Where to go for my first trip to Indonesia?

[kylegilroy]

I am planning on doing a liveaboard this coming December/January and I'm looking for suggestions on locations and boats. I've done Galapagos, Maldives, Similan, Fiji, and Caribbean and I'm looking for the next great spot! Suggestions anyone?

 

[dirtfarmer]

In Indo that is Raja Ampat season. It's reported to have the best diving in Indonesia, I'll have to get back to you with that opinion after my trip this fall.
There are Komodo boats that run year round. The North can be rough then but the South is epic diving.
And if you can combine some diving from land elsewhere in Indonesia, there's many places to pick.
It's my favorite place to dive on Earth.

Of course your budget would give people and idea of boats in your range. Also how much time do you have?

 

[bamadiver777]

My 1st recommendation for Dec/Jan time period
would be Raja Ampat--hard to get to but you will
see everything there!! Aggressor just put a boat
there and there are several more good ones.

Komodo has several good liveaboards and diving
there is also very good--was there last year(2014)
and returning next year.

North Sulewesi would be my suggestion for a
land based trip--Lembeh Straghts for outstanding
muck diving and Bunaken for wall diving.

Wakatobi in southern Sulewesi is a world class
resort with great diving and also a liveaboard
leaving from there--Pelagrin!!

So many choices but you can't go wrong
with any of them.

 

[kylegilroy]

I will have about two weeks total and am traveling from NYC so probably looking for a 7-10 day liveaboard. I have some flexibility on the budget so just want to get an idea of options.

 

[Wingy]

Just did a second trip on the Tambora to Northern Raja Ampat, highly recommend both the boat and the destination.

 

[AlMitch]

Raja Ampat for sure.
The Indo Siren is the only LOB I've done, so cant really compare, BUT man it was incredible.

 

[WetPup]

I just booked to go to Raja Ampat at roughly the same time of year (Christmas and New Year), and discovered that all of the liveaboards were already fully booked out over my travel dates. I ended up having to book a land-based trip instead simply due to lack of availability on the liveaboards. It may work out for you if your dates are more flexible than mine were. I'm also flying home via Ambon and spending a week muck diving there.

 

[Hintermann]

Another vote for Raja Ampat at that time of the year in Indonesia. There is a choice of liveaboard boats and not all can be found on the same website. Dive The World usually offers a good choice and worth exploring for your dates.

From New York it would probably better to plan a flight route via Europe. A good choice would be to fly KLM via Amsterdam to Denpasar, Bali. That way, you can book your baggage from NY to Bali, transiting in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam (where there are airside hotel facilities if you have a few hours between flights and want to snatch some sleep) and then flying direct to Denpasar, bypassing busy Jakarta. From Denpasar it is not difficult to find local flights to Sorong, the final stop for Raja Ampat.

 

[Maverick17]

Not that OP has asked for travel advice, but I would not go via Europe nor via KLM when you could fly via Cathay, Korean, Emirates etc for similar one-stop itineraries to DPS from NYC.

 

[Struth Ruth]

Totally agree in recommending Raja Ampat. I didn't do a liveaboard, did two land based trips in 2014, and will get back there again one day - loved it.