Raja vs North Sulawesi

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Clernix

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I am considering a trip to Indonesia. Actually I am pretty much set on it. Raja and Komodo and been compared if you could through North Sulawesi into the mix too.

The price differences are pretty far apart and price is a concern. I am willing to dig a little deeper if the difference is drastic.
 
If you consider only the price aspect, since you've said that's a concern, North Sulawesi offers many choices of dive ops and lodging at every price point imaginable. You have a mix of walls and hard corals at Bunaken, excellent soft coral diving at Bangka, and one of the world's premier muck diving destinations at Lembeh. Your travel will "probably" be easier, shorter, and less costly to Manado. This, of course, varies with your routing. And no liveaboard ($$$$) required to dive all of it.

In my opinion, while RA and Komodo bear a lot of similarities, neither of them compares directly with North Sulawesi, though if you consider that you have three separate and distinct dive areas available there, you're not going to run out of first class diving. Between boat and car shuttles, and many dive ops competing for your rupiah, you hardly have to miss a dive if you want to do a couple of resorts.

RA, Komodo, and North Sulawesi are all great dive destinations. As a generalization (yes, you can find exceptions), North Sulawesi will give you the most varied diving, with the most flexibility, at the lowest cost, IMHO. Now I'll sit back while everyone proves me wrong. :wink:
 
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I agree 100% with what high desert says!! Well said!!!
 
I can get on board with this opinion! Though I'll have to excuse myself on Komodo, as haven't been there.
 
I did both in one trip. I did a live aboard to Raja (one of the lower budget boats) and stopped at Lembeh as well. I thought it was going to be a one time deal but I am returning to North Sulawesi already for a couple of photo workshops. Although I'm more of a muck diver Raja is just incredible to see all of the abundant life there. North Sulawesi is more affordable so I would go there as well or maybe a future trip.
 
Thanks for your feed back. One more quesiton though. Take price out of it.
 
One more quesiton though. Take price out of it.
To be really honest, there are only very few spots in N/Sulawesi that would compare favorably to Raja Ampat or Komodo.
I would say only a couple around Bangka for the coral coverage and the fish biomass (Sahaung and Batu Pendita), Lembeh is special in the sense it is pure muck while in Raja Ampat you will find more or specific macro species but probably a lesser range in a small area, Bunaken is completely outrun by any of Komodo or Raja Ampat site, there would only very littel chance of big animals in North Sulawesi while they are frequent in both komodo and R4 (mantas, reef sharks, etc.)
 
As in ideal trip I would combine lembeh with either raja or Komodo. I did do that actually. Amazing trip! In regards to the choice between raja or Komodo let the time of year dictate that. Lembeh makes a nice stopover to raja.

---------- Post added May 3rd, 2014 at 10:14 AM ----------

Oh and on another trip I combined Bali with Komodo. Also fantastic! Def my 2 favourite trips I've done.

just planning now when I can go back :)
 
Thanks for your feed back. One more quesiton though. Take price out of it.

That changes things. Now I agree with those who say combine Lembeh with RA or Komodo, as we have done the same thing. Go to Lembeh for five days, then fly direcly from Manado to Sorong to begin your RA trip. Very difficult to top that combination.
 
That changes things. Now I agree with those who say combine Lembeh with RA or Komodo, as we have done the same thing. Go to Lembeh for five days, then fly direcly from Manado to Sorong to begin your RA trip. Very difficult to top that combination.

Haven't been to Bangka or Raja Ampat yet, but have been to Bunaken, Lembeh and Komodo. Agree with everything said above.

For convenience and price, N Sulawesi is hard to beat. Komodo is a bit more expensive and a bit harder to get to than N Sulawesi, but the diving is awesome. Hard to compare Komodo to Lembeh because they're so different (both are fabulous), but Komodo blows Bunaken away.

I'm going to Misool (southern Raja Ampat) on honeymoon next March and everything I've seen, heard and read says it will be phenomenal. Of course it would need to be for the cost and the hassle of getting there (yes, even from Singapore).

I guess your answer probably depends on how often you plan to come back to Indonesia. Be warned though, many people intend to do it once and find themselves unable to stay away - it's that sort of place...
 
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