Came across your post by accident but I hope I can contribute to the discussion. I have been to Indonesia many times, first time in the mid-90's, staying at resorts and dived on many liveaboards all over the archipelago including RA, Komodo, Alor, Derawan, Sulawesi, Lembeh and many more and in most cases, as long as you give prior warning to the boat that you are snorkelers, few will turn you away and most will be anxious to accommodate you in any way they can. Some boats are better suited to snorkeling than others, having two or more tenders, so they can actually focus one of those boats just for snorkeling, and almost everywhere in Raja you will find some good snorkeling close by. Personally I think that Raja offers possibly some of the best snorkeling on the planet and whenever I return there, my wife, who for medical reasons is not able to dive, but loves to snorkel, would not let me go without her. I could advise you of multiple top liveaboards that would be suitable for snorkelers, but the main thing to remember is that as you are on a dive boat, and the majority of folks on board is the best diving, the main focus of crew and guides is to cater to those divers, so there maybe times when you come second with regard to getting you to the best snorkeling spots, but if you are content to spend a large part of your day lying on the deck reading a book, you will be rewarded with intervals snorkeling along shallow reefs amongst the colorful corals and the richest and most bio-diverse marine life on the planet, you will be in seventh heaven. When I do send out non-diving clients to Indonesia, they are never disappointed as long as they understand that their diving companions may get to dive 3-4 hour long dives each day, while they may only 2++ hours of world class snorkeling. It maybe much more but I usually contact the owner/captain in advance and chat with him about who else is on board, and frequently I will hear that there are 1 or 2 or more non-divers, so it really is not a problem. The alternative is land based and that is often the option many choose as many places have a suitable house reef, where one is free to don mask and fins and snorkel to your heart's content. However, I am not sure that you will find space at those resorts this Xmas as many are already full. I can talk to you about numerous excellent snorkel sites in RA but I don't think this is the right forum for this. If you would like to PM me or contact by email/skype, then happy to send you more ideas. At your service, Dom.
Dominick Macan
Dive Advice Travel
dom@diveadvice.com
www.diveadvice.com
Tel: +33 492 94 02 99 (France)
SKYPE: adventuredom
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