My Dilemma - Wakatobi/Bali or North Sulawesi??

[Travelnsj]

Jeremy.....you will be ruined for Carib diving...LOL....My 2psi....go to Lembeh spend at least 4 to 5 days diving. Then head for Sorong and go up to either the Kri or Sorido resort in Papua. You can dive 4 dives a day in Papua if you want to do a nite dive, all dives there are a guided dive due to currents. In Lembeh (at the Lembeh Resort) 3 dives is the norm plus you can do a night dive also the have a small house reef so you can get a tank and buddy to do a dive there.

Also in 2009 Max (Kri & Sorido resort) will have a new LOB called the Antares.

 

[jeremyl]

Travelnsj,
Thanks. So how strong are we talking for currents? I just dove in Cozumel at Barracuda and that day we were in around 3.5 Knot currents. I dont especially want a vacation that is full of roller costers. But a nice calm 1 Knot drift dive is perfectly fine.

So what is the differences (fish, terrain, etc) in Papua and Komodo? Komodo has a nice advantage in that it is easier to get to and my friends want to go see the dragons - so I might have a challenge convincing the group to go to the other places.

How hard/easy is to get around these various places? Still researching costs and such, but is it trivial and cheap(ish) to get from Bali -> Lembeh -> Papau? I am using airline miles to travel from US so I guess my options are to fly to Singapore or to Bali.

Thanks!
Jeremy

 

[Travelnsj]

If you have a chance to do Bali do it....But if you want to do Lembeh and Papua.....really not enough time. I've never done the Bali to Monado-Papua route. I've gone to Bali as a jumping off point to Timor or Wakatobi. When going to Lembeh/Papua I do the Singapore-Monado-Sorong route....try not to spend your Holiday in airports to get a dive in here or there. I've found every time I have flown an Indonesian airline it is always 2 to 4 hours late.

Regarding the currents at Kri they can be up to 3 knots at times but not like Cozumel. Many spots in Papua or the area I dove little or no current except Kri or Sardines reefs...and you want the current....so many fish of every type.

I have not been to Komodo...I have friends that have dove both....they say no comparison to Papua....rent a DVD for the Dragons...LOL

 

[JenM]

Our first trip to Indo was Bali (Tulamben) and Komodo. We still look back on that trip as one of the best we've ever done. Since we are now confirmed muck divers, when we go back this year, we are going to Lembeh. However, if there are a group of you, and the others have never tried muck diving and aren't photogs, you should go to Komodo. It has a great mix of everything. Some beautiful reefs, lots of fish, some really nice muck dives, one or two dives with bigger fish. It's a great intro to Indo-Pacific diving.

Because the liveaboards leave from Bali, it is also easy to get to. We did a 7 day liveaboard, then spent a few days touring Bali and diving at Tulamben. When you come back on your next trip (and believe me, there will be another once you've been there), you can go on to the other places. I've heard great things about Papua, but the problem is that unless you stay at the Kri eco-resort (no hot water, no a/c) it is very expensive and it is that much harder to get to as you have to first get to Manado, then to Sorong, then out to the islands. Your post said you had 7-12 days available. Given travel times, that's just not enough. You'll be very happy with Bali/Komodo and you can save Papua for the next trip.

 

[Travelnsj]

I've heard great things about Papua, but the problem is that unless you stay at the Kri eco-resort (no hot water, no a/c) it is very expensive and it is that much harder to get to as you have to first get to Manado, then to Sorong, then out to the islands. Your post said you had 7-12 days available. Given travel times, that's just not enough. You'll be very happy with Bali/Komodo and you can save Papua for the next trip.

You forgot the Sorido Resort around the corner from Kri both owned by Max Ammer. It has AC/hot water/satelite TV etc.

 

[jeremyl]

JenM, Thanks for that perspective. When I saw 7-12 days that would be days of diving - travel time not included, and that is a pretty arbitrary number at this point... it is more to set the scale of 1-2wks diving, as opposed to limiting ourselfs to anything, but not diving for 2+ wks as some lucky people do.

I am def. the only one that will be lugging a camera (and a big lobster-rig at that)... Which liveaboard did you do? Would you recommend them? The two in the group that originally started the trip planning were planning the Mermaid, but diven the much higher prices for (many) boats next year we are shifting towards a land based. Is Komodo area still good for a week of land diving? I will talk to them about muck diving. But if we did go up to Manado area we could split our time a bit I guess. Or if prices allow we could dive Komodo land based for ~4 days and then go up to Lembeh for a bit. I looked on Silk airlines and the flights didnt seem that cheap. What do people really pay to get from Singapore or Bali to Manado?

Thanks!
Jeremy

 

[Bosun]

Philip we have stayed at KBR and Siladen and would recommend both.

