Pelagics in Indo?

[bodiver13]

Its a hard question really,Indonesia offers so much and so much diversity and is such a vast area and fantastic destination and from my experience in Indonesia waters anything can turn up,Raja Ampat You will see Mantas,Wobagong sharks for sure,Alor some sharks and Dolphins for sure,Flores what ever may pop up,Komodo some sharks and Mantas for sure,Wakatobi some sharks,plenty Turtles(thought i was at Sipadan at one point)Manado some sharks,turtles for sure and on smaller areasaround Nusa Pendia.Lembongan enough dives some sharks and mantas,Lombok turtles and some sharks after a few dives,Bali certain areas after a few dives will see some turtle and Sharks.

Thats what i would say you will see and anything else what maybe hanging about but in full answer of your question and would like the thoughts of others especially Bodiver i think the east coast of Borneo has everything to keep you divers fully happy with Sipadan.(Mabul,Kapalia macro)Dewawan,Sangalaki,Kakaban and Maratua ok the last 4 only Indonesia but in these 4 you will see so much for sure and this gets my vote for sure as well as seeing turtle laying and hatching out on the beach and Sangalaki blew me away for that.

So East coast of Borneo

It's really hard to make choices between these places..
any places on the east side of Indonesia, such as Raja Ampat, Komodo, Ambon, Flores, Alor are good places to see pelagics..

But the truth is that almost anywhere in Indonesia, there will always be some sites where you can usually see your choice of pelagics..

If you are in Bali, mola2 is must see (between august-September) then sharks, turtles and mantas are guarantee, hammerheads are not easy to spot, but not impossible.. to get a better chance of seeing hammerheads you can go bit far to south of lombok, THE MAGNET.

And I would agree with The World in My Eyes, that borneo also offers good pelagics and variety of stuff to see..
In my previous trips to Sangalaki, Derawan, Kakaban and Maratua, i got to see everything but wobegong and hammerheads.. but the variety of pelagics there are mind blowing.. you could see turtles, few mating, go to the Sangalaki island and see turtles coming there to lay eggs to eggs hatching and finally see the babies swim to the sea.
Or you can see school of mantas migrating, snorkel with them over and over again (when the season is right!)
Leopard sharks are common to find among with white and black tip.. Schooling baracuda, giant travely, eagle rays, etc..

I suggest to dive all of them if you could

Cheers,

 

[bodiver13]

Awesome video do you think all of that footage was shot in Bali?....I did not know they had Hammerheads there.

I too have some doubt whether all the footage were taken in Bali, however its still possible...
Hammerheads can be seen in bali too.. but i don't know which site exactly to see hammerhead schooling other than south of lombok, which is not really in bali..

nevertheless it is a very amazing video, and i think i will believe that this is taken in bali, as motivation to keep diving in bali to find for stuff i have not seen yet )

Cheers,

 

[Bali-Freak]

Awesome video do you think all of that footage was shot in Bali?....I did not know they had Hammerheads there.

No, I don't believe all that video was shot in Bali.

Hammerheads are seen passing by, but very rarely - and never schooling like in that video. They have been seen deep (around 50m) at Gili Selang and sometimes quite shallow on the North coast of Nusa Penida, especially Batu Nunggul.

Dolphins are quite often seen at the surface, and rarely underwater (Gili Biaha, sometimes Nusa Penida) - but again I never heard of such close and extended encounters like in the video.

Coincidentally Humpbacks were seen (the first time I ever heard of it) just last week off the North coast of Nusa Penida, but just from the surface and out in the blue water.

Close encounters with Sunfish (Mola mola) and manta like in the video? Yes, very often - again at Nusa Penida.

 

[Travelnsj]

New Palau really!? That's good to hear that. hmmm..... schooling greyreefs......

When and where are you going in Raja?....I am headed there in Dec/Jan....I have read that the shark population has been hurt by Shark finning....but plenty of other big stuff.

 

[Live_in_Sin]

20-26/Dec. LOB. can't wait!

 

[jcclink]

Little (if any) of the above video was shot in Bali. Indonesia is not famous for lots of pelagics. You will find tons of small/medium sized fish & large schools thou. Be prepared to dive in currents.

 

[frogfish]

I would doubt the schooling hammerhads were shot in Bali; but the mola-mola & mantas are highly likely, the whale shark and dolphins possible. Others I don't know...

 

[swisstrav]

raja ampat - pelagics?

i don't want to destroy your expectations. but do not count on big stuff every day. there is a place for mantas, yes und maybe you will see that occasional shark. if its more, then just be happy.

vis was kind of restricted during the whole trip

in my oppinion raja ampat is more a hipe than that outstanding dive site.

as live in sin said it is good for macro.

 

[Bali Diver]

As mentioned in my previous post East coast of Borneo gets my vote and Bodiver sums it up well,anyone else's thoughts regarding this.

I also forgot to mention Sangihe islands great area various sighting but nothing i could state for sure apart from plenty of sea snakes,remember one dive unlimited viz outstanding viewing.

Been a few comments regarding raja Ampat,this is how it is Excellent,stunning coral reefs,lots of fish,good macro,will see mantas and wobbegong sharks (5 minutes in to first dive found one after everyone passed it ha ha) and anything which may tun up but much to my surprise saw only one shark.

Highlight for me coral reefs took my breath away stunning !

Every trip in indonesia i see something really stunning on this one a mother manta with 5 little ones following her and whats more on the trip i was talking about how you never see Mantas young one's,maybe she heard me

Something else i found of great interest was at site called Passage Gam Island pretty unusual dive and on a sand bed loads of various Gobies and their hosts found this stunning and called it Goby City for that reason 89 minute dive that was.

As mentioned before all the known areas offer stunning all round diving

 

[Travelnsj]

raja ampat - pelagics?

i don't want to destroy your expectations. but do not count on big stuff every day. there is a place for mantas, yes und maybe you will see that occasional shark. if its more, then just be happy.

vis was kind of restricted during the whole trip

in my oppinion raja ampat is more a hipe than that outstanding dive site.

as live in sin said it is good for macro.

Thanks for the info....I am currently trying to cancel Sorido Resort in Raja now....if you say the diving is as bad as it is...rather go back to Palau...I've also had worthless trips like Sipadan and Galapagos...do not want to repeat that mistake....