Hi people!
My girlfriend and I are in the middle of planning a trip to Indonesia for 3 - 4 weeks in July/August 08 and whilst we have chosen where to dive we are struggling putting the whole trip together. We have both got just over 20 dives each under our belts and we have done our Advanced PADI.
We currently live in Thailand so we plan to fly from Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur and via Medan/Banda Aceh to visit Pulau Weh and dive with Lumba Lumba for 3 or 4 days. There seem to be many excellent reports on here about this place.
We are planning on getting entry Visas in Medan as you cannot do this in Banda Aceh?
The next leg of the trip will take us to Bali so a flight from Banda Aceh to Jakarta then to Denpasar. We haven't made our minds up entirely on where to dive here but we are thinking a couple of days Nusa Lembongan and a dive at Liberty but we are open to suggestions.
After this we would like to get up to Manado for a Liveaboard at Bunaken, Lambeh Etc. We have found a liveaboard called MY Aurora which will help keep the cost down but I haven't found any posts from people that know this boat.
Does anyone know if Lion Air is the only company flying this route?
We then hit a small wall as we plan to finish off our trip staying at Sipadan Kapalai for 4 or 5 more days of diving. We keep on reading about a direct flight from Manado to Kota Kinabalu but then read somewhere else that the flight has been scrapped and can't find anyone that covers this route. The other option seems to be a flight into Balikpapan then another flight to Tarakan and finally a ferry or speedboat to Tawau.
A once in a lifetime trip we know which is why any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
My girlfriend and I are in the middle of planning a trip to Indonesia for 3 - 4 weeks in July/August 08 and whilst we have chosen where to dive we are struggling putting the whole trip together. We have both got just over 20 dives each under our belts and we have done our Advanced PADI.
We currently live in Thailand so we plan to fly from Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur and via Medan/Banda Aceh to visit Pulau Weh and dive with Lumba Lumba for 3 or 4 days. There seem to be many excellent reports on here about this place.
We are planning on getting entry Visas in Medan as you cannot do this in Banda Aceh?
The next leg of the trip will take us to Bali so a flight from Banda Aceh to Jakarta then to Denpasar. We haven't made our minds up entirely on where to dive here but we are thinking a couple of days Nusa Lembongan and a dive at Liberty but we are open to suggestions.
After this we would like to get up to Manado for a Liveaboard at Bunaken, Lambeh Etc. We have found a liveaboard called MY Aurora which will help keep the cost down but I haven't found any posts from people that know this boat.
Does anyone know if Lion Air is the only company flying this route?
We then hit a small wall as we plan to finish off our trip staying at Sipadan Kapalai for 4 or 5 more days of diving. We keep on reading about a direct flight from Manado to Kota Kinabalu but then read somewhere else that the flight has been scrapped and can't find anyone that covers this route. The other option seems to be a flight into Balikpapan then another flight to Tarakan and finally a ferry or speedboat to Tawau.
A once in a lifetime trip we know which is why any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers