pakman
Contributor
I'm considering booking this liveaboard from Bali to Komodo. Anyone have experience with this particular boat/ liveaboard operation?
Sea Safari VII/ Komodo Liveaboard
- Thread starter pakman
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cocasana
Registered
I've been to Komodo last November with Kararu. Beautiful place, very confortable boat, excellent service, very nice crew!
scubashooter
Contributor
They don't do 2 of the best sites in Komodo park. Batu Balong and Tatawan Kechil. Apparently, they almost lost divers there and have been scared off. The death of one of the operators in Labuhan Bajo was at Batu Balong. Komodo currents can be harrowing, but it's one of the few places in Indonesia where pelagic life is good or recovering.
Kararu boat don't mention the sites at all in their maps on board. These 2 sites have to be dived at the right times to enjoy the dives and have awesome life.
There will be a very good boats in Komodo this season from Thailand, the AquaOne. However from what I saw last year with the thai ops, it's best to avoid them for now since they are still learning to dive the sites (despite hiring local "pros") The mermaid jumped in on Batu Balong at almost the worst time to dive it. YMMV.
Kararu boat don't mention the sites at all in their maps on board. These 2 sites have to be dived at the right times to enjoy the dives and have awesome life.
There will be a very good boats in Komodo this season from Thailand, the AquaOne. However from what I saw last year with the thai ops, it's best to avoid them for now since they are still learning to dive the sites (despite hiring local "pros") The mermaid jumped in on Batu Balong at almost the worst time to dive it. YMMV.
pakman:
cocasana
Registered
Actually we didn't dive at Batu Balong and Tatawan Kechil, BUT the dive we did were very good. We found rather strong current only once, near Rincia!
scubashooter
Contributor
I know, as I mentioned they DO NOT dive those 2 sites and pretend they don't exist. I have dived Komodo almost annually for 14 years. And Batu Balong and Tatawan Kechil are 2 of the top 5 sites in the national park.
Currents are obviously different and the Kararu boat tries to minimize the current sites as to avoid problems with lesser experienced divers. Hence you were probably unaware of the bigger currents at the best sites.
Currents are obviously different and the Kararu boat tries to minimize the current sites as to avoid problems with lesser experienced divers. Hence you were probably unaware of the bigger currents at the best sites.
cocasana
Registered
scubashooter:
You really dived in Komodo once a year for 14 years...?! Fantastic...!
May I ask you -as I'm thinking to go back to that area- which are the dive sites one shouldn't miss? Are Batu Balong and Tatawan Kechil that incredible...?
scubashooter
Contributor
Depends on what you want. Batu Balong has brilliant life on the top with excellent coral and fishlife, and is kicking when the current runs with pelagics. The best time is just slack so you get only a strongish current at the end of the dive and not the whirlpool monsters of full tide (which quite a few boats mistime!) Done right it's probably the best overall site in Komodo park. The north end is the more popular one. Oh yes and HOLD ON TIGHT if you get caught in the current. Always choose to go between moon phases.
Tatawa Kecil(i'm mixing my bahasa here) is wonderful for the topography, anthias,corals, anthias, pelagics, anthias and more anthias. A very nice site that also has to be a drift dive at slack.
These 2 are on my favorite dive sites in Komodo North end.
And no, I skipped 2 years but tripled the trips in 4 years to compensate. It pays to have lived in Bali for 2 years.
Tatawa Kecil(i'm mixing my bahasa here) is wonderful for the topography, anthias,corals, anthias, pelagics, anthias and more anthias. A very nice site that also has to be a drift dive at slack.
These 2 are on my favorite dive sites in Komodo North end.
And no, I skipped 2 years but tripled the trips in 4 years to compensate. It pays to have lived in Bali for 2 years.
cocasana:
JenM
Contributor
pakman:
As I understand it, there are several different Sea Safari boats all rented by different outfitters. I did the 7 day Komodo trip on the Sea Safari III run by Kararu in Sept 2003. If that is the boat you are asking about, all I can say is that it was AWESOME. It was our first liveaboard experience and set the bar pretty high. We've since gone on the Ocean Rover (also an amazing boat) in Thailand so we are now pretty spoiled. We also did not know about, or miss the two sites mentioned in the other posts. Believe me, even if you don't go to those sites, you'll be very satisfied with the diving, unless you only like the big stuff, then you might be disappointed - you'll see some mantas and a shark or two, but that's not really the focus of the trip.
We loved Indonesia so much that as you can see from my counter, we are going back next week for three weeks of diving in Bunaken and Lembeh.
cocasana
Registered
Thanks scubashooter!
BTW have you ever dived in Alor?
BTW have you ever dived in Alor?
OP
pakman
Contributor
Great info folks!
scubascooter - Good info. As someone who's spent a good deal of time in the area, would you recommend a land based dive op around Komodo/Alor? In fact how are the land based dive shops around there? I might be tempted if I move my trip to a later date when I can take a full two weeks off just to do some island hopping on my own... While liveaboards are convenient for the traveling, I would prefer to use a operation that "knows" the areas but I would assume most of the bali/bima based LOB's have good local knowledge...
Jenm - think I've seen your comments in another post about the Sea Safari III. My local dive travel agent was promoting the Sea Safari VII as their itinerary fit my initial schedule. But good to hear your positive experience on the III. Have fun on Sulawesi! I presume you're off to Manado/ Bunaken! One of my favorites (although I went many years ago when the logging and forest fire problems were severe and it was just depressingly overcast all the time). Two separate groups of friends were recently in Manado and just absolutely loved it.
Ahh... So many great places to dive in SE Asia with so little time to take off... Time for a career change! Or maybe I could convince my company to let me telecommute from Bali...
My "to do" list:
Komodo/Alor
Palau (good news, there are now twice weekly direct flights from HK to Palau - save that for early next year when its in season :luxhello: hopefully the HK based divers won't wreck the reefs as much as the Japanese... but then they do like their sharks fin soup
)
PNG
Truk
Similian Islands
Layang Layang
Apo Reef
debating whether to go back to Sipidan now that they closed the resorts on the islands (sad to hear its so overdived nowadays but commend the gov't for closing them)
scubascooter - Good info. As someone who's spent a good deal of time in the area, would you recommend a land based dive op around Komodo/Alor? In fact how are the land based dive shops around there? I might be tempted if I move my trip to a later date when I can take a full two weeks off just to do some island hopping on my own... While liveaboards are convenient for the traveling, I would prefer to use a operation that "knows" the areas but I would assume most of the bali/bima based LOB's have good local knowledge...
Jenm - think I've seen your comments in another post about the Sea Safari III. My local dive travel agent was promoting the Sea Safari VII as their itinerary fit my initial schedule. But good to hear your positive experience on the III. Have fun on Sulawesi! I presume you're off to Manado/ Bunaken! One of my favorites (although I went many years ago when the logging and forest fire problems were severe and it was just depressingly overcast all the time). Two separate groups of friends were recently in Manado and just absolutely loved it.
Ahh... So many great places to dive in SE Asia with so little time to take off... Time for a career change! Or maybe I could convince my company to let me telecommute from Bali...
My "to do" list:
Komodo/Alor
Palau (good news, there are now twice weekly direct flights from HK to Palau - save that for early next year when its in season :luxhello: hopefully the HK based divers won't wreck the reefs as much as the Japanese... but then they do like their sharks fin soup
)PNG
Truk
Similian Islands
Layang Layang
Apo Reef
debating whether to go back to Sipidan now that they closed the resorts on the islands (sad to hear its so overdived nowadays but commend the gov't for closing them)
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