Sangalaki vs Bunaken/Manado?

[TTA]

Hi,

My friend and I are going to asia for a week in early April and are trying to pick between Sangalaki and Bunaken. We are aiming to do 3 maybe 4 diving days.

As I understand it Sangalaki will give us a decent chance of seeing some mantas and has some decent macro stuff but not too much wall. And that we should not stay on Sangalaki but stay on Derawan or Nabucco. I can't really tell if Derawan/Nabucco is better. To me it seems that Derawan is further away but the rooms look nicer and it has a good house reef so I'm leaning towards this one. But do they go to Sangalaki every day?

Our priorities for Sangalaki are:
1) Mantas/trips to Sangalaki
2) Trip to Jelly fish lake
3) Nice accommodation
4) Good house reef


Votes for Bunaken are that it has much nicer reefs/walls and of course the wonderful muck at Lembeh. And possibly nicer rooms? (I have to look into this as haven't done much research on where to stay in Bunaken as yet. Although Froggies and Eco Divers have been mentioned a few times on the boards as good places to stay.

BUT we are also travelling from KL and I think it's easier to get ot Sangalaki because of the Air Asia flights now available - Bunaken would require a trip to Singapore correct? Time is short so we would want to maximise it!

Please let us know what you would reccomend either way! If it turns out to be too complicated we'll head back to our staples of Layang Layang and Mabul! Give those hammermead schools another chance of materialising

 

[diver69]

Haven't been to Sangalaki (if you do a search, you will find my post on my misadventure "almost happened" trip to Sangalaki).

Did not make it to Bunaken either. But if you are considering Bunaken, you should really look into Lembeh Strait, which is a short distance from Manado. Do a search on Liburan Liveaboard - nice operation.

I believe Malaysia Airlines fly to Manado from Kuala Lumpur with a stop-over in Kota Kinabalu

Diver69

 

[shimashimaya]

Sangalaki is beautiful. I have been there twice. 100% gaurantee sighting of mantas and nice, relaxing dives. Blue skies, luscious clouds, turquoise seas and white sandy beaches.

However, the management of the only resort there sucks big time. Accomodation is run down and service is poor.

That said, I have lovely memories of the place. Have been to several diving spots in Asia and Sangalaki is the only place that has etched itself firmly in my memory...

 

[AlanWald]

In 2004, Malaysia airlines had a flight from Kota Kinablu in Malaysian Borneo to Manado, but few people took the flight, it was convenient, but has been cancelled.

http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/

Yes, if you want to go from Borneo to Manado you must return to Singapore and take Silk Air (a subsidiary of Singapore Air) to Manado, a three hour flight that goes about four times a week. Leaves Singapore in the morning and returns in the afternoon.

 

[Liangness]

If you only have 3 to 4 diving days then I will recommend Manado/Bunaken. Both places are fantastic though. I have been to Sangalaki twice and countless of times to Manado, > 10 trips.

You will need a full day to travel to Sangalaki from Singapore or Malaysia and you will have to stay one night at Berau on the way back (The trip is quite laborious, fly to balikpapan, then fly to berau, take a 2 hours boat ride, by the time you get to Sangalaki, it is about 5pm).

For Manado, you can take the early flight (about 7am) from KL to S'pore then make a connection from S'pore to Manado using SilkAir. You will reach Manada at about 1pm. You can probably do 1 or 2 dives (2nd being night dive) on the day of arrival. Make sure you inform the operator you are doing dives on the day of arrival. Manado is also the cheapest, lots of operators to choose from.

Also, forget about Layang Layang if you only have limited diving days (at least 8D7N trip to make it worthwhile)

 

[Liangness]

ALSO, DO NOT STAY ON SANGALAKI ISLAND. I was there in Aug 2005, it was really terrible. Do a search in this forum and you'll know what I mean!

Unless of course they change the Management!!! Ron Holland and Nadia have done a really bad job lately. Having said that, my 1st trip there was simply wonderful with Steve Fish taking care of operations.

 

[TTA]

Thanks for the info guys! Especially about your experiences and flight info.

Liangness - If I am not wrong and I think someone else on this board is planning a trip to Derawan and taking the Air Asia flights is possible to dive on the arrival day and not to spend any overnights on the way out. In case you are curious about timing here is what they have posted up:

0645hrs: Depart KLIA on Airasia flight AK982 to Balikpapan (BPN)
0930hrs: Arrive in BPN for transfer to Berau.
1100hrs: Depart BPN on Kalstar Air (domestic flight) to Berau
1210hrs: Arrive in Berau for van & speedboat transfer to resort
1410hrs: Arrive at Derawan Dive Resort
1630hrs: Dive 1 - Check out dive
1900hrs: Dinner

0430hrs: Depart Derawan via speedboat transfer to Berau
0700hrs: Depart Berau to BPN on Kalstar Air (transit 10 minutes in Samarinda)
0830hrs: Arrive in BPN & transfer to Airasia
0955hrs: Depart BPN on Airasia flight AK983 to KLIA

I will double check with Derawan resort but it seems possible. Don't worry everyone - I'm not planning to stay on Sangalaki Island. It must be really really awful if I put in my first post that I won't go there and then get numerous posts re-warning me not to go there Diver69 - I read about your trip - it sounds like a total shambles on their side. So sorry you had a bad experience but so glad you could rescue it by going to Sipadan instead!

Liangness - also curious as to why you think Layang Layang needs 8D7N? I've been there a few times now and stayed usually 4D3N. Thought that was a good amount of time to go. I love the diving there - it's so pristine! Of course if I had the time to do an 8D7N trip that's definitely what I'd try to do!

Hopefully I'll hear from someone who'll be able to tell me a bit more about Derawan resort and Nabucco and which one is better. Also still curious to hear which resort in Bunaken you guys would recommend.

Thanks a million!

 

[Liangness]

Hi,

Thanks for the flight details, in that case I agree that staying in Derawan is a good option actually. I stayed on Sangalaki island both times when I was there. Anyway, better stay away from Sangalaki Dive Lodge for now. The only disadvantage is the distance from Derawan to Kakaban and Sangalaki, but hey, you get to see the macro life under the jetty in Derawan, heard it is very good.

About, 8D7N.... this is because (in my opinion) flying all the way there and doing only 3 to 4 day diving is not worth it. Anyway, we usually have to stay 1 night in Kota Kinabaru if we depart from Singapore, probably getting there from Malaysia will be much better.

Liang

 

[TTA]

Oh no! Sangalaki is fully booked when we want to go (well Derawan is fully booked and I can't get a response from Nabucco and we definitely don't want to stay on Sangalaki) - guess we'll have to go to Manado instead!