Your Opinions on Comparing First Timer Coral Triangle Destinations?

[Lorenzoid]

Coral Triangle includes other countries as well! You should give Philippines a try.

I realize that. If I could manage two trips to the region, I would do RA first, then the Phils.

 

[Darnold9999]

I realize that. If I could manage two trips to the region, I would do RA first, then the Phils.

I would do it in the reverse order. Phil’s as an introduction to coral triangle. RA as the best for last. Both work!

 

[Lorenzoid]

I would do it in the reverse order. Phil’s as an introduction to coral triangle. RA as the best for last. Both work!

Fair enough. But I would be operating on the assumption that, given my limited budget, I may not ultimately be able to do a second trip. So I would go for RA first.

Fun discussion, given that I'm presently in no position to book such a trip. Living vicariously through @drrich2. He's relatively young and retired. I suspect he will be so wowed by whatever he chooses that it will not be his only trip to the region.

 

[Darnold9999]

Just as a side note you might want to put the Red Sea into your list. Kind of RA light. The life you will see is a small sub set of Coral Triangle life and it is way less expensive. Kind of a visual tune up for a RA trip. You can do a week on a Red Sea liveaboard for $2,500 or so flights included from the US if you shop for specials.

 

[Darnold9999]

Fair enough. But I would be operating on the assumption that, given my limited budget, I may not ultimately be able to do a second trip. So I would go for RA first.

Fun discussion, given that I'm presently in no position to book such a trip. Living vicariously through @drrich2. He's relatively young and retired. I suspect he will be so wowed by whatever he chooses that it will not be his only trip to the region.

My guess as well . It is what happened to me! First trip was just before retiring as kind of a once in a lifetime trip while I still had significant income.

 

[Centrals]

I realize that. If I could manage two trips to the region, I would do RA first, then the Phils.

You have been to Indonesia and Malaysia so about time to visit Philippines.
Tubbataha(LoB only) won't disappoint you.

 

[Dan]

Easy choice for me. Since this trip will be your only chance, a lifetime sort of trip (until you get bit by the local dive bug I suppose), don’t contemplate too much, take the 10-day liveaboard trip to Raja Ampat.

Easy flight. Fly to Jakarta & get domestic flight to Sorong. No big deal. Really.

I should elaborate on why a 11-day/10-night liveaboard Raja Ampat. It’s a a pretty big area, 8,034.44 km2 (3,102.11 sq mi), Raja Ampat Islands - Wikipedia. So for a lifetime trip diving in Raja Ampat and seeing the best of the best of Raja Ampat has to offer, you need to spend enough time there, in the central, south & north of Raja Ampat. Diving 4 times / day, including night dives (yes, you don’t want to miss the night dives, some of the best dives I had in Raja Ampat were done at night).

Two-week vacation there fits perfectly for that trip as you would lose 3 days for traveling from USA and a day of recovering from jetlag before boarding the 11-day / 10-night liveaboard.

Here’s a latest trip video I put together for my 8th visit there. My 9th visit there will be in January 2023. My 10th visit there will be in February 2024.

 

[tursiops]

There’s a reason why Raja Ampat is better over any other dive destinations in Western equatorial Pacific, it’s called Indonesian Throughflow - Wikipedia

It’s about the ideal geographic location & physics. Being right smack on the equitarial zone (like Galapagos) is a plus, but the oceanic current created by the geographic layout of the land mass of the western pacific and Raja Ampat as the gate where the currents passing through, bringing rich nutrients to the underwater world there.

The earth is rotating from west to east. From physics, reaction is the opposite of reaction. That means the Pacific Ocean water will move on the opposite direction, from east to west. If you look at western pacific region via Google Earth, you’ll see land mass like China, Japan, Philippines will form like dams of the Pacific Ocean currents. Meanwhile the Indian Ocean would just swirling around Antarctica without much land mass to act as dams, except at the southern tip of Argentina (Drake passage?). As a result of this geological profile, the sea level around the western Pacific is estimated to be about a foot higher than that of the Indian Ocean at the southern part of Indonesia. Where is Indonesia is located? It’s right between these two Oceans. The difference in sea level of the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean brings the current flowing through many parts of Indonesia. The northwest profile of the Papua New Guinea would also help bringing those right nutrients to Raja Ampat, which is the gate for the Indonesian thorough flow.

You won’t see much coral bleaching around Raja Ampat for this reason.

View attachment 722567
Courtesy of Indonesian Throughflow - Wikipedia

@Dan Actually, it is just speculation that nutrients are transported by or enriched by or even much affected by the ITF. Your reference to Wikipedia (which never mentions nutrients) is all about the physical transport of water and heat...which definitely exists but is actually a rather small volume in the overall scheme of things, 15 Sv is not large (for comparison, the Gulf Stream is about 10 times larger than that and flows through a smaller area, so the currents are much stronger), and most of it is west of Sulawesi, with only a fraction through RA.

One review paper from 2020 concluded that "studies on marinebiogeochemistry within the Indonesian Seas are quite limited due to less observed data compared to the physical parameters." In fact, mut of the biogeochemisty concerns have been the effect of the ITF on the Indian Ocean, not on the Indonesian area itself. One of those papers from 2014 even says, "Finally, we have addressed the question of the rate at which nutrients exit the Indonesian Seas but have not asked the equally interesting question as to their origin. Are the nutrients primarily flow-through from the western Pacific, or might a substantial portion originate from depth in the Indonesian Seas, brought to the surface by upwelling and strong mixing?" and "The origin of nutrients exiting the ITF is left as a topic for future studies." That paper shows a figure with very high surface nutrients in RA but is moot on why they are there.

 

[Centrals]

There is another way to dive R4 instead of paying outrageously expensive LoB: Island hopping and staying at the local Homestay. It is not everyone cup of tea but not everyone can afford the LoB.
One of the advantage on island hopping is the relative close proximity to some of the local dive sites which the LoB tend to ignore.

No (AC, running water, flushing toilet, hot water etc etc). Not an issue for most seasoned travellers/tourists.
I know Richard won't be interested but some others might.

 

[scubadada]

There is another way to dive R4 instead of paying outrageously expensive LoB: Island hopping and staying at the local Homestay. It is not everyone cup of tea but not everyone can afford the LoB.
One of the advantage on island hopping is the relative close proximity to some of the local dive sites which the LoB tend to ignore.

No (AC, running water, flushing toilet, hot water etc etc). Not an issue for most seasoned travellers/tourists.
I know Richard won't be interested but some others might.

You make that sound so attractive