One month(aug) in indo, Where?

[boletus1973]

Hi guys...
I've already booked the flights(cheap) for the next summer... i fly to Giakarta with my wife the 3 aug to the 30aug... we are both divers and i'm an underwater photographer interested in all the stuff... pristine coral reefs and macro...
we have already visited indonesia 7 times!! we dived, bali many times(tulamben,pemuteran,padangbay,penida) , komodo 4 times on a cruise and once in the resort, togiean island, bangka island, lembeh ... alor, Maumere ..
Now we would be tempted to return to North sulawesi or komodo, but we'd also like to see something different .... where we could go to make an excellent diving and find nice weather?

ambon in August ??

South sulawesi?? someone know taka bonerate national park??

help me to find something new... ahhh not luxury please..

thanks guys!!
fabio

 

[Luko]

Definitely not Ambon, there are chances it will be raining bucketloads.

Maybe it's time for you to visit Raja ampat, Dampier straits operations are still open, should be good for one week, on the other end of the spectrum, you have Pulau Weh where the season is good to dive, although I didn't fnd the island much impressive, you should not stay more than a (small) week there. One word of advice : avoid ramadan period!

Never been there but South Sulawesi Wakatobi should be diveable as well there are some resorts less expensive than the famous one, in Pulau Hoga or Wangi wangi.
i would be interested as well to have a feedback on northern Halmahera (Tobelo, Morotai) at ths time of the year. The advantage is that it is close to north Sulawesi for spending the rest of the month.

I've had feeback re-Taka Bone Rate : completely dynamited.

Otherwise have you been to Sipadan? I know it's Malaysia but it could be feasible within the trip (in 2010 I dived Komodo, Maumere and Sipadan in a month time).

(or come to Alor late august so we can have a drink )

 

[Antaboga]

Patuno Resort on Wangi Wangi (South East Sulawesi) is reasonably budget and has daily flights (from Makassar) since not that long ago (WingsAir). You could do it before or after Raja Ampat as you'd be transiting for both in Makassar.

I've never dived with Patuno so cannot comment on their operations.

 

[charlier]

Definitely not Ambon, there are chances it will be raining bucketloads.

Maybe it's time for you to visit Raja ampat, Dampier straits operations are still open, should be good for one week, on the other end of the spectrum, you have Pulau Weh where the season is good to dive, although I didn't fnd the island much impressive, you should not stay more than a (small) week there. One word of advice : avoid ramadan period!

(or come to Alor late august so we can have a drink )

Although I usually agree with Luko, August is not an ideal month to visit [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Raja Ampat. Based on overall conditions, the best time to dive at RA is from about late-November to early April. Consider a Komodo liveaboard, with good conditions, you might be able to dive the southern and northern Komodo dive sites.

I wholeheartedly agree with Luko about Alor. You can easily visit Komodo and Alor in August. [/FONT]

 

[Indah]

Magic Bay at the Island Rao, near Morotai, North Halmahera, East Indonesia, is a paradise for lovers of the perfect beach, a clean and crystal clear ocean, magical and unspoiled nature, and ultimate privacy. The dive season is May - October.Rao and surrounding offer excellent diving and snorkelling. Rao, being at the North tip of Halmahera, is in the middle of the heart of the coral triangle. This is the place with the most species of fish and the most species of corals ever counted during one dive, according to a scientific survey in 2008. There is no blast fishing or shark finning around Rao.

 

[AlMitch]

Indah do you have any particulars of a resort that one could stay at on Rao?

 

[Wingy]

Hamlahera and Morotai were fine and rain free in september - august at the end of the month may be doable.

 

[boletus1973]

Thanks Luko, I would travel to every corner throughout the month, but my wife does not want to do a "tour the force" .... I have to plan a trip with 2 or 3 destinations in line, like last year where I bought flights only one way ..
ambon is out of the question because it's raining and then all closed! :depressed:
raja ampat is one of my dreams, but it can be very expensive and it would be a shame to visit the area at the wrong time/weather ... I think it is better to come back to komodo in August, although it is a bit too crowded!
I was never very convinced by pulau weh ... you enjoyed the diving in the area?

south sulawesi, it might be interesting even if I do not think it will be dramatically different from bangka ... umh .. I will ask some quote to Hoga diving ... patumo has bad reviews on trip advisor and diving are really expensive!

Also I'm interested to have feedback about north Halmahera ... looks very interesting but there is nothing in the web! :-(

I've never been to Sipadan, but in August is really busy with permission! if I went over there I would think more in Maratua-Sangalaki ...

alor .. alor .... I would go back ... and drink lots Bintang with you .. but alor divers is out of my budget ...:depressed: ps:at the ocean art, it was my first choice in the list of awards that I had been sent !!

thanks
Fabio

Definitely not Ambon, there are chances it will be raining bucketloads.

Maybe it's time for you to visit Raja ampat, Dampier straits operations are still open, should be good for one week, on the other end of the spectrum, you have Pulau Weh where the season is good to dive, although I didn't fnd the island much impressive, you should not stay more than a (small) week there. One word of advice : avoid ramadan period!

Never been there but South Sulawesi Wakatobi should be diveable as well there are some resorts less expensive than the famous one, in Pulau Hoga or Wangi wangi.
i would be interested as well to have a feedback on northern Halmahera (Tobelo, Morotai) at ths time of the year. The advantage is that it is close to north Sulawesi for spending the rest of the month.

I've had feeback re-Taka Bone Rate : completely dynamited.

Otherwise have you been to Sipadan? I know it's Malaysia but it could be feasible within the trip (in 2010 I dived Komodo, Maumere and Sipadan in a month time).

(or come to Alor late august so we can have a drink )

 

[mikeycanuk]

Magic Bay at the Island Rao, near Morotai, North Halmahera, East Indonesia, is a paradise for lovers of the perfect beach, a clean and crystal clear ocean, magical and unspoiled nature, and ultimate privacy. The dive season is May - October.Rao and surrounding offer excellent diving and snorkelling. Rao, being at the North tip of Halmahera, is in the middle of the heart of the coral triangle. This is the place with the most species of fish and the most species of corals ever counted during one dive, according to a scientific survey in 2008. There is no blast fishing or shark finning around Rao.

I'm assuming Magic Bay and Weda are 2 different resorts? Looked at Weda as I love out of the way places. Weda however does not do diving June-Sept due to weather. I am looking at a June trip to, but not for a year or 2.

 

[Wingy]

Feedback on Hamlahera..some great spots, a lot of average spots. Some coral bleaching and die off, some healthy reef systems. Lots of Macro. Quite a lot of crown of thorns and a few but not enough Trocus feeding on them. Not a national park area so not as fishy as R4. Some really fascinating underwater topography, nudis, pipefish, shrimp, crabs, flatworms, wobbegongs and mobula so diverse and interesting but IMHO not the same catagory as Mayhem, Citrus Reef, Blue Magic, Dampier Straits diving. A few decent bumpheads, a couple of napoleans and schooling baras provided bigger stuff for Indo. There were some real honeypot spots but the general diving around Hamlahera for me didn't hit the top ten...further out did. East of Tobelo the diving got better but the area can have moderate to strong currents.

Morotai - I couldn't dive that day due to being sick but other divers found a plane, some vehicle and launching craft remnants, not the best of viz and not a new Truk worthy destination..but that was only one tiny part of Morotai. Unfair to judge when I have no real idea of other sites.