Where to go in Indonesia???

[platinum]

I was in Koh Tao, Thailand in April and did my Open Water and began my Avanced but ran out of time and money. I have now saved up once again and am off to do my Dive Masters and possiably my Instructors as well.

I am on a budget and was wondering wheather to return o Koh Tao which I absolutely love or head over to Indonesia and do the courses there. I am trying to find out which area in Indonesia would be the best to go to? I have been surfing most of my life so if the dive resort is located close to some good breaks, then that would be a bonus as well.

Also if anyone is aware of what it would cost me roughly with regards to accomodation, the courses and general expenses while im over there for say 2 months?

 

[AlanWald]

Go to Indonesia, less crowded and much better diving than Koh Tao.

Bali has surf and Diving (but the best surfing and diving are NOT at the same place, you will have to travel a bit, public transport is excellent on Bali).

Manado (the regional international airport for North Sulawesi, Indonesia) is near Bunaken Island and Lembeh Island, two outstanding dive areas. Manado can be reached non-stop from Singapore on Silk Air, the subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. There are also flights from Bali and Jakarta (avoid Jakarta airport if you can)

Contact your local Indonesia Embassy or Consulate to see if they will issue you a 60 day visa in advance, otherwise you will only get 30 days for US$25 cash under the visa on arrival program (non-renewable)

If you want to do the divemaster course (especially if you get the 60 day visa) you may wish to take the longer "internship" type course where you get a lot of experience helping out on the regular diving. You generally pay a flat fee for this and it covers your course, diving and room and board.

See other recent discussions about Bali and Manado area.

 

[goodeatsfan]

well.... Indonesia is pretty big with LOADS of places that offer great diving... but as a non-surfer, only place I can think of is Bali. If it's purely diving, there's Manado which has both Bunaken for it's drop-offs and Lembeh for its muck diving. There're other spots like komodo and irian jaya, which are further afield. Not limiting yourself to Indonesia, places like sipadan, or layang layang, in sarawak and even the philippines are all places with excellent offerings...

 

[Kadek Wirawan]

There are a lots of places in Indonesia where you wanted to go for excellent diving, most people know places like Bali, Manado, Komodo, but there are many people do not not and never explorean other places where it is also rank to best dive site to visit.

If you don't mind I would like to recommend you to visit Derawan Islands as there are other island like sangalaki, kakaban and Maratua you can visit and I would say the have the first class diving. ( this place is not famous ) but surely the best.

At Derawan you have an options depend on your budget, you could stay at the resort or you would stay at the Local losmen where cost you very chaep to stay concerning you would like to stay for longer time.

The Losmen cost you everage Rp. 50.000 ( US$6) per day or if you want meal included it would cost you Rp. 100.000 ( US$ 11 )/day

There also Local dive operator where you csn go diving with them, it is run by and Instructor and few Local DM, for the Diving they charge you Rp. 250.000/dive , fully equipment is included. if you wish to come of would like to get infomation you could send an email to kadek112003@yahoo.com

Thanks

 

[JonnieB]

Bali for excellent diving and kuta beach for surfing. gud nitelife and restos too.

 

[Wayan]

I was in Koh Tao, Thailand in April and did my Open Water and began my Avanced but ran out of time and money. I have now saved up once again and am off to do my Dive Masters and possiably my Instructors as well.

I am on a budget and was wondering wheather to return o Koh Tao which I absolutely love or head over to Indonesia and do the courses there. I am trying to find out which area in Indonesia would be the best to go to? I have been surfing most of my life so if the dive resort is located close to some good breaks, then that would be a bonus as well.

Also if anyone is aware of what it would cost me roughly with regards to accomodation, the courses and general expenses while im over there for say 2 months?

Bali excellent diving and surfing, a great combination -

You can get accommodation in Kuta / Legian areas for as little as US25-30 per night - hire a motorbike for transport (with surfboard racks) to the various beaches for the surf Kuta/Sanur/Jimbaran etc - be sure to have an international license though - police to random spot checks reasonably often over here. Lots of different dive operators offering courses just depends on what you want.

 

[Wisnu]

You can survive in Bali with less than US200 / month - live like locals; rent a room monthly in Denpasar (non tourist area); travel with public transportation and eat at food stall (many of them taste better than 5 stars restaurant) and instead of beer at night, join the local community at Banjar; probably at the end of 2 month you can dance bali a bit.

 

[Christian]

If you're doing DM/Instructor, you also want to consider a place with some more diver traffic and OW/AOW courses going on, to get the best training. Bali or N. Sulawesi/Manado would be you best bet in Indonesia. A more 'extreme' location off the beaten track will have mostly experienced divers as guests - less work for you as there will be very little basic training going on.

/christian