Sipadan, Sangalaki, Tulumben or Komodo

[rong642002]

Been all of them before except Sangalaki.l want to revisit Tulumben ,last time when I went , it was raining non stop 4 days
My last day diving, sunshine came , it was beautiful. Komodo I been 2 times ,1 st time live aboard 2 nd time landbase, honestly I would rate it 7 out of 10 Should I give Komodo one more chance. Sipadan I was staying with. Billabong homestay, got to dive 2 days out of 4 days stay, If I go back I will go live aboard but the bad reiew of the boat turn me off . Last one Sangalaki, a lot of efforts to get there , scuba junkie open a new outfit last year, don't know should I give a trial. Which one u would pick ?

 

[Dan]

Since you haven't been in Sangalaki, may be you should see these 2 videos & compare them with Tulamben, Sipadan & Komodo yourself.


Sangalaki basically is a great place to see mantas & turtles. While you are there, you can also visit Kakaban to snorkel with stingless jellyfish like you would do in Palau. Then you can go to the Bigfish Country Channel at the southeast end of Maratua Atoll to see the huge schooling Barracuda similar to those in Sipadan.

The best place to stay there is in Nabucco Island Resort, Home - Nabuccoislandresort in Nabucco island, not in Sangalaki island nor in Maratua Atoll.

From where I live (Houston), it's actually easier to get there than to Raja Ampat. I use Singapore Airlines from Houston to Balikpapan via Manchester & Singapore. Then take a domestic flight (Sriwijaya Airlines) from Balikpapan to Berau. Nabucco Resort will pick you up at Berau & take you by their speedboat (3 hour ride) to Nabucco.

 

[Immeriswas]

Last November I stayed on Nunukan island , same company as Nabucco and had a great time. Here is the report:

Nunukan Maratua Atoll East Kalimantan Trip Report

 

[Dan]

The new airport in Maratua island would be a big plus:
Inauguration of Maratua Airport Seen Helping Boost East Kalimantan Tourism | Jakarta Globe

 

[Luko]

Been all of them before except Sangalaki.l want to revisit Tulumben ,last time when I went , it was raining non stop 4 days
My last day diving, sunshine came , it was beautiful. Komodo I been 2 times ,1 st time live aboard 2 nd time landbase, honestly I would rate it 7 out of 10 Should I give Komodo one more chance. Sipadan I was staying with. Billabong homestay, got to dive 2 days out of 4 days stay, If I go back I will go live aboard but the bad reiew of the boat turn me off . Last one Sangalaki, a lot of efforts to get there , scuba junkie open a new outfit last year, don't know should I give a trial. Which one u would pick ?

What happened with Komodo?
Sipadan mostly schools of fish doesn't look like Komodo that is vastly superior on corals (largely better than a 7/10 if you ask me) though has very little to compare with Tulamben black sand macro dives, personally I don't consider Sangalakki as.a priority over other destinations. Why are you picking these specific destinations instead of say Bangka, Raja Ampat or Alor? .Why not Philippines too?
May be if you can say a little more about what you expect from your stay and your dives, we could be more helpful.and advise appropriately.

 

[Mike_Kiev]

What will be the best time to go Sangalaki area - so see mantas, whale sharks and most fish activity?

 

[Immeriswas]

Been there in October/November, Weather was great , calm sea a lot of sunshine only a few rainy hours.
Hit it right to watch twice the turtle hatching on Nunukan ( which I would prefer over Nabucco see above)- a very special sight.
Got last week an update directly from Beat the manager on Nunukan at the Boot show in Düsseldorf.
The new sites, they discovered down south in the uninhabitated Muaras atoll, are sounding very promising with regulary shark encounter (Reef-, Gray-, Lemon- and Treshersharks).
If there are enough guests who wish to go for the long 3 hour boatride to the pagans, where the whalesharks are, they are able to arrange that .
As a summary I would say that Nunukan had from all the places in Indonesia I have been the greatest diversity in sense of UW scenery and possible sightings from tiny to big .
The coralls were better in RA ,Komodo and Salibay; the macro better in Lembeh , Ambon and Weda/Salibay; the walls more impressive in Banda ( and okay the hammerheads !) ; the coral gardens more colourfull around Bangka ; the house reef with its massive drop and sharks more impressive in Selayar etc.
BUT at all the places some of the other stuff was either missing or only not very remarkable. So as always : what do you exspect ?
One thing: Nunukan is still IMHO very reasonably priced.