Richelieu Rock - beginning or end season?

[Dor1813]

I have found over the years that occasional trips can't get to Richelieu Rock early season, but not very often. Visibility is better in early season, calmest weather tends to be February - March. April is an odd month when weather can change, though normally the southwest monsoon does not start until into May, I recall mid April on my first year here (2000) we had bad weather by mid April. Seems to me that the "low" season starts later more often now. Early season rough seas are sometimes caused by strong northeast winds as the season switches. It's not often *too* rough though, but to be safer, best to think of Feb - March. ...

Thanks so much .. I am changing plans now and considering other locations to dive in November somewhere around Indonesia/Malaysia region.

 

[OnTheSpot]

You're going to have a lot to choose from in Indo, if liveaboard then Komodo or Raja Ampat - a lot more expensive than the Similans but a lot better diving. Malaysia it has to be Sipadan (resorts) - Layang Layang would be out of the question at this time of year. Or there are plenty of great resort diving options around Indo - Lembeh & Bunaken, Bali, Raja Ampat. You'll gonna have a hard time choosing . Is there anything specific you want to see?

 

[Dor1813]

You're going to have a lot to choose from in Indo, if liveaboard then Komodo or Raja Ampat - a lot more expensive than the Similans but a lot better diving. Malaysia it has to be Sipadan (resorts) - Layang Layang would be out of the question at this time of year. Or there are plenty of great resort diving options around Indo - Lembeh & Bunaken, Bali, Raja Ampat. You'll gonna have a hard time choosing . Is there anything specific you want to see?

Sorry for my slow response.

There isn't many vacation days left for this year but I've got long weekends in Oct and Nov for short trips (4-5 days).

Here are my plans:

I will continue with Tioman islands for next month and for October, I am now leaning towards Tenggol island (monsoon starts around November). May take a long surface interval after that (wonder if I can do that ... lol) and probably go to Lembeh or Anilao in January, end Feb/March will be Thailand (Rich Rock). Apr/May maybe be Mabul or Layang2.

And June ... is it a good time for Komodo?

As for Bali, it is really easy to fly from S'pore anytime but I will try to be patient to wait til September to see Mola-Mola ...

Raja4 may be postponed again.

So far these are my plans and goals to achieve for the new year.

Thanks for taking the time and interest.

 

[OnTheSpot]

January isn't the best time to go Lembeh, the weather can be a bit unsettled at that time of year but rarely enough to get in the way of diving. Feb/Mar is a good time to go to Richelieu but the later the better, I would say Mar/Apr. Mabul and Layang2 would be fine Apr/May, you have little choice with Layang2 anyway the resort is only open from Mar - Aug and I believe some if not all of the liveaboards won't be running there next season. June is a good time to go to Komodo, the viz can be down a bit but this is because of plankton which attracts the bigger stuff .

 

[Quero]

My two bits worth...

Sorry for my slow response.

There isn't many vacation days left for this year but I've got long weekends in Oct and Nov for short trips (4-5 days).

Here are my plans:

I will continue with Tioman islands for next month and for October, I am now leaning towards Tenggol island (monsoon starts around November).

Tenggol in October is usually not great. The water gets green and sea conditions deteriorate. Don't be surprised if you can't dive or if the diving sucks. I've just come back from Dungun (the jump off point for Tenggol), and already the sea conditions were beginning to change with shifting winds coming in from the east and causing significant surface chop.

May take a long surface interval after that (wonder if I can do that ... lol) and probably go to Lembeh or Anilao in January,

For your January trip, pick the Philippines over Indonesia. Anilao is wonderful, but you need to take care with your booking since it gets expensive on weekdays when the Manila divers disappear and there's nobody to share a boat with you. I'd recommend a photo clinic I know of in January for that so the resort has enough divers to make a longish stay affordable.

end Feb/March will be Thailand (Rich Rock). Apr/May maybe be Mabul or Layang2.

April is good for Layang-Layang, but book NOW. They book out early during the hammerhead migration season, both the land-based resort and the liveaboards.

