The best dives in Indo

[Magrone]

I just want to say I am enjoying the passionate discussion between two well-traveled divers. This is the kind of info I look for when planning where to go next.

 

[highdesert]

Not going to jump into the middle of this for fear of my life, and the fact that I have dived nowhere as many places, but the fish species count in Raja Ampat is now up to 1414 ... that is serious biodiversity.

 

[frogfish]

All right I'll give my humble opinion on Malaysiavs Indonesia - Seems that you need to provide credentials in this thread so in a nutshell: I have done about 300 dives in Malaysia (peninsular Malaysia, Sipadan 4 trips, Layang-Layang once) and 300 in Indonesia (4 trips to Manado - Lembeh, Bunaken, Bangka; twice to Alor; twice to Komodo; once to Sangalaki; once to R4; countless to Bali).

My view is (solely based on what I have seen as a dive tourist ):
- Sipadan/ Mabul is way better to peninsular Malaysia dive sites (Tioman/ Aur, Redang, Perentian etc.) in terms of schooling fish, diversity etc. No comparison.
- Sipadan/ Mabul is comparable in terms of overall quality of diving to the good Indonesian sites. It's great advantage is that you have two destinations in one: Kapalai/ Mabul for muck, which I find comparable to Lembeh/ Alor/ Bali, and great wall diving on Sipadan where you will see more turtles than anywhere in Indonesia I have been to, many white tips which tend to be few in Indonesia, and the big schools of barracudas and jacks. What you don't get in Sipadan/ Mabul is the remoteness of Komodo, Alor or R4: you will see many divers.
- Bali has very good muck diving, but I would still say that you can see more in Lembeh or Alor; great fishy dives around Penida; Tulamben wreck is trully fantastic
- Komodo has great muck(in the south) and reef dives (both North and South), many dive sites, no crowds
- R4 - Same as Komodo but I felt that the coral growth was better, particularly in the South around Misool; no crowds; going back in 2 weeks so will have more info then.
- Alor - Definitely worth visiting: great muck, some unique sites like Clownfish valley, beautiful walls, no crowds

 

[Luko]

Well I disagree with you...I’m not talking about Bio diversity and Allen’s studies in FP. I am talking about the schools of fish bigger stuff of course. I found far superior than I saw in Sipadan!

So you don't disagree since we're not talking of the same perspective. I agree there could be lots of fish in FP, but what I am pointing is that there are also lots of fish in Sipadan plus macro dives you can't get in FP.
It happens I have also dived Sipadan twice in 2004 the year before the bungalows on SIpadan closed. The first time in 04 we didn't EVEN SEE the cudas, six months later in 04 we saw the usual suspects including the cudas everyday, the hugest school of jackfish I have ever seen, I have been caught in it, it litterally ran jackfish over my head for more than 3 minutes) plus hammerhead, manta, zebra shark...
Last year in 2010, I was there 3 times : each day we dived Sipadan, we ran across the cuda school, the jackfish and the bumphead parrotfish. Check my signature you'll see galleries of photos where you'll see walls of barracudas... and that makes a LOT of fish... .. and on top of that there is the small stuff.

I found far superior in Bangka

Ok, good for you.
Although everything I found in Bangka, I found it in Mabul/Kapalai.. plus there was the blue water factor with pelagics (read above) I couldn't find in Bangka.

What? Kadavu and the Astrolabe reef about corals?….Now that is funny….

Absolutely.
There is not much fish in Kadavu to my taste, but at least corals are there, more alcyonaria than hard species though. Probably the complete opposite of Sipadan.... Have you ever dived Naigoro passage? (the Astrolabe reef is one of the largest in world).

have Google translate cannot find anything about Palau if you can give me that direct link would be appreciated and as you know you can be on a LOB in RA and if they do not know where to dive….it is a waste of time

Ok whenever I come across these posts, Palau or R4, I'll give you the link.

But I am happy you like Sipadan and perhaps more people will go there to keep the rising costs down in Palau or select spots of Indo.

Oh well, I think R4 needs some competition to deflate incredibly steep prices : just imagine if I wanted to go to "budget" Kri with my non diving wife and daughter, it would cost me 600$ per night to enjoy a shared bathroom ...(an additional 500$ per night to have the luxury of a private toilet at Sorido).

I would have probably gone otherwise, but for half of the budget I prefer to discover less traveled places in Indonesia.

Not going to jump into the middle of this for fear of my life

No worries. I don't think there any harm done in the discussion, I respect travelnsj opinions but I don't have the same views.

 

[Travelnsj]

Well I have seen considerably more Bio-Diversity and large schools of fish in RA and Palau than Sipadan and much better muck/micro diving in Indonesia. Again I have spent a month plus of my life and 20K+ (which is probably pocket change to you) going to 3 locations in Malaysia. The highlite of my trip there were the land tours on Borneo and staying at Kapalai.

I do remember meeting one person at Layang Layang who thought the diving there was far superior to Palau....after further questioning he stayed at Carp Island and never heard of the Blue corner and his week of diving was confined to the inside reefs....LOL...LOL

Yes I did dive the Naigoro passage...still yawning...LOL...Did not see excellent soft corals until I got to the Bligh waters in Fiji.

