2 weeks of diving and exploring - Sulawesi, Komodo or somewhere else?

[Juli124]

My husband (casual diver, OWD, with some 25-30 dives) and me (75 dives, just did my stress and rescue course in a lake in Germany) are looking for our next destination. We would love to go back to Indonesia next July/August for 2ish weeks but cannot decide where.
We did Raja Ampat (land based) last year. My dream trip for 10 years and it was amazing. And we've also been to Bali as well as Yogyakarta.

Ideally, we are looking for a location, where we can do some exploring (perhaps even get a scooter or a driver) of land and culture and the finish off with excellent scuba diving.
Right now, I'm looking into

• Komodo
  I have heard a lot of great things about the diving but unsure whether conditions might be too challenging especially for my husband. While he did really well in Raja, it was probably not as enjoyable for him at times as it was for me.
  Is land based diving possible? And has anyone done the Maumere - Labuan Bajo trip?
• Sulawesi
  Bangka? Or Bunaken? Which is better to have a chill-sunbathe-read-realx time after dives? We're not into muck diving and prefer nice coral, lots of fish and if possible some bigger stuff.
  Would love to combine this with Tana Toraja so we would probably have to split this trip in two parts.
• Alor
  This does not really have any land based exploration possibilities, as far as I can see? On videos it always looked nice and calm but I've read that there are tricky currents?
• Triton Bay
  I would love to explore Papua more but that's probably not really feasible unless we would really rough it. So we would probably combine Triton Bay with a city where we would have a layover, say Singapore maybe. I'm not sure if Triton Bay is maybe too similar to Raja Ampat and if we should explore something different first. It's also closed in the summer so would need more planning and getting the grandparents to take our kids during the autumn school holidays.

We would probably rather not do a liveaboard because my husband isn't about the eat sleep dive schedule. After having rushed through 4 stops in Japan in 2 weeks last month, we've also learned our lesson and don't really want to split the 14-16 days into more than 2 stops.
I know we don't have a huge number of dives under our belt yet. We have gained a lot of skills last year in Raja though and we loved diving land based and being able to choose what dives we wanted to join. I'm all for challenging myself, my husband less so in that regard. I don't want to overwhelm either of us, though. We like drift diving as long as it's not a lot of finning against the current.

Am I missing anything? Thankful for any hints.

 

[Luko]

My feedback on your options :

Komodo - yes of course doable from landside. You can base yourself in downtown LBJ, where you'll have more options for dining out. The boat ride to the divespots maybe longish, you can select the dive shops having fast but smaller speedboats or comfortable but slower phinisi style boats, ideal for spending time on a larger sundeck or in the shade.
I personally had good times twice with Dragon Dive Komodo, their accoms are both comfortable and affordable in the mid market range. I didn't like Blue Marlin for the crowd, although they have a faster speedboat while often packed, I didn't like the guide they provided neither.
There are island based options like upmarket Komodo resort, closer to the sites but more expensive.
I wouldn't mind too much for the conditions in august, great for Central-North Komodo, some sites maybe currenty such as Castle rock, Crystal rock or Tatawa Kecil, depending on