Where have I missed?

[Luko]

Weh has some great diving just off shore. Tons of macro for photos right off the beaches, just get a tank and kick out to 40 feet or so. Dive all day. When we went, it had a cast away remote feeling. It was peaceful and beautiful.

In Puerto Galara - To avoid the girl bars of Sabang, head towards little/big laguna beach. Sabang does have the girl bars but for the most part they are easily avoided. Asia divers is a great shop.

When I went in Pulau Weh in 2011, the macro and the shallow coral reef had been bleached out, the only interesting site I remember was the deeper Canyons. We had to hide for drinking water in between dives, getting lunch was similar to boarding weapons in a plane. In Banda Aceh where we had to stay one day, they suddenly closed the lobby because my wife and my daughter were using the pool... Hey, that was the international hotel offering meals during the day and there's a pool that was open, but they felt women siwmming in a pool was "something" somehow offensive, maybe they expected only men.
Anyway I call that hypocrisy, tourism money is welcome but not the rest. I crossed out that destination, life is too short for tame diving and hypocrites, there are so many islands that are worth in Indonesia.

As for Puerto Galera, it's not the bargirls that bother me but rather the fauna of losers that wander around, and those are also lodging Big Lalaguna (we were staying in Big Lalaguna). To be honest I wouldn't say PG is worth the bother, Anilao is much better and Verde can be accessed as well for Anilao.

 

[dirtfarmer]

I also travel with a non diving wife.

- She likes Alor because of the beach, the atmosphere and the owners of Alor Eco Divers, though there is nothing else to do in Alor but anyway January is not the season for.
- She hated Weh because we traveled in Ramadan time, I hated it too : I think Weh should rather close for that time of the year since anyway tourism comes in a second priority. Not been very impressed with the diving too, January may not be ramadan this year but it should be a little rainy : dry and sunny season is april to august.
- Koh Lipe is (was last time I went was Xmas 2008) a very nice island with the best beaches along the Andaman coast, resorts have grown up a bit then and the dive is OK not the best compared to Hin Daeng or hin Muang for instance. But for a week break on Xmas holiday it's great. Besides that, probably the best whole grilled groupers we ever had for 5 days in a row : the thais definitely know how to cook
- She hated Puerto Galera with so so beach, old sex pervs hand in hand with underage filipinas all around (even though there is thread about PG in the Philippines board where some of the PG defenders argue that sleaze is "everywhere", argument that I find stupid but to everyone their own. ).
- She liked pretty much Dauin and Alona in Panglao, even though you're a bit tucked into your resort in Dauin.
- she loved island hopping in Maluku, Ambon is a bit boring but spending the new years day on champagne and grilled lobster on Molana island was absolutaly fantastic, though it takes a bit of knowledge of the place to organize it.
- Weirdly she liked Raja Ampat because of the sheer beauty of the nature, though it comes out very expensive for a non diver.
- something out of the way my wife loves : Reunion island, where the diving ranges from tame to interesting (whales though not the season, great macro from shore, but needs to be ararnged outside dive centres). Nature is fantastic, trekking, volcanoes, great surf, gourmet food (it's french) then you can hop to Mayotte, one of the remotest french regions where it is said that the diving is good, better than Reunion.
- Then you could also try south Pacific, Fiji is fantastic for non divers, people hospitality and the Yasawa beaches, though the best diving is not where the best beaches are. Vanuatu is second to none when it comes to local culture.

Thanks for the rundown Luko.
I really should look into Fiji more. We don't need fantastic beaches. When I look at Fiji at the Pacific board I'm always a bit confused, there is great diving there but then ok diving and it's seems to confuse me beyond end. I think I'll post over there and see if I can sort it all out.

To bad it's not the season for Alor- is it because of winds?

We really like the PI, and have seen plenty of geezers with their "girlfriends" my first impulse is "gross", but I leave the judgment to others.

I'm curious about Weh, it wouldn't be Ramadan but I have heard about the very conservative culture there.

We haven't been to Thailand for 10 years and she has never been to the Andaman side, and the topography there is very nice. And of all the places we've been we consistently like the food there the best ( though the resort we are at currently in Sipilay has a huge varied menu and all of it's fantastic). For some reason I'm drawn to go back.

And thanks to everyone else!!! Keep them coming.

 

[Luko]

I really should look into Fiji more. We don't need fantastic beaches. When I look at Fiji at the Pacific board I'm always a bit confused, there is great diving there but then ok diving and it's seems to confuse me beyond end. I think I'll post over there and see if I can sort it all out.

To bad it's not the season for Alor- is it because of winds?

...
And of all the places we've been we consistently like the food there the best ( though the resort we are at currently in Sipilay has a huge varied menu and all of it's fantastic). For some reason I'm drawn to go back.

