Indonesia feb and March ?

[Lauriep]

i will be traveling for 6 months beginning in December. I am spending December in Raja Ampat, Laos in January , April and May in Indonesia. So I am stil figuring out what to do feb and March. I don't want to spend a lot of money and time flying so am wondering if there are other places in Indonesia where I could do some diving and other topside stuff those months that would not be too affected by rainy season

Thanks for any help!

Laurie

 

[Cali_diver]

I would for sure spend some time in Bali. The diving is fantastic and the culture is top. You can do a safari with Underwater Tribe to get a sampling then figure out where you would like to go back and spend more time. It all kind of depends on what you want to see etc. Look around in this forum there is a huge amount of info on many amazing dive locations in Indo!

I would also consider heading to Lembeh and Bangka for a bit. Lembeh has a pretty cool vibe!

 

[gekodivebali]

Hi Laurie,

Rain season has not been as clear cut lately as it used to be expected. This year, we had very little rain in East Bali in February and March. Our rainiest month has been August, bang on normal dry season. I think planning holidays purely based on expected weather has become counter productive thanks to El Nino and his daughter...
Anyhow, in Bali, we can dive most sites all year round. It's up to you whether you join some kind of a safari and enjoy the madness of changing hotels on a daily basis or pick a place like Padang Bai from where you can dive all around Bali while staying at a single hotel and creating relations with locals...

 

[Wingy]

Check out Sumatra too

 

[elenita]

Bali gets rainy but this year it seems that the rain is here now, so maybe rainy season will be dry! In any case most of the time it doesnt affect the diving; I also did Lembeh and Bunaken in North Sulawesi at this time of year and it was just fine, a bit humid but diving wise perfect

 

[Dan]

You may check out Nabucco in East Kalimantan. Home - Nabuccoislandresort. The resort is in Maratua Atoll. There are 2 other interesting islands, Kakaban & Sangalaki, about an hour boat ride from Maratua Atoll. Kakaban is where you can snorkel with stingless jellyfish, like you see in Palau. Sangalaki is where turtle nesting & manta cleaning. See the video below for more detail:


One of the dive sites I like the most is called "The Channel" or "The Big Fish Country" in Maratua Atoll, where you can dive with tons of schooling barracudas there, as shown in the video, below.


For a land tour, you can visit the BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival) Foundation, Borneo Orangutan Survival - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, where Harrison Ford spends some of his time there, Harrison Ford Visits Nyaru Menteng | BOS Foundation. I spent a couple of days after diving in Nabucco in BOS Samboja Lodge, Borneo Samboja Ecolodge :: About BOS Foundation :: BOS Samboja Lestari, near Balikpapan to see the orangutan & sun bear sanctuaries, before going back home.

 

[Lauriep]

Thanks for the help

Wingy- any specific recs for Sumatra that time of year?

Dan- Maratua is on my list!!! Thanks for
The video. but someone suggested I wait until April for diving there?

 

[Dan]

I was there in May 2014. For Febuary or March, I doubt it would make a difference, may be a bit wetter & you are going to get wet most of the time anyway. October to April is the wet season, so April may be right in the border of dry season.

For Sumatra, Pulau Weh seems to be interesting to visit. It's in my bucket list. The underwater volcanic bubbles there reminds me of Sangeang near Komodo.


For land tour, you can also visit the North Sumatra Orangutan Sanctuary or visit Toba Lake.

 

[Wingy]

Sumatra..the first question really is...are you male or female?

Travelling Sumatra as a female solo particularly in Aceh where you would land as a jump off point to Weh...and Aceh is under Shariah law so as a solo female it was a city where I had to give a bit of extra consideration to my dress and behaviour. Out on Weh itself Lumpa Lumpa divers Diving in Sumatra

I must say after watching the clip above..you should've seen it 6 or 7 years ago.

Hoping someone with more recent experience in Weh can chime in - I do know it has become very very popular with new divers from Singapore and is a reflection of the emerging Asian diver market.

I like an island off the west coast in the Indian Ocean reached from Padang called Cubadak for chilling and diving. Being the Indian Ocean the diving is different but last I was there surprisingly interesting. There were a lot more bigger groupers etc than other areas - mixed bag, you will get nudi's and a lot of Cephalopoda and sponge gardens, but not your Blue Magic or Mayhem schools of fish. It's part of the mentawai's which are best known as surf destinations but really interesting culturally. Local tribes on the islands are still mostly living as they always have been. The Ambu Ambu Ferry from Padang will get you there. There is also the Riau Archipeligo dive sites in the link posted.

Lake Toba, Bukkittingi to meet the Mingankabau people with their amazing architecture and traditions and yes, the Orangutan centre is great.

If you do make it down to Chochoroc port where you leave for Cubadak the road from Padang may yield an amazing surprise if you are lucky. I spotted Pygmy elephants drinking from the river and two orangutangs in the wild. There are also amazing "living bridges" where tree roots have been trained for hundreds of years to create bridges.

Sumatra overall is not the easiest of islands given road systems, distance (it's big!), religious issues can be a hassle and if they are burning to clear land forget Sumatra because the smoke haze blankets Singapore sadly a yearly occurrence.

Lots of Natural Hazards but....I love Sumatra and do think it's worth the little extra effort you have to put in to see this part of Indo.

 

[Luko]

Feb march is a great time to travel through lesser known Maluku.
The good thing is that the area is quite close to Raja Ampat and it won't cost you much. Much of the transportation between the islands is ferry bound,ad the small homestays/local dive centres are not very costly.

I'd suggest you start from Ambon, dive muck in the bay with Blue motion so you get the chance to spot the Holy Grail of all macrophiles : the psychedelic frogfish, then ride your way to Lease islands (Haruku, Saparua, Molana, Nusa Laut), gorgeous beaches (Molana!!!), excellent viz, good corals, number of fish, there is a local dive centre in Saparua called Mahu lodge,

After which you may come back to Ambon get a ferry to Banda islands and enjoy the most history loaded islands of Indonesia that european powers fought for from the 16th century. Banda islands are a pleasure to hop, dive, chill and eat (try out the smoked tuna with almond sauce eggplant at Abba's guesthouse).

If you want to give a try to arguably the best beach in the world (Long beach in Kei Kecil), you should fly to Tual south Maluku, there is little diving there from a local who owns a compressor. Was not impressed snorkeling there though, too many sand patches.

It also seems from what I've heard/read that North Maluku Ternate/North Halmahera is worth a go (although I have not been) for both diving and inland nature (Tribes, volcanoes, etc.). I can't comment further on these places though.
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