Raja Ampat, Palau, or Maldives

[Travelnsj]

Travensj did your friends dive just a resort based or a liveaboard? Did they dive ari atoll or madivaru? Im surprised to hear of anyone not care much about maldives as it has some high voltage dives and to be able to see whale sharks, hammmerheads and manta schools in one days diving must be one of diving's highest degree. Tell me if this is possible in Palau or RA?

I've know a couple of people who have done LOB's in the Maldives and I really do not remember which LOB's they were.... they raved about the Manta dives but said the rest of the fish population looked pretty fished out....is this possible in Palau or RA?...I have not seen all that in one dive but I know people who have....How do you compare Palau and RA to the Maldives?

I've put Tens of thousands of $ where other people's mouths are about the greatest diving in the world like Fiji (except the Bligh waters), Puerto Galera, Galapagos, Malaysia etc....and they never have been to PNG, Indonesia or Micronesa...Learned my lesson about getting about 2 or 3 great dives out of 20 or 30....No more...LOL

 

[gee13]

This may be probably true in the major atoll, maybe some parts of Kaafu atoll (Male) but even then Banana Reef which is not far from capital Male itself was teeming with schools of fish. Ari Atoll had some of the most intense concentrations of fish life and there were schools wherever we went. Then there's more remote Baa atoll... I think you cannot generalise such a huge area of diving which is the Maldives to just a collection of sites. In fact it wold probably take 10 LB trips to get a proper representative snapshot of Maldives. A generalised claim from 1 LB doesnt cut it. I have even dived Sipadan for schools of Barracuda and GBR (Ospreys) for Shark Dives, gone to Nusa Penida for the Mola Molas and Maldives I rate up there with the best for big fish action and diversity. The manta congregations of Hanifaru is also legendary I aim to get lucky there one day. The other thing I love of Maldives is it still has a remote feel and you dont get divers en masse like in Palau. And the topside is spectacular, turqoise lagoons white sand beaches. So TravelNSJ, trips to Palau and RA, then Lembeh and Buyat Bay for you? If you havent done Maldives more than once in your lifetime you are truly missing out. I would recommend it. Go change your travel plans in March for Palau for Maldives. That's one of the best month for diving. Was there in March this year and we had nothing but sun and glassy waters with 40M pus visibility to dive in all week!

 

[Travelnsj]

Cancel Palau?....you have to be kidding...now next you are going to tell me is I should cancel my two trips I am planning to Indonesia next year...LOL....but I will go to the Maldives in April if you want to pay for it...10 LOB's to really see the place...hmmm....I'll believe the people I know who have compared the diving to RA and Palau and they have done LOB's and they had "some" great dives as I have said before...no more places like Layang Layang, Sipadan, GBR etc for me...not with my $$! We are probably two different types of divers....Never seen many sharks on the GBR but I do not do Shark Dives as it is a bit unnatural.

You apparently have been to Palau but where have you seen "divers en masse like in Palau"? and how do you compare the diving?....try to change my mind and give a comparison.

 

[Kevrumbo]

You see "divers en masse like in Palau" --on major Japanese Holidays and during the Xmas/New Years Holiday Weeks. Exactly the time of the year NOT to go diving in Palau!

I like drift & wall diving, and technical wreck diving --so Palau & Chuuk are my two favorite places in the world. Raja Ampat was nice: colorful corals, great fish and amazing invertebrate life.

I would recommend to the OP to re-consider liveaboards to all destinations of interest, and work at controlling/tolerating your bouts with sea sickness (it can be done):
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/5367954-post40.html

 

[gee13]

Matter of perspective I guess...but back on topic I would say Palau would be the best option for land based as you can do the best sites from there. Maldives can be done land based but you will have to have a lot of time - maybe years to explore the best sites as travel through and from the atolls is far and wide. And even then the best sites may not be necessarily easily reachable from some of the resorts. Cant comment on RA. I would say for Liveaboard Options then all of the regions mentioned as Kevrumbo says are must dos. Best thing about Maldives Liveaboards is that they are about approx 25% cheaper overall compared to Palau. I paid $1600 for 7 days and was well looked after.

 

[Shasta_man]

Our problem with the Maldives is travel cost and travel time. Even from the West Coast, Indo is a killer to get to, albeit I'm not flying in business or first class, otherwise it could be a different story.

I'd also agree with you that you can't characterize areas so broadly. There's some hella good diving in many of the places mentioned. I think we're also balling more of the total experience into our opinions than the diving alone.

 

[tbnext]

I had a great time in the maldives, a week in Male atoll at Thulaggiri and a week at Elhaidhoo. But honestly I don't rate it much.

There is NOTHING else to do and although the diving is good it's not all that. Fiji was a much better option and so was Borneo. And honestly, so is a five hour drive north to coffs harbour.

 

[fearlessdiver]

You see "divers en masse like in Palau" --on major Japanese Holidays and during the Xmas/New Years Holiday Weeks. Exactly the time of the year NOT to go diving in Palau!

I like drift & wall diving, and technical wreck diving --so Palau & Chuuk are my two favorite places in the world. Raja Ampat was nice: colorful corals, great fish and amazing invertebrate life.

I would recommend to the OP to re-consider liveaboards to all destinations of interest, and work at controlling/tolerating your bouts with sea sickness (it can be done):
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/5367954-post40.html

Hi Kev,
I read your collection of info on sea sickness. In my case I was totally fine for the first 100 dives but shortly after I started developing the symptoms. I don't think being anxious or excited apply to me. I have tried almost all the over counter med. including prescription medication, wrist band cookies, drinks and patches too.

If you think the visualization technique works I wouldn't mind paying for it and get it to work for me.
This could be a good business opportunity. A boat off of Santa Monica specialized in working/dealing with people susceptible to motion sickness.
Small boat and rough seas could be fun.

I am up for it.

 

[RinaW]

I for one love being on a liveaboard, a floating "resort" that takes me closer to my next dive site so that I don't have to take an hour speed boat ride to my destination three or four times a day. You can see from my signature that I'm part of a liveaboard operation, BUT...

If you're concerned about getting seasick and have had those issues in the past, I would think twice about spending the time and money to get half way around the world, pay a premium, and be unable to enjoy what you came to see because you spend most of your time feeling miserable on a liveaboard.

I can say from personal experience about Raja Ampat that although a liveaboard will get you to the far reaching corners of the region, you can see just as much by staying in a resort.

First, Raja Ampat is huge. To make a complete route of all the places and doing just enough diving in every island group requires a minimum of 2 weeks.

Fortunately (and secondly), you don't have to visit ALL of it to see all of the different marine habitats that it has to offer. You can go to Manta point and have a guaranteed manta sighting, then go to a nearby quiet bay to see small critters like bobtail squid and wonderpus, then go to a blue water mangrove environment to see a totally different scene altogether. All can be done by staying in a resort. My first time in Raja Ampat was ten years ago at Kri Eco resort for two weeks and I saw everything northern Raja Ampat has to offer.

When you stay in a resort, you'll be anchored to either north or south Raja Ampat. I can't think of a lot of differences between what you'll see underwater from the two halves except for the topside trips that you might take. Either have really neat things to offer as far side trips go, but the highlight of your trip will still be the diving. You will get a chance to see all of the different marine habitats Raja Ampat has to offer by staying at a resort, as long as you give yourself an ample time to do it.

 

[Shasta_man]

Yes, that's why, as you know, most of the liveaboards there do 12 night trips. While more costly, they are most cost effective for the cost to get out there.

There are pros and cons to land and boat as we've discussed. No discussion is going to change that preference. I enjoy the liveaboard trips the most and get more than just a ride to the dive site out of them, but that is my interest. I've rarely felt seasick. For those amongst groups of islands they tend to anchor in a sheltered area by day with little apparent movement and maybe move once at mid day to a new site. They tend to make their crossings at night. The bigger the boat the better though it can't be top heavy.

My perception of seasickness was that it may affect you initially but then you get your sealegs. It's interesting if that isn't happening for Fearless. Fearless, in my slightly educated guess, I'd suggest two things for trying to fix it in the future: I do find that it can be psychological. If I start getting concerned about getting seasick, I can start bringing it on. That happens to me too with anxiety over making the trip to the boat. Without feeling I'm stressing, I start thinking about whether I'll have trouble on the trip out and that starts making me feel bad. I literally start feeling physically bad like nauseous. I don't feel like I'm worrying yet I have a hard time turning it off in my head and that just starts bringing on the exact symptoms I've trying to avoid. If I'm thinking positively, then it never happens. So I'm suggesting that it is possible that you are subconsciously bringing on the physical feelings through concern that it is going to happen to you, AGAIN. That's not a solution but a direction to consider. Second, I know that dehydration also has a pretty severe effect on me, including nausea and headache and lack of energy. I can change pretty quickly and it's easy to happen in travel and these hot locations. It could be exacerbating your sensitivity to the seasickness feelings. Lastly, I suggest you consider whether some physical change or problem is now causing this. Never having a problem and then having a problem could be a sign that something is wrong somewhere, like inner ear problems that aren't evident in your normal routine.

Or, you could just get seasick because you do...

Enjoy wherever you end up.


...must learn how to bold...