We can go around and around about how great Sipadan is....but my suggestion is go to RA stay at Sorido in the Papua area of RA (one of Allan's favorite spots to dive) and go to Palau. Then I will lend credence to your opinion on Sipadan....Otherwise how can you compare? Sorry....I will never be in Malaysia again on my dime.

 

[Luko]

Yes I did dive the Naigoro passage...still yawning...LOL...Did not see excellent soft corals until I got to the Bligh waters in Fiji.

Not saying I liked Kadavu.
I just meant that all there are walls covered with purple alcyonaria. There's no place left on the walls if ever you wanted to plant some more... and that's only what I can remember good of Kadavu. I was surprized with the comparison because if there is something wrong in Sipadan, I would state it's the coral... unlike Kadavu where there is more (soft purple) coral than fish.

Apart from that, yes I agree Vatu I Ra and Bligh waters are far superior to Kadavu... (but then you were speaking about Kadavu)

but my suggestion is go to RA stay at Sorido in the Papua area of RA (one of Allan's favorite spots to dive) and go to Palau. Then I will lend credence to your opinion on Sipadan.

Like I wrote previously I am not so well off that I could spend more than 1100$ per night in any R4 resort, Sorido or whatever.
No doubt I might be stating that R4 or Palau are better than Sipadan, but then after I would still say that Sipadan is better than most other indonesian sites I have dived.

 

[Travelnsj]

Yeah I remember seeing that Purple haze wall in Naigoro passage that "would make Prince blush" LOL...LOL....I did think of the few dives I did in the Bligh (never do land base) to be some of the finest corals in the world and great marine life.

Do not get me wrong I saw some cool stuff at Sipadan over two weeks....but in 2 or 3 days of diving in Indo or Palau I can see as much. That is why I have been to Palau 10 times and this October will be my 5th time in 4 years at Sorido and Lembeh. This will be my 7th trip in 6 years to Indo. When I like somewhere I'll go back. The reason I have not been back to FP is buying a soda for $6 and $400 for a decent hotel is a bit expensive. But that diving with the big stuff is pretty good!

One spot you may want to look about going to in Indo is Buyat Bay (reasonable cost)...only did 3 days of diving there and will spend more time there next year....the most incredible hard corals i have seen and small stuff like cuttlefish...I have a trip report posted for last November. Look at that it is really good diving from what I saw...just need to explore it more.

 

[highdesert]

No worries. I don't think there any harm done in the discussion, I respect travelnsj opinions but I don't have the same views.

Just joking . It's actually been a great thread to follow ... far more interesting than the weekly (daily?), "This is my first trip to Bali. Where should I dive?"

 

[Travelnsj]

Just joking . It's actually been a great thread to follow ... far more interesting than the weekly (daily?), "This is my first trip to Bali. Where should I dive?"

I thought you have been to Bali?....I've used Aqua Marine before and they have a great web site. I like the Tulamben area, can be crowded in some spots on shore with a few dive sites up and down the beach. Really like the coral gardens, monkey reef and the wreck usually has some good marine life on it.

 

[jake11]

We just got back from our 8th trip to Indonesia. I guess that says something about how we like the diving there. We have been to RA 3x, Ambon( Maluku Divers Resort) twice before trips (one of which was a trip from Ambon to Maumere), Komodo on a LOB, Bali to see the mola molas, North Sulawesi( both Bunaken and
Lembeh), and North Sulawesi on a LOB. My least favorite out of all of those was the LOB to North Sulawesi. The LOB was awesome but the diving up in the Sanghie Islands was just okay. I loved the diving in the Alors. One of the best dives I have ever done was a site on West Lembata that had rhinopias, frogfish, all kinds of pipe fish, nudis, etc. etc.etc. etc.
Our first trip to Indo. was to Komodo and the highlights of that trip were Cannibal Rock, Crystal Rock and Batu Balong! Ambon is wonderful and remote and of course we love Lembeh! That being said, we have been to Sipadan one time. We combined that trip with the LOB to North Sulawesi. Sipadan was wonderful when we were there.
We did a 5 day trip on the Celebes Explorer( old boat) but great diving and crew.
When we were there we saw our first blue ring, first bobtail squid, first flamboyant cuttlefish, the huge school of baracudas and jacks and so many HUGE turtles it made your head spin! There are so many places to still explore in Indonesia like Buyat Bay mentioned by Travelnsj and the new "hot spot" Cenderawasih Bay to name a couple. One of our dives in the Halmaheras was amazing with beautiful little seamounts covered with coral and beautiful schools of fish and excellent clear viz . We saw a school of around 50 sweet lips! It was unreal. It was in the middle of NOWHERE and would I endure the seas to go back there? NO!( but it was REALLY nice!) Would I go back to Sipadan? Yes! For sure! Let me close by saying that I too LOVE the Bligh waters of Fiji! It was simply stunning when we were there and we are going back in October! Have fun !