Fiji provides awesome diving in between the two big isalnds if you locate north of Viti Levu you can access the part they call Bligh Waters/Vatu I Ra passage which is a kind of "soft coral paradise" extremely beautiful in terms of vivid colors and fish life, there's no dive without 3 or 4 sharks, wahoos and all sorts of pelagics. Taveuni is also great for soft corals and mantas. It is also said that the eastern area around Levuka provide Hammerhead dives, but I never dived there.
On the other hand Yasawas are pretty tame, but it's some of the best beaches in the world, lots of sand but still sharks, the latter are everywhere in Fiji. Beqa lagoon south of Viti Levu isn't worth much, except for the tiger and bull sharks dives.
Kadavu remote southern island is very pleasant, rural and out of the tourist trail, the people are so nice and the kava very strong, but I was disappointed with the diving (great purple coral walls but only few fish) although it's the great Astrolabe reef, which is supposed to be one of the most important reefs in the south Pacific.

Alor is closed from December to march because it's rainy season, and it rains bucketloads. Alor currents are comparable to Komodo, hence you need to dive in the best conditions, one of the main highlights of Alor is the vizibility you get and the fantastic blue color of water, hence it no use to dive with limited viz.

Great, are you at Easy Diving/sipalay currently? Da West impressed me for the schools of fish, quite unusual for the Phils.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Great, are you at Easy Diving/sipalay currently? Da West impressed me for the schools of fish, quite unusual for the Phils.

Luko, again you come thru with great information. Your like a diving compendium.

Currently I'm at Takatuka/Sipalay. What has impressed me about the area the most is that they seem to have given up dynamite fishing quite a while ago. There are some nice hard and soft corals here. I've really enjoyed finishing dives in the shallows and seeing nice soft coral forests that have good diversity, with some hard corals mixed in. And the topography is pretty cool. I've just been in Malapascua just before this and do find there are more small-medium reef fish here, not as many as Anilao though. I didn't dive Da west but have enjoyed Manta Drop-Kosai-Habok Habok among others. I had an great dive the other day at Mad Max north of Sugar beach, it's a pier site with muck/rock rubble bottom, sponge/soft coral on the pilings ( gave me flashbacks of the pier at Dauin before they closed that site) it had 5 varieties of Nudis, schools of baitfish overhead, and to top it off a pair of frogfish on one of the pilings. I'm killing myself for not have my wide angle lens on that dive.

Here's a photo of the froggies that I haven't done any work on yet.


This is our third time at Takatuka which is a crazy good acid trip of a resort. The food is really good here with a huge multi-national menu. We usually come here to finish off a PI trip as we know we're going to have a good experience here. Sad thing is we only have one more day, which is bittersweet as I've started to miss home.

 

[Patrickweill]

What about PNG.. I spent a week in Walindi plantation and it is stunning , you could also try Yap for the Mantas and of course Palau. if you like a bit of human comfort, Layang Layang off Kota Kinabalu is interesting
Have fun

 

[champacs]

This is part of the reason its still on the bucketlist Luko - trying to get hotels let alone dive ops to make contact has been a real hassle. Ive had some interesting emails back from that part of the world trying to plan a trip - apparently the hotel I liked in Nosy Be ''went on holidays'' during cyclone season - where does a hotel go on vacation?

Thanks for the heads up on Mayotte, if its easier to organise will look a little closer when my funds recover.

For me, in the SW Indian Ocean, Mayotte has the best diving. I blogged about diving there: Smart Travels: Diving in Mayotte.

For Nosy Be try Aviavy Hotel. There's a dive club run by a British guy right behind it, and other clubs nearby.

 

[Wingy]

Thanks Champacs, ive been seeing a heap of great pics on the FB global diving community coming out of Mayotte in the last couple of weeks so will look into the contact - thank you Do you have a contact for Reunion?

Re: Koh Lipe, I love this little island. Here I can recommend Forra Bamboo Dive Resort - great op lots fun and very experienced. Very rustic - Lipe seems to stay pretty much the same through the decades and I hope it continues to do so.
Forra Dive Resort - Koh Lipe - Thailand - Just noticed Antoine has added a really good looking LOB Trip - Lipe, 8 mile rock, koh phung, koh rok, stonehenge, Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Koh Bida etc and the topside visits to Phi Phi etc included.

 

[Centrals]

Hi Dirtfarmer,
If you do not mind to travel to Sipalay then you ought to visit Sogod Bay next time. You will love the Pier as well. Feb/Apr is the best time for whaleshark encounter.
Unfortunately the diving in Camiguin is very ordinary otherwise the landscape is pretty beautiful especially for hikers.

 

[champacs]

Thanks Champacs, ive been seeing a heap of great pics on the FB global diving community coming out of Mayotte in the last couple of weeks so will look into the contact - thank you Do you have a contact for Reunion?

In Reunion the only PADI-certified dive centre is Abyss at St Leu, which is where we dive. But none of the 25 or so other clubs will turn you away if you don't have French FFESSM certification.

 

[Wingy]

Im CMAS certified champacs so that shouldnt be a problem.