Red Sea (Again) or Indonesia

[pelan-pelan]

I agree about SE Asia being a better destination. Suggestion about a few days land-based to get over jet lag is spot on and careful choice of location will yield first class diving.

The journey. I have spent a bit of time on finding travel options from NYC to Indonesia. Do try some lateral thinking. Over the top to somewhere in Europe and flying on eastward. Or flying S to somewhere in US or Central and S America then turning westward. Try considering Brisbane. Indonesia is just a quick hop north and plenty of cheap flights cos the Ozies like Bali. I'm sure there are people here on the board who have found useful routes.

 

[ontdiver]

It’s no comparison. I was in Red Sea in December 2019 & in Raja Ampat a month later (January 2020). Check out my trip videos of both trips and judge for yourself..

Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful trip videos. As you say, no comparison. RA now at the top of the list for next dive trip

 

[drrich2]

Glad to see this topic come up. So far, I've dove the U.S., Caribbean and one trip to the Galapagos. The 'ends of the Earth' (e.g.: terribly long plane ride) destinations for 'better' diving from a U.S. perspective (likely Canadian, too) for oceanic coral reef diving seem to bring down like this (I'll ignore Hawaii):

1.) Red Sea (associated with reefs, wrecks, oceanic white-tip sharks).
2.) Fiji ('Soft Coral Capital of the World' - and I hear you can dive with tiger and bull sharks there?).
3.) Palau (famous for shark diving and associated with using reef hooks).
4.) Philippines (in Coral Triangle, somewhat Indonesia-like diving, shorter trip, cheaper overall).
5.) Indonesia (I'll throw Papua New Guinea in here, since it's so close, and maybe the Solomon Islands) - mainly a competition between Raja Ampat and Komodo National Park for a 'first trip,' with the repeat visitors talking about Sulawesi and Lembeh Strait.
6.) Maldives - late edit. Years ago they were praised a lot; in recent times not nearly so much.

At least that's the impression I've gleaned from forum posts. The Red Sea is a fairly popular destination, reputed to be superior to Caribbean diving, and some live-aboard prices were cheap (albeit Egypt for awhile had some sort of tourism sector setback - maybe when I looked prices were depressed?). And IIRC, in some recent thread, someone mentioned roundtrip airfare for Egyptian trips to be pricy.

So, since the Red Sea is a popular destination, what are its selling points from a U.S. perspective? When you factor in airfare, live-aboard cost, travel time, etc..., how does total trip cost compare? I can't believe all those people making Red Sea trips just haven't heard of Raja Ampat.

P.S.: This thread might turn up in future Searches for people, and this discussion might help somebody.

 

[ontdiver]

So, since the Red Sea is a popular destination, what are its selling points from a U.S. perspective?

From a US/CDA perspective, I think the main points are the relatively easy flight connections to places like Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh; full range of budget and higher end accommodation; lots of LOBs to choose from; solid tourism infrastructure (ie Valley of the Kings; pyramids at Giza; Nile Cruises; Cairo; etc); and, quite frankly, very good diving. (Europeans and Brits flock to the Red Sea as it is so close for them.)

Despite the reluctance that many folks have about traveling to the Middle East, incidents of violent crime towards tourists in Egypt is very low.

Depending on your comfort level with regional carriers there are deals to be had, but some do involve longish lay overs. Unfortunately, with the tourism sector having taken a significant hit over the last several years with isolated terrorist attacks and now COVID, the number of flight options is not as great as it used to be, and prices are somewhat higher. Invariably, though, Egypt bounces back and things return to something that resembles normal.

IMHO, the "dive experience" one has over the years is all relative. If you start out doing quarry dives, you are invariably blown away by your first experience in warm water, even if the diving is not great. But if you start out in getting certified on the Barrier Reef, or Hawaii, or [....] for that matter, you are really bummed out if you end up diving spots where there is lots of coral bleaching. So you look for something better and so on. I think Egypt is on this continuum. But if you can only manage one dive trip a year and don't like long flights, then you are likely to be perfectly happy with [...].

I haven't done a detailed comparison between RA and the Red Sea, but preliminary numbers favor the latter. That said, inasmuch as RA would be a major "ends of the earth" trip for me personally, I think it will be money well spent.

 

[Darnold9999]

A bit of a ramble but here is my thinking on Raja Ampat and the Red Sea diving.

