilis, Togians, Lembongan/Penida, Pulau Weh, Komodo and Central R4.
As tempting as it is we’re not super excited by Lembeh, as we think we can get enough of a macro-fix in Amed/Tulamben.
On our list of places we’d like to check out are:
- Alor – this is the highest on our list
- Maluku Halmahera / Bandas
Some places that have also caught our interest are Sangalaki, Sumbawa to dive west Komodo. Tomia / Wakatobi area in Sulawesi (seems hard to reach for beautiful coral with mostly macro, though), Belongas in Lombok (but is it just the Magnet?).
We were planning on checking out Timor Leste, but will be staying in Indonesia for visa purposes.
Diving-wise, we both like a bit of everything, but our favorite remains Indonesia’s beautiful reefs and abundant fish life, fish schools, behaviour and current/action.
We have all our gear, speak Indonesian and not afraid of remote travels - that said, we're not a great fan of dodgy ferry-rides after a few borderline experiences in the past (but understand there's no way around it in quite a few places...)
I realise this is a little broad, but any fresh tips and suggestions would very welcome!
Also would love some feedback on current sea/weather/diving conditions from people currently in forementioned places, that would really help with planning!
Cheers!
Ben