 

[sisterfin]

:blinking:Hi

I dived Bali and Nt Sulawesi 2 years ago for 5 weeks. First of all - altho silk air is safe, reliable, direct and a quick route to Manado - IT IS NOT CHEAP

Given your interest in Bali and Nth Sulawesi - I would seriously recommend you book a flight to bali and then there is an american travel agent based in Manado (safari tours and travel). Manado North Sulawesi: Tours, Hotels, Scuba Diving Packages Bunaken Lembeh with Safari Tours He can book you a flight to Manado from Bali (before you leave home) for hundreds of dollars less than the advertised prices on the net or thru regular travel agents at home - I went Garuda and it suprisingly wasnt delayed and it only took about 4 hours from Denpasar to Manado (including a one hour wait in Ujung Pandang airport).

the diving in Bali is great - I splurged and stayed in a very $$$ resort (Mimpi Menjangan) on the north coast - complete with private hot springs in your villa - superb!!! However there are also some fantastic moderate priced accom options who tie in with dive operators on the north coast (Lovina) which is away from all the hustle and bustle of Kuta and the diving in Menjangan was wonderful.

In North Sulawesi - I spent about 3-4 weeks - went to both Lembeh and Bunaken.

I too love photog - but my thing is coral - so Benaken well and truly "did it for me" - no doubt about it - there are some great critters at lembeh - but overall muck diving doesnt really ring my bells.

On the accom side - I stayed in quite a number - with the intention of trying them out for a later return visit (yet to happen) .

Siladen is very $$$$ but their housereef is fantastic and it was a beautiful place. However of all the places I stayed - for by far the best value by a country mile - with ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT FOOD - very modest but modern clean rooms and with a view to die for - and the best boats in Manado - try Lumba Lumba Diving - the owner operators are a very friendly dutch couple who used to run the dive outfit at Tasik Ria Resort - ( Diving Bunaken / Manado with Lumbalumba Diving, North Sulawesi - Diving Bunaken with us) the whole operation was just totally professional and impressive - and for a quarter of the price of lembeh Resort and Siladen - Highly Highly recommended....

Sorry cant tell you about Papua/Sorong havent been there:blinking:

good luck

 

[JenM]

When we went to Komodo we went on the Kararu liveaboard - Sea Safari #something. However, that was five years ago and I don't think the boat is still going, or if it is, I can't comment on whether it is still good.

The problem with Komodo is that doing a land-based trip requires you to stay in Labuan Bajo (sp?) which is quite a ways from the southern sites on Rinja island. Most of the operators won't go down there on a day trip, but that's where you get really extraordinary diving. The southern sites get cold ocean currents from the southern ocean. Water temps are usually in the low 70's and the diversity is unbelievable. The muck diving was on the way to Komodo, so I don't know whether you can reach any muck sites using the land-based ops. I don't have my log book with me but there's a black sand island that we stopped at for a day on the way out that had great muck and that's where we first got introduced to it.

As I said before, I've heard great things about Papua, but on your first trip to Indo, you'll be very happy in either Bali/Komodo or N. Sulawesi, without having to incur the extra time/expense of getting to and staying in Papua. The first time we rolled off the boat on the Komodo liveaboard, our regs almost dropped out of our mouths - it was so much more than the Caribbean.

Silk Air from Singapore to Manado is very expensive - we may just try Sisterfin's suggestion above to go to Bali then catch a local flight. The problem is that the Indo airlines have some of the worst safety records in the world, so that always causes us to end up booking on Silk and paying their high prices.

 

[jeremyl]

Thanks for the ever-flowing info. I think we will rule out RA just for simplicity. Also we are probably a group of 4 and at least one person is scared of current. She has only ~ 50 dives and 1/2 those were done on a LOB a couple weeks ago. I am no expert either (100 dives) but we are all very comfortable AOW divers with good boyancy. From what I read even around Komodo DM's can find sites without great current. A drift dive now and then is fine, but no washing machines.

Seems most of the bigger LOBs (Dancer, Aggressor, Seven Seas, Mermaid) are pretty spendy. Only do longer trips and are ~$3500US. That is too much for us. A 7 nite LOB with comfortable ammenities (Dont need Dancer deluxe, but want to have a good bed, good food, great crew) for low $2K would be fine.

If the group decided on something in Komodo I may pop up to Lembeh myself to do some muck for a few days if I can swing it. Takes so long to get there I want to get my moneys (er, miles) worth... esp if I can get there RT for a few hundred USD.

I guess my next step is to price out a Manado area trip (probably spliting time between Lembeh and one other place) and a land and LOB in Komodo and see which way the group sways. I have plenty of info on the Manado area sites, but any more info on Komodo - either reasonably priced Land resorts or LOB in my budget would be very welcome.

Thanks!
Jeremy