Your Opinions on Comparing First Timer Coral Triangle Destinations?
- Thread starter drrich2
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Darnold9999
Contributor
I am 50/50 at Magic Mountain. One excellent dive, multiple mantas another no mantas at all.
What a glorious video, thank you. I've considered Socorro, but am rarely free in December, the perfect nexus of large pelagics and warm water, and I'm not excited about a 15-24 boat ride out there. One diver I met in the Philippines who had logged thousands of dives said it was the worst choppy seas experience he has ever had. Thanks for your comments!
@drrich2: I, too, have been contemplating a Coral Triangle trip and was waiting for that area of the world to reopen and get reestablished before seriously planning the trip. I have similar thresholds of comfort that you require. I had planned a trip to Palau and Tubbataha in 2020 that, obviously, never happened. I was ready for the required reef hook diving in Palau, but two years later, it's not so appealing. Tubbataha required an 18-month advance reservation and the season is very short.
Also, given the tenuous state of the liveaboard industry, I'm wondering if Raja Ampat can be done from land or is it best dived by liveaboard?
After reading through this thread, it makes me think about my recent disappointing Caribbean diving trips. Looking back, the time and expense invested in traveling from Oregon to the Caribbean a few times just since the pandemic, I probably could have just gone to the Coral Triangle, although, I wouldn't have been able to refrain from diving for the last two years. The Bahamas and Mexico have been open most of the pandemic and I could still get wet waiting for the rest of the world to open.
I always enjoy reading your posts and queries.
Also, given the tenuous state of the liveaboard industry, I'm wondering if Raja Ampat can be done from land or is it best dived by liveaboard?
After reading through this thread, it makes me think about my recent disappointing Caribbean diving trips. Looking back, the time and expense invested in traveling from Oregon to the Caribbean a few times just since the pandemic, I probably could have just gone to the Coral Triangle, although, I wouldn't have been able to refrain from diving for the last two years. The Bahamas and Mexico have been open most of the pandemic and I could still get wet waiting for the rest of the world to open.
I always enjoy reading your posts and queries.
Dan
Contributor
I just booked Mermaid2 for Raja Ampat Dec 4-12, 2022. They had a group cancellation & 7 spots available. I took a spot. This will be my 9th time in RA.
If anyone is interested in joining me in RA, contact @aquabluegreg for “special” SB member rate.
If anyone is interested in joining me in RA, contact @aquabluegreg for “special” SB member rate.
I have enjoyed reading SB for all of the advice and lessons to be learned regarding diving and safety. @drrich2 provides more info than one could hope for. Here's my two cents on the Coral Triangle topic. We've done the Philippines, Wakatobi and RA. RA is tops, closely followed by Wakatobi then the Philippines. Why: RA had the most diversity going South, to middle to North. Small stuff is incredible, coral was beautiful, huge schools of fish, reef structure was nice and fell in love with Wobbegong sharks. Mantas at Misool were very nice but not quite like the quantity of the ones we saw in Socorro. Wakabobi, we did 5 nights each on the land based and their liveaboard which significantly increased the diversity of diving....resort and liveaboard are priced about the same. No Wobbegongs but lots of other stuff, just not quite as much as RA. Philippines was 36 hours after a typhoon, so, viz was 15 feet. It cleared up near the end of the trip but disappointing in that regard and not the same quantity or qualify of fish and reefs as RA. However, the resort was so good we loved our trip and would do it again. That is my only point to leave with this post. We're bumping up on 70 and the surface interval is becoming much more important to us than 20 years ago. Nice resort/liveaboard, not luxury, but nice; good staff, some activities (the 4 days in Bali before Wakatobi were a treat and one of the highlights of all of our travel), and the dive crew are now quite important to us. We all can recite the best dives we've ever done and some of them were in places not considered "prime" locations. Watching blue, yellow and juvenile Ribbon Eels "scream" at me for 15 minutes in Wakatobi was amazing, but seeing the sardines at Moalboal ranks way up there. For me, trying to pick the best is so subjective that it will just make you anxious. Go where the price, accommodations and diving will all make you smile. What more can we ask for when traveling...big smiles and great memories. Next up is Palau in December...fingers crossed.
