Trip Report Scuba Junkie Komodo: sketchy diving practices

[Centrals]

@cetacean: Please don't feed the troll. SJ don't deserve being associated with this person.

LOL.
I am NOT associated with SJ in any form, just a very satisfied customer.
You just know how to complain in your own pathetic way.

 

[Centrals]

@Plutonist
Why didn't you ask the availability of nitrox at SJ Komodo in the first place?
For whatever reason, it was your entirely own fault for not doing that.
So go back to # 1 and delete the respective topic.

 

[cetacean]

LOL.
FAQ has no meaning to some of you.
If nitrox is so important then why didn't she ask the question when first contacted SJ? I never assumed anything if it is important. INCOMPETENT.
Offering nitrox is entirely up to the operator. There is NO right or wrong.
I had dived with SJ in couple of their places and never ever found any issue with them.
From my own experience it is always the other divers that P me off.

@Centrals

The FAQ is not where I would put the Nitrox information - that would suggest they aren't really trying to disclose this information by making it easily found. There is a "Diving" page, yet no mention of Nitrox there, nor is it listed under "safety"...

Of course offering Nitrox is up to the operator, just like it is open for people on this forum to provide feedback for others to read. SJ offers Nitrox on their liveaboard, but not land-based... that's either a bit lazy or they think they are marketing to a different class of divers for their resort.

Glad you had good experiences with SJ in other locations. I have as well - Mabul was fine (and they offer Nitrox for the local dives, just not at Sipadan).

Glad you were able to express your opinion, here's mine: not offering Nitrox in 2025 (for repetitive dives in a place like Komodo) is either daft or lazy. You choose...

 

[Centrals]

@Centrals

The FAQ is not where I would put the Nitrox information - that would suggest they aren't really trying to disclose this information by making it easily found. There is a "Diving" page, yet no mention of Nitrox there, nor is it listed under "safety"...

Of course offering Nitrox is up to the operator, just like it is open for people on this forum to provide feedback for others to read. SJ offers Nitrox on their liveaboard, but not land-based... that's either a bit lazy or they think they are marketing to a different class of divers for their resort.

Glad you had good experiences with SJ in other locations. I have as well - Mabul was fine (and they offer Nitrox for the local dives, just not at Sipadan).

Glad you were able to express your opinion, here's mine: not offering Nitrox in 2025 (for repetitive dives in a place like Komodo) is either daft or lazy. You choose...

SJ is running their own business and does not need your approval or endorsement.
Feed back? Just blame everything except herself for NOT asking such a important question(to herself).

I always raised questions that I want to know. PERIOD. OP is just incompetent or plain ignore. Never ever assumed anything. How difficult it is!!!! Impossible for her.
Nitrox is NOT important unless I am diving a wreck on square profile.
Operator that does not offer nitrox is neither daft nor lazy. It is their own choice.
I am going to Pulau Weh in few months time and the operator that I am in contact doe not offer nitrox. No big deal.

 

[cetacean]

@Plutonist that's the thing, all of those questions were asked of me at the end of my trip and also other divers when checking out. so if the staff were still excellent, then the fact you weren't asked is due to some other reason. as we weren't there, none of us can posit why.

@runsongas

I've been to their Komodo resort (albeit for a short stay). They didn't ask us for feedback...

I've also been to their Mabul resort - that felt both better run and the u/w guiding more of what I would expect.

My opinion differs from @Plutonist in that from what I've seen most of the land based Komodo resorts and at least 1/2 the liveaboards are targeting the "casual diver" crowd. We stayed at SJ just to get wet before joining our LoB (the Damai)... the LoB experiences we've had in Komodo make SJ in Komodo feel a bit like a backpacker or casual diver opreation. That's fine... if you want to see the dragons, do a bit of diving, hang out, and save some $, that's great (but don't mistake this for a serious dive operator, or more correctly, an operator trying attract serious divers and u/w photographers).

I still contend that having to get up at an absurd time to beat all the other day boats out to sites like Batu Bolong is not the way to dive Komodo (and you're certainly not getting to the deep south on a day boat). Komodo is a great example of why diving from a liveaboard makes sense in a location like this, just like Lembeh makes almost no sense to dive from a liveaboard (even though it was originally opened up that way, until Larry built Kungkungan Bay Resort).

 

[cetacean]

@cetacean so dive shops should be policing what gear divers use and how they conduct their dives now? are we going to ban using tables/wheel to conduct dives or diving without a snorkel?

@Plutonist you say the staff were kind and friendly, but yet they didn't ask you about your stay after. something doesn't add up there that would be the case.

@runsongas

I've been on plenty of liveaboards that require you to use a dive computer - if you don't have one, they will rent you one, but you're not diving without one.

You're trying to make a daft argument.

As I said, I dove Truk ~30 years on air and the tables, that doesn't mean we should still do it this way, nor does it make it smart.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I wouldn't call not offering nitrox "sketchy". They didn't tell you that when you booked?

Harassing wild life and encouraging people to dive without a computer is questionable though.

Many of us were trained to use tables before dive computers become common. Is using a DC better? Of course.
But if it stops working then what? Gray Matter and tables.

 

[cetacean]

SJ is running their own business and does not need your approval or endorsement.
Feed back? Just blame everything except herself for NOT asking such a important question(to herself).

I always raised questions that I want to know. PERIOD. OP is just incompetent or plain ignore. Never ever assumed anything. How difficult it is!!!! Impossible for her.
Nitrox is NOT important unless I am diving a wreck on square profile.
Operator that does not offer nitrox is neither daft nor lazy. It is their own choice.
I am going to Pulau Weh in few months time and the operator that I am in contact doe not offer nitrox. No big deal.

"Running their own business..." - sure, and that also means consumers can complain, provide feedback, etc. on their experiences. That's how this works... it's one of the primary reasons these forums exist (so divers can provide feedback, etc. on their experiences).

I could care less if you feel this was the OP's fault for not asking - in hindsight of course it was. That still don't mean they can't share their experiences here.

If you think Nitrox is only useful for square profiles then you are clearly stuck in the past (or you don't like exntending your bottom times). You often make very bombastic statements - this one may be your all time best... on a day where you are diving 3-4 multilevel dives are you getting more bottom time diving Nitrox (let's say the dive is 85ft and above) or air? Is it that you just like diving less?

Odd position to take, but sure...

As for the operator not offering Nitrox in Komodo, it is absolutely their choice, while also being either daft or lazy (given Komodo diving and they offer it on their liveaboard).

Pulau Weh was interesting, although not being able to dive Friday mornings was unfortunate.

 

[cetacean]

Many of us were trained to use tables before dive computers become common. Is using a DC better? Of course.
But if it stops working then what? Gray Matter and tables.

Sure... except you better hope your dive computer dies on the descent part of your dive, otherwise it gets a bit difficult to model a multi-level dive half way through without being able to easily recall each depth change and time.

The easier answer, for multi-day, multi-dive trips many of us always dive with two computers. Last two trips (Dumaguete and Anilao) I had a computer go out midweek (once for me, once for my wife) - thebackup computers made this seemless.

 

[Blackcrusader]

@cetacean: Please don't feed the troll. SJ don't deserve being associated with this person.

Many of us have added that poster to our ignore. list.