Need advise for Komodo in mid-April

[pconsidine007]

Hello fellow divers,

My wife and I are planning a dive trip in mid-April and had some questions about Komodo as it will be our first time diving in Asia.

i) Is mid-April a good time to dive Komodo (prob April 12-18)?
ii) My wife has logged about 80 dives (including The Blue Hole in Belize) but isn't a strong swimmer. Are the currents in Komodo really that strong or can someone who has decent diving experience manage?
iii) We would most likely do a liveaboard for 3-4 days and then head to Bali for a few days to relax. Any liveaboard operators that you recommend? We don't mind paying a little bit more for a nicer boat
iv) Lastly, while not in Indo, would anyone recommend Sipadan instead in mid-April due to weather conditions?

Thank you in advance for all your help. Since it's our first time diving in Asia, we want to make sure it's memorable!

 

[mantajohn]

You can go liveaboard diving in Komodo all year round. The liveaboards here do not close for an off-season because every month of the year promises top quality action. Some consider April to November to be the best time to visit as the weather is best then and November to March is rainy season. April, just after rainy season, is often considered the best month.


Normally the water is cooler (average 20 to 25°C) in the south and warmer and clearer in the north (average 25 to 28°C), but this can change. The absolute best time for good visibility in Komodo is from November to January when 30+m is common. July and August, having cooler seas and being more nutrient-rich, have lower visibility but have blooming marine life.


January to March can have rough surface conditions at the northern dive sites. July and August can have rough seas in the south and Rinca. But these conditions rarely interfere with the liveaboard schedules to any great extent.


As far as seasonal patterns for big marine life go, the best time for manta sightings is December to February (though they are seen all year round), and for Mola Mola the best month is generally August.

i found the above info on a good dive operators website. Hope it's helpful. The better quality lobs of which I'm aware all do 7 or 10 day trips. I'm not aware of them offering shorter trips. To really get the best of Komodo you need to do both north and south. It's just too large an area to cover in a shorter time.

Its a a great destination. There will probably be quite a bit of current on at least one dive a day.

 

[jamesdiving]

Black Manta runs a 6 day, Thurs-Tues live aboards in Komodo. I went there with them last June and it was spectacular. It's a nice boat, not as luxurious as some of the really high end offerings in Indo, but plenty luxurious for most tastes (Nespresso machine, massages, great and plentiful food etc) with a fantastic crew. They know the area very well and the diving runs like clockwork - I don't remember a Liveaboard that's so well run.

If you've never dived in Asia Komodo is going to blow your mind...

 

[jake11]

Hello fellow divers,

My wife and I are planning a dive trip in mid-April and had some questions about Komodo as it will be our first time diving in Asia.

i) Is mid-April a good time to dive Komodo (prob April 12-18)?
ii) My wife has logged about 80 dives (including The Blue Hole in Belize) but isn't a strong swimmer. Are the currents in Komodo really that strong or can someone who has decent diving experience manage?
iii) We would most likely do a liveaboard for 3-4 days and then head to Bali for a few days to relax. Any liveaboard operators that you recommend? We don't mind paying a little bit more for a nicer boat
iv) Lastly, while not in Indo, would anyone recommend Sipadan instead in mid-April due to weather conditions?

Thank you in advance for all your help. Since it's our first time diving in Asia, we want to make sure it's memorable!

We went to Komodo when we had only about 60 dives or so. If you pick a good boat You will be just fine!!!
We went on the Komodo Dancer but that was years ago. I believe the Dewi Nusantara does Komodo now and they are Fantastic!!!! Have a great time and go for sure!!!!

 

[tajkd]

See my report here from last year. The currents can be very strong even for experienced divers. Not unmanageable, but be prepared.

 

[pconsidine007]

Thank you all for your tips. Going to start researching these ops...excited!!!

 

[mantajohn]

Komodo is fantastic. Enjoy your research. The link below is to a trip report I wrote about 18 months ago. Some of the info will be out of date and it compares 2 different 10 day trips, not the shorter trip you are thinking of.

i post it in the hope that you find some of the points it mentions helpful prompts in evaluating the trips/ operators/ options that you discover.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/428427-komodo-trip-report-dancer-v-siren.html

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Hello fellow divers,

My wife and I are planning a dive trip in mid-April and had some questions about Komodo as it will be our first time diving in Asia.

i) Is mid-April a good time to dive Komodo (prob April 12-18)?
ii) My wife has logged about 80 dives (including The Blue Hole in Belize) but isn't a strong swimmer. Are the currents in Komodo really that strong or can someone who has decent diving experience manage?
iii) We would most likely do a liveaboard for 3-4 days and then head to Bali for a few days to relax. Any liveaboard operators that you recommend? We don't mind paying a little bit more for a nicer boat
iv) Lastly, while not in Indo, would anyone recommend Sipadan instead in mid-April due to weather conditions?

Thank you in advance for all your help. Since it's our first time diving in Asia, we want to make sure it's memorable!

Hi pconsidine007

Great that you and your wife are thinking about a trip to Komodo, the diving is superb at any time of year and with 80+ dives, some of which in current the diving in Komodo should not pose any difficulties for you. (perhaps you dived "The Elbow" in Belize? the currents in Komodo can be of similar strength & vitality!)

as mentioned in previous most the majority of Liveaboards offer 6-10 night trips though their are some yachts which offer fewer nights departing from Labuan Bajo (Wicked Diving for example). However it would be our recommendation to spend longer in Komodo - afterall there is typically time to enjoy some relaxation in between dives when you are at sea ;-) and a longer trip is really beneficial for getting a more enjoyable experience and range of dive sites.

Our yacht, Indo Siren, operates her first trip in June as we are still in Raja Ampat during April and you will likely find that to be the case for many other operators. Perhaps it would be worthwhile considering delaying your trip to offer a wider choice of yacht?

Best of luck in your search and wish you fun diving in Indonesia or Malaysia
Siren Fleet

 

[mantajohn]

Are the currents in Komodo really that strong or can someone who has decent diving experience manage?

Opinions are quite strongly divided on this point. there was an extensive thread on this subject a few months back - worth a read. so I will not rehash all the points here. Even on my Indo Siren trip there were some divers complaining that they had been dropped into a strong current and others saying 'wow, amazing current, that's why we came here'.

The key point is not how strong a swimmer you are. Olympic standard swimmers would not make much headway against a real Komodo current! The key factor is being comfortable managing in a current. You will mainly be going with the flow or alternatively finning across a current to hit the dive site. The need is to be comfortable in these situations, avoiding clattering into the reef & the other divers. If you are alert to your situation, you should quickly develop the ability to find shelter and dip out of the worst of the current.

Learning to cope with current is immensely satisfying. On both my Komodo lobs the dive guides were really helpful in building up my knowledge/understanding of current diving.

Also, so many dives are offered that its no big deal to sit out the occasional dive if it looks unattractively wild.

If I was planning a trip to Komodo, Siren Fleet would be the first place I would look.

Thinking about your preference for a short Komodo lob - do not ignore the unreliability of internal flights to labuan Bajo. You need to plan in a buffer day in bali before/after the lob - which is a disproportionate load on a short lob. 10 days on a Komodo lob is a really great experience - any chance you can stretch your trip?

 

[jamesdiving]

Buoyancy is really the key - if you have good buoyancy and are confident with it you can get closer to the reef (without bashing into it) and avoid the worst of the current.

That said, some dives will be wild drifts and others will be a battle to get down/back to the boat either side of hooking in and hanging there like a sail in the wind.