So... Been Searching. Where/What in Indonesia?

[auto]

Looking for a trip in 2026. Here is what we are looking for-

Liveaboard only-

• Impeccable safety record
• Fine-Excellent dining, higher end experience
• Excellent Photography opps, love pelagics, but up for switching to macro
• Do not want to slammed with 100 other groups on a reef
• Don't mind off the beaten path.
• Better connecting flights than not
• 7-10 days
• Exceptional scenery.

Routes, locales, interesting side trips, and great cultural experience.

 

[Centrals]

Manado in Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia has THREE diving areas : Bangka, Bunaken and Lembeh.
Scoot has non daily flight from Singapore.

Minahasan cusine.

Minahasan cuisine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Great culture experience! We were served bat and dog + others for lunch in our arranged day trip around Manado.

 

[hedonist222]

Looking for a trip in 2026. Here is what we are looking for-

Liveaboard only-

• Impeccable safety record
• Fine-Excellent dining, higher end experience
• Excellent Photography opps, love pelagics, but up for switching to macro
• Do not want to slammed with 100 other groups on a reef
• Don't mind off the beaten path.
• Better connecting flights than not
• 7-10 days
• Exceptional scenery.

Routes, locales, interesting side trips, and great cultural experience.

Check out About White Manta Diving - White Manta Diving

I've been eyeing them in case I have a change of heart on live aboards. (I like/need having fast and on demand internet).

 

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I had similar requirements and did a bunch of research earlier this year and ended up booking a 10 night Raja Ampat/Misool trip with White Manta for January 2026. The only box of yours that it doesn't really check is uncrowded dive sites since some of the itinerary is the popular RA sites which I expect to be crowded with other boats (they're popular for a reason). But they also have trips and crossings you can book all over Indonesia including in some much more remote areas where you'll probably be all alone on many sites.

There are higher end boats for even more $$$ if you want a truly pampered experience, but I'd consider White Manta's boats to be sort of in that high mid-range to lower top-end category in terms of quality/service/etc... They also appear to have a new boat called Manta X which carries 12 passengers all single occupancy, which is an interesting concept with a huge price tag as you'd expect. Looks like they're using it on longer 11+ night itineraries starting in late 2026.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Manado in Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia has THREE diving areas : Bangka, Bunaken and Lembeh.
Scoot has non daily flight from Singapore.

Minahasan cusine.

Minahasan cuisine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Great culture experience! We were served bat and dog + others for lunch in our arranged day trip around Manado.

I know I told this story before. My wife and I were staying at a resort in Lembeh, and after a couple of meals we were wondering where was the Indonesian food we loved? It was all generic "international" fare. So we asked. It seems most of the other guests were a group of Texans who were frequent guests there, and the kitchen staff was familiar with their food preferences. Once we said we wanted Indonesian food we got it.

 

[Jay_Remi]

Looking for a trip in 2026. Here is what we are looking for-

Liveaboard only-

• Impeccable safety record
• Fine-Excellent dining, higher end experience
• Excellent Photography opps, love pelagics, but up for switching to macro
• Do not want to slammed with 100 other groups on a reef
• Don't mind off the beaten path.
• Better connecting flights than not
• 7-10 days
• Exceptional scenery.

Routes, locales, interesting side trips, and great cultural experience.

I am curious with what you mean by "fine dining" on a liveaboard.
As far as LOB is concerned, you may want to check Coralia. I really like Ambai. Although food was good (not buffet style), fine dining it isn't.

 

[cozcharlie]

Agree with comments from other posters. My general impressions are below and mostly second what has already been said . I have only been to Indo a few times but also have a few more trips on the books so my thoughts are a mix of what I have learned on prior trips as well as from booking future trips . I tend to stay 3-4 weeks when I do go , so my impressions aren’t exactly snapshots.

White Manta/Blue Manta offer a good product at high end of mid-range/lower end of upper range . Food is quite good but not necessarily “fine dining” like you might get at a luxury resort in Hawaii or parts do the Caribbean. You can go higher end of the liveaboard cost/service range with Damai boats and Arenui among others.

For 7-10 days I wouldn’t sweat the side trips too much. It really isn’t that much time . Most liveaboards will offer a couple of side excursions but that isn’t why people go there. I think some people in the Raja/Triton area will go see birds of paradise in lieu of a dive if you are into birding. There is some sort of minimum number of participants. Flight wise , Sulawesi (via Manado) is fairly easy to get to but diving is more land-based than liveaboards. Some liveaboards definitely go there (including White Manta), but you tend to hear more about the land based ops. Ambon seems to be easy to get to, Sorong (gateway to Raja Ampat) is probably next on the list though the flights don’t necessarily line up well coming from US for me (think 23 hour layover ). Labuan Bajo (Komodo) would be next in flight access followed by other places (Alor, Kaimana/Triton Bay, Saumlaki) that will require more connections. Komodo is probably more pelagic heavy than Raja and would have the dragons as a nice side excursion . Denpasar (Bali) is easy to get to but not really a liveaboard hotspot. There are a whole lot of liveaboards cruising Indonesia these days (I have been told over 100 in Raja high season), so easy flight connections with few divers is a tough ask . It does seem like the older operations do seem to coordinate better to avoid flooding reefs with divers at the same time .

Don’t treat any of the above as gospel , but those are my thoughts /impressions . @Dan and others have made many more trips.

 

[All Star Liveaboards]

Indonesia is an incredible dive destination – you're in for an amazing trip!

The All Star fleet includes two Indonesia liveaboards: All Star Velocean and All Star Aurora.

All Star Velocean is a sleek new vessel (built in 2020) offering a very high-end experience. You'll even have a private camera station onboard! Availability is often hard to come by on this boat, but we do have a few trips with space next year:

• March 8-16, 2026 – Raja Ampat 8-night
• October 4-12, 2026 – Banda Sea 8-night
• October 14-22, 2026 – Banda Sea 8-night

All Star Aurora is our traditional Pinisi-style liveaboard. This vessel is not ultra-luxurious, but the experience is very comfortable, and the price is excellent – plus, the feeling of cultural immersion is always a highlight when you're diving from a Pinisi boat! All Star Aurora offers some very interesting 'off the beaten path' itineraries (especially if you'd be interested in slightly longer trips that visit even more remote dive sites). You'll find a few available trips below, but you can also contact us for more date/itinerary options!

• March 12-21, 2026 – Raja Ampat 9-night
• August 3-12, 2026 – Cenderawasih 9-night (Near Raja Ampat so reefs are similar, plus whale sharks!)
• October 11-20, 2026 – Banda Sea 9-night

 

[dirtfarmer]

Looking for a trip in 2026. Here is what we are looking for-

Liveaboard only-

• Impeccable safety record
• Fine-Excellent dining, higher end experience
• Excellent Photography opps, love pelagics, but up for switching to macro
• Do not want to slammed with 100 other groups on a reef
• Don't mind off the beaten path.
• Better connecting flights than not
• 7-10 days
• Exceptional scenery.

Routes, locales, interesting side trips, and great cultural experience.

you mention uncrowded dive sites, so with that in mind Komodo in low season via LOB, in Nov-Jan Komodo conditions actually favor the
South with it's best conditions. Or Banda Sea crossing trip in September-Early Nov. Or Alor off the beaten track but uncrowded and spectacular diving. All the above choices have your request of excellent food and high end experience.