And June ... is it a good time for Komodo?

Yeah that's a good time.

As for Bali, it is really easy to fly from S'pore anytime but I will try to be patient to wait til September to see Mola-Mola ...

Raja4 may be postponed again.

So far these are my plans and goals to achieve for the new year.

Thanks for taking the time and interest.

The rest of that sounds okay.

 

[Dor1813]

January isn't the best time to go Lembeh, the weather can be a bit unsettled at that time of year but rarely enough to get in the way of diving. Feb/Mar is a good time to go to Richelieu but the later the better, I would say Mar/Apr. Mabul and Layang2 would be fine Apr/May, you have little choice with Layang2 anyway the resort is only open from Mar - Aug and I believe some if not all of the liveaboards won't be running there next season. June is a good time to go to Komodo, the viz can be down a bit but this is because of plankton which attracts the bigger stuff .

Thanks OTS for your advice.

---------- Post added September 2nd, 2013 at 02:19 PM ----------

My two bits worth...

Tenggol in October is usually not great. The water gets green and sea conditions deteriorate. Don't be surprised if you can't dive or if the diving sucks. I've just come back from Dungun (the jump off point for Tenggol), and already the sea conditions were beginning to change with shifting winds coming in from the east and causing significant surface chop.

Quero .. you just saved me the 50% booking fee and thanks so much for the valuable info and phew ... i almost did the booking. How about beginning of season in Feb/March?

Seems like I will be diving Tioman for the long and short weekends til the end of this season (end Oct i think) .

As for January in the Philippines, I was considering either Malapascua or Anilao but I prefer the latter being the haven of critters.
I will check on Club Ocellaris. Can you recommend the DC or photo clinic you mentioned?

March will be Richelieu Rock.

Apr to June - Mabul, Lembeh, Komodo

 

[Quero]

Feb/March isn't great at Tenggol either. I'd wait until further into the spring--April if possible.

As for diving Tioman exclusively... since Bali is so very accessible and since there are various different dive destinations flying into Bali, why not do some of your diving there? I can recommend Tulamben, Menjangan, maybe the Gilis if that's your flavor--all in addition to the mola trip you want to do in September, which will be at Nusa Lembongan.

In addition, once the season is finished in the South China Sea in October, you could hop on a Firefly flight up to Penang and get a boat to Koh Lipe (Thailand) where there is very good diving to be had or over to Banda Aceh and get a boat to Pulau Weh, where there is also some very good diving. You'd need a long weekend for anything involving flights, but there must be some of those coming up what with all the holidays Singapore recognizes with so many major religions.

 

[Dor1813]

F
In addition, once the season is finished in the South China Sea in October, you could hop on a Firefly flight up to Penang and get a boat to Koh Lipe (Thailand) where there is very good diving to be had or over to Banda Aceh and get a boat to Pulau Weh, where there is also some very good diving. You'd need a long weekend for anything involving flights, but there must be some of those coming up what with all the holidays Singapore recognizes with so many major religions.

I've read somewhere that P Weh has best vis at April, May, June.. As for Koh Lipe I have checked that with Silkair, direct to Langkawi at night, stay over and catch the morning boat to Koh Lipe. The problem is the ferries only run 2 trips a day until beginning December which is the peak season.

 

[Quero]

P. Weh has roughly the same season as other islands in the Andaman Sea, meaning you can dive pretty much year round, but the winds are quiet from about October to April.

From Langkawi to Koh Lipe, you can take the Tigerline ferry (one sailing per day, at 9:30 am, I think) directly to the island, or Bundhaya Langkawi also runs both speedboats and regular ferries over to Lipe. Alternatively you can get on a Langkawi Ferry Service boat to Satun and from there to Koh Lipe. Langkawi Ferry also run a Penang to Langkawi route, so you don't technically need to fly on expensive Silk Air to get to Langkawi, though the ferry and flight times might not match up in a convenient way.

 

[Dor1813]

Thanks! I've found a good deal on TigerAir! Now thinking if I should go just before full moon...