Red Sea is significantly cheaper and from most of the US (the East part at least) is a relatively easy trip to take. From Europe it is like going to the Caribbean for most US residents in terms of travel time and expense. So much easier travel for most US residents than a similar trip to RA and WAY easier for Europeans. From the West Coast of Canada the Red Sea is just slightly easier to get to.

The per day cost of a liveaboard in the Red Sea is less than $200CAD per day, the trip I did a couple years ago was about $125CAD or roughly $100 USD per day on Aggressor and another similar boat. The same quality boat will run you nearer $500CAD per day or more in RA.

The diving is somewhat similar it terms of what you are going to see. In the Red Sea you are going to see a subset of the life you are going to see in RA. Pretty much everything you are going to find in the Red Sea you will also find in RA, the reverse is not even close to true. For example in the RS you might see 6 - 10 different butterflyfish, in the same time period you will see 50 different ones in RA. The 6 to 10 that you would see in the RS and then a whole bunch more. In the Caribbean you might see 2. There are a few things that are specific to just the Red Sea, but you have to look pretty hard to figure out what they are. I saw more and different sharks in the Red Sea than I have in RA, but that is starting to change as sharks seem to be returning to RA after being fished out to satisfy the shark fin soup trade.

The diving in Lembeh and the like is different again. The focus here is on macro and the weird and strange that you just can't find elsewhere. Muck diving which is essentially diving across sandy and muddy bottoms moving between outposts of rock, rubble and oasis of life to find the hidden creatures. For some this is deadly boring, for others a life long passion.

If you have not been to RA or the Red Sea do the Red Sea first. It is a bit like RA light. Go the other way and you will be a bit disappointed. I did RA first and found the Red Sea to be meh. Glad I went, it was significantly cheaper, hard to get to from the west coast of Canada and has interesting shore excursions, but the diving is just nowhere near as good. I would go back, but the diving would be in addition to a trip to see the rest of Egypt. I would not go back to the Caribbean for a dive holiday. Have done half a dozen liveaboards and a few shore locations and as I can get to the Philippines for about the same money I will do the Philippines first which is also RA light. Less light than the Red Sea just to extend the metaphor a bit.

 

[NootFish]

Re: getting there, I've been there twice and it is worth it. My favorite route is regional airport to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to South Korea (22 hour layover there, got hotel, slept) then to Jakarta, then to Sorong (flight leaves 0030). Doing the cross-pacific followed by the flight to Jakarta is absolutely brutal.

I've done US to Japan, 10 hour layover in Japan where I explored Tokyo, then to Jakarta where I did an overnight there, then onwards to Sorong. That was OK but I was dead on my feet when I got to Jakarta.

Fun fact: The Ritz in Jakarta is only $150ish USD/night and I totally splurged on that one leg of my trip and it was amazing!!!

 

[ontdiver]

Re: getting there, I've been there twice and it is worth it. My favorite route is regional airport to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to South Korea (22 hour layover there, got hotel, slept) then to Jakarta, then to Sorong (flight leaves 0030).

For internal flights, is there one carrier considered more reliable for the Jakarta - Sorong leg?

 

[Dan]

For internal flights, is there one carrier considered more reliable for the Jakarta - Sorong leg?

Garuda

 

[ontdiver]

Thanks, @Dan.

I've been reviewing various trip reports and other sources, and it appears there is not much in the way of diving out of Sorong itself. I've noted places like Kri, but would like to minimize lengthy water transfers if possible prior to LOB.

Any suggestions for something not too logistically challenging for a 3-4 night stay with diving? Budget not too tight for this trip, so happy to pay for a bit of comfort.

 

[Darnold9999]

There is very little near Sorong for diving or shore based tours. You will need to do some kind of water transfer. I stayed at Papua Paradise for a week and was impressed, but there are lots of options - all a fair distance away by water however.

I have used Underwater Tribe to put together my trips in Indonesia. One of the partners is from Vancouver and they really know the area (Indonesia). Mike Vietch on this board.

Rather than stay in RA for 3 or 4 nights I would do that near Monado and dive Lembeh before flying on to Sorong to meet the LOB. Flying in to Bali rather than Jakarta for some local diving and sightseeing is also an option. The down side of this approach is needing no dive time before flying, but would rather do this than the long transfer to a resort and back as the diving is significantly different.