Palau Weh (N.Sumatra) or Maratua (E.Kalimantan)

[Manta Man]

Palau Weh - Summatra - Indonesia

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Hi All Manta Man here. Completely new to this forum stuff & not too sure if anyone's gonna read this but has anyone out there dived around Palau Weh, near Banda Aceh? I'd really appreciate some honest opinions as may be heading there in Aug 09. Another possible option is Maratua, East Kalimantan. If anyone has been to either of these places I'd be really grateful to get some opinions

Cheers & chat soon

Manta Man

 

[kkfok]

Maratua is great. I still missed this place very much after diving places like Palau/Sipadan.

If you go to Maratua, you can also have boat trips to Islands nearby like Kakaban, Derawan and Sangalaki.
The most famous dive site in Maratua is Big fish Country which is a channel dive. It is the only dive I have seen so many barracuda, there were thousands and thousands if the current is right, there were also gray reef sharks and eagle rays. Current around Maratua can be really tricky, with up/down current. We have to do negative descend in most of the dives.
In Sangalaki we saw Manta (Just one), leopard sharks and many turtles, we also have the chance to release some baby turtles in the hatching center on the Island.
In Kakaban, we swam in the Jellyfish lake and it was very nice. We also did 2 dives in Barracuda point in Kakaban and they were nice, we saw some barracuda though current were really fierce.
Derawan is primarily for muck diving, we saw many critters like pygmy seahorse/leaf scorpionfish...it was also nice to see jawfish hatching (from their mouth) in dawn.

Sorry that I have never been to Pulau Weh and so cannot make a comparison.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

I loved Pulah Weh - a fantastic hidden gem - its harder to get to than the average dive destination and very quiet once you get there but the diving is awesome and the only other divers that you will see are on your boat ! There is so much to see and so wild that anything could swim by at any time. There are a huge selection of dive site but the 3 I loved most Batty Tokong, Aras Palay and The Canyon you could dive every day without being bored. You can snorkle and dive off the beach too and even that is amazing.... I wrote a report about it for a dive website ... have a look....unfortunately I do not have a great range of photos to show as I had huge camera issues whilst there.

Dive Report: Palau Weh, Banda Aceh

 

[Manta Man]

Thx Guys for your replies but now I am even more confused!! We'll be in Indo in August in either one of these destinations, I know that's Maratua season but is it PW season too? Ayeshacantrell thanks for the link, in fact I had already read it & you seem to the only one who can give a decent report on PW, doesn't seem many get out there. Kkfok, I just wanted to ask just how strong are the currents & did you dive with or would you recommend a reef hook? Oh & who did you dive with?

Cheers & Chat soon

 

[kkfok]

I think a reef hook is not neccessary for most of the dive sites in Maratua as most of them are for drift diving. However, reef hook may be useful in Big Fish Country (The channel dive) as you have to stay at the mouth of the channel (depth is around 25m) for barracudas and grey reef sharks under strong current. When we were diving there, our dive guide asked us to hold on those monkey tail see whips instead of using a reef hook and it worked. The only problem was that you will have only one hand for photo shooting. The current was very strong, I was able to hear the noise of "passing water", but it was not strong enough to remove my mask/regulator.

Our dive guide also told us that August/September is the right time for seeing hammerheads in Kakaban (barracuda point). Good luck!

 

[Manta Man]

Thx Kkof for all that advise. I seem to have got a good deal on Maratua for August so it seems like its num 1 on our diving holiday possibilities for this year. Did you get to travel around Kalimantan at all after diving there. Any recomendations on where to go? Some jungle treking & seeing Orangutangs is what we are after.

Cheers

 

[kkfok]

Are you going to stay in Nabucoo? Last time I stayed in Derawan and I have been to Nabucoo resort twice to have our lunch after the channel dives in Maratua. It seems to be a very relaxing resort. Do they provide unlimited shore dives as in Derawan?

Sorry that I didn't travel around Kalimantan and so I can't share experience with you. Please be reminded that the flight from Berau to Balikpapan can be delayed easily.

 

[Manta Man]

Hi Kkfok,
We've found a reasonable good deal with Maratua Paradise Resort, so we will probably go there but still quite expensive if you start to add things up from Europe. But they offer about 15 boat dives in 5 days + unlimited shore dives, mind you I don't know how probable those "unlimited shore dives" will be I guess it will depend on the time we get back. Anyway, still undecided so, still looking into the possibilities of Palau Weh or even Alor? Been to Alor?

Chat soon

MM

 

[kkfok]

Does your offer included day trips to surrounding islands such as Kakaban and Sangalaki?
I like my diving in Maratua/Derawan/Sangalaki/Kakaban because of the big stuff such as manta, eagle ray, leopard shark, grey reef shark and tons of barracuda. Macros there was good but not really amazing. Yes, it is expensive if you start the journey from Europe. For your reference it is around USD1550 to do it from Hong Kong with 4 full days of diving (2 boat trips to surrounding islands) and unlimited shore dives in Derawan. The diving in Sangalaki can be really amazing as my friend had snorkelled with more than a hundred manta rays during his trip a few years ago on February. Sorry that I haven't been to Alor but I have been diving in Bali and Manado and I rate Maratua higher.

 

[madfish]

Hi guys. this thread caught my attention cos I was also researching on P.Weh..My last trip to Sangalaki was 5-6 yrs back and was in Aug that I saw tons of Mantas and also Hammerheads at Maratua Channel. It was my best trip ever due to the diversity of diving I can do.. but the costs does add up. I am researching on a Panunee liveaboard to Sangalaki/Maratua/Kakaban and I think prob that might be the best option to dive there within a reasonable time/costs.

at the recent dive expo in Singapore, Pulau Weh Dive resprt has a promotion for diving in July. In terms of costs, I would say diving in P.Weh will be much cheaper than Sangalaki/etc. If you are interested in P.Weh, I can go dig the info from brochures which I have from dive expo. It's an area I would like to explore but just no time yet...