Rob
Rob
OP
drrich2
Contributor
It can be, and some people really like it. From my notes:
Raja Ampat Resort / Land-based Dive Options / Recommend – May 2022 Discussion on options.
Paradise for Divers in Raja Ampat – Papua Diving – Sorido Bay Resort – Dec. 26, 2019 – Jan. 12, 2020. Land-based trip report by Laval. 2nd visit there, so he liked it the 1st time! He noted it’s at the heart of the Dampier Straight, ‘where the world’s richest reefs are,’ the house reef is Cape Kri with ‘the official title of the richest reef on the planet,’ very small with max. 18 guests, has very comfortable conditions, a very spacious bungalow, personal camera room, a nice sand beach, close proximity to the best dive sites in Raja Ampat, great ‘guide to diver’ ratio, and he and others deemed it a better choice than (also highly praised) Misool. Some comments from DREAMING OF RAJA AMPAT – Virtual Dive. Billt4sf noted S.B.R. doesn’t dive on Saturdays. Also see 2017 thread Sorido Bay vs. Misool.
A Few Costs Compared – 2019 thread by Billt4sf contrasting per day overall trip costs for 2 divers at different Indonesian providers he’d used.
Sorido Bay Dive Resort, Raja Ampat, Indonesia – March 2020 Undercurrent review (for subscribers).
Trip Report – Misool Eco Resort – Feb. 2018 land-based report by Laval (who prefers Sorido Bay Resort, but said the diving and resort are very good). Billt4sf (Post #17) compared M.E.R. vs. S.B.R. vs. Mermaid I & II live-aboards. Cert1967 (Post #27) compared land resorts.
Misool Eco Resort October 2017 trip report – by Erwin Poliakoff.
Misool Eco Resort – 2016 by Billt4sf.
RA Resorts compared – RA Dive Lodge? 2016 thread by billt4sf comparing costs. Those with air-conditioning were much more expensive.
Going off memory, and keeping in mind we each come with our own sets of values, resources, deal-breakers, etc...
Misool Eco Resort got rave reviews, but when I priced it some years back...too expensive for me. Sorido Bay Dive Resort got great reviews...I'd have to price it.
Reading over threads on Indonesian dive destinations, I got the impression mosquitoes are nearly a non-issue for liveaboard divers, but land-based trips vary from 'not a big deal' to dancing around in the shower to keep them from landing on and biting you. As much press as the sand fleas/'noseeums' of Roatan get, I'm surprised I haven't seen more about this in the past. I don't want to needlessly scare people off land-based trip options, but it's something I'd inquire about. Indonesia covers a huge area with high variety so I'd expect the 'mosquito factor' to vary widely as well.
Darnold9999
Contributor
Re mosquitos, as Richard says that is highly variable. I have been in a land resort on Lembeh Island where I was all but eaten alive by them - just getting from the boat to my room where a bottle of repellant sat on the bedside table. Just a couple of miles away at another resort (on a different trip) none at all. Time of year, bad season, hard to know. I would expect it is similar to where I live. We live beside a large park that encloses a salt water marsh. In a bad year for a couple of weeks to a month just walking(running) from the house to the car will get you several souvenir bites, and once you get into the car you need to kill the ones that got in with you before starting out or they will drive you crazy. Mowing the lawn requires a beekeeper like outfit and bats, swallows and dragonflies put on a show every night. In a good year the occasional mosquito will show up to bother you every few days. Of the ten places I have lived in this city this is the first time I have seen anything but the occasional mosquito. Very location specific. Fortunately we get way more good years than bad. Depends entirely on weather and how much standing water is around during breeding season. Now our mosquitos don't carry malaria or dengue fever so getting bitten is no big deal. However, that is not the case in Indonesia.
All this to say that one person's experience with a specific resort at a specific week of a specific year can't really tell you what you will experience at your resort when you go.
... and I have never seen a mosquito ever in Indonesia on a liveaboard.
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