Late June Honeymoon - Where in the World to Dive!?

[J_Dub]

Hi everyone, I just found Scubaboard today and am writing my first post. Thanks for having me.

I would be grateful to hear advice/ suggestions on where to go on my honeymoon in late June. The future Mrs. J_Dub and I both love diving, and we'd like to take advantage of the longest vacation of our lives to-date to do some interesting diving, perhaps in a somewhat-difficult-to-reach spot, along with some lounging on the beach. My initial thoughts are doing a liveaboard for 4-7 days (is that a lot for the first time?), and then spending the remainder of the time on the beach or hiking or experiencing culture or diving from a resort. Any thoughts on where we should go? I have a read a few posts suggesting Indonesia that time of year (Komodo/ other islands).

I think the key points are:
1) Take advantage of the time off to go somewhere that's not easily accessible from the U.S. (so Caribbean or Mexico are out for now - we can do those later).
2) Good diving in late June
3) Somewhat proximate to a nice place to spend time land-side. We like to be active and to see cool land-animals, but also would love hanging out in a over-water bungalow for a while.
4) Not dead-set on a liveaboard, but it seems appealing. We have never done it.
5) Willing to spend some cash - it's our first (and hopefully only!) honeymoon after all.
6) We've done all of our diving to date in the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef (off of Whitsundays).


Everyone here is such a great resource! I welcome suggestions on general things I should consider about location/ activities/ dive-types etc. I'm probably not asking all the right questions.

Thanks,
James

 

[Woodiver]

Bali and a Komodo liveaboard trip would be an excellent choice. Some of the boats depart from Bali and others from Flores which is a short flight from Bali but it saves you a day and a half steam to get to the northern parts of Komodo National Park. Komodo has a very good mix of large and small stuff plus you can see the dragons in the wild.

Spend a few days on Bali, get over the jet lag then go on the liveaboard and spend a few more days back on Bali after the diving. We've been to Bali three times, Komodo twice and would go back again. It's the best diving we have done. You can see pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/woodiver15/sets

 

[J_Dub]

Thanks for the info Woodiver. Any advice on choosing a liveaboard? I would definitely prefer to just fly to Flores rather than spend 3 days round-trip getting to the dive spot. Amazing photos!

 

[Woodiver]

During summer, there are lots of boats diving Komodo from budget to high end. For our big trips we use Reef and Rainforest for planning and booking. They do an excellent job. Indonesia - Reef and Rainforest

 

[cbm32]

I have not been to Bali but it sounds like a good option.

I have spent a good deal of time in Fiji and it is a fantastic option for diving and for honeymooning...especially from CA with the non-stop flight from LAX to Nadi. GREAT diving, interesting culture, fantastic beaches and people.

 

[J_Dub]

Thanks guys. I booked flights to Singapore and am going to figure it out from there with my travel advisor. It looks like a lot of the liveaboards are totally booked already, and from what I am reading that happens even a year in advance, so I'm pretty late. There will still be good diving somewhere and I'll find it.

I'll definitely get to Fiji at some point - frankly it's too easy to get to from home-base in L.A. so I'll save it for a week-long vacation some time in the future! Might as well get somewhere more difficult since I'm taking two weeks off.

 

[Wingy]

J_Dub you would be hard pressed to find any true overwater bungalows in Bali itself...as you have booked a flight to Singapore already perhaps think about a short direct flight to Manado in Sulawesi where you can find absolute luxury and great diving at Siladen and Gangga Islands (manado is the jump off point for both these islands plus Lembeh, Bunaken and the amazing Bangka island). Quite a few options for Sulawesi but AFAIK the two most luxurious places are Gangga and Siladen. Land based trek from Manado up Mt Tangkoko to see Tarsiers in the wild is not to be missed.

If you want shopping and a bit of nightlife Bali would suit on all but the overwater bungalow thing.

Other options - Kapalai has Overwater bungalows and you may quite possibly get a permit to dive Sipidan and also Mabul overwater Bungalows in Malaysia - you could do a probiscus monkey/orangutan/jungle trek from Sabah.

Another option - say if you did go to Bali on your return flight back to SIN take a detour from Jakarta to Padang and spend a couple of days on a private island called Cubadak off the west coast of Sumatra where there is a truly beautiful and extremely secluded overwater honeymoon bungalow.

 

[J_Dub]

Wingy, thanks for the many suggestions. This is great stuff. I think heading to Manado is basically required after using google image search for "Tarsiers." They are amazing. I'm not going to show my fiance because she won't want to do anything else besides try to find more of them!

 

[dirtfarmer]

Bali offers excellent diving and topside activities. Nusa Lembongan has excellent drift dives and nice coral and is has any range of accommodations you would want. Tulamben also has excellent diving with both coral habitat and muck habitat. If you have not done muck diving research it first, it's not some peoples cup of tea. Then from there it's easy to hop over to the Gillies for some relaxing beach time, not great diving but nice relaxing islands- head to Gilli Air for a mix between party and quiet. And Ubud is really beautiful for topside fun.

Manado-Bunaken also has excellent wall diving yes with access to Tarsiers.

Yes Komodo liveaboards book up early. Mermaid which leaves out of Bali is a great operation and the diving on the way to the park and back is excellent. Some of the best muck diving I've done.
From your profile it looks like your not to experienced and Komodo at the new/full moon times can have some wicked current so best to chalk up some experience before you head there. It is fantastic diving so get there one day.

Sipadan has excellent diving but permits are limited and again book far ahead check with the resorts for availability. The diving around Mabul ( resorts which access Sipadan) is good but mostly muck type diving without big coral gardens, and yes easy access to jungle fun.

 

[Jon S-J]

Hi, Komodo is an excellent choice, and not all the boats are full for June, depending on your budget, there is even a honeymoon boat, The Alexa,there are also a number of new boats out there that are not yet full The Calico Jack or Mantra let me know if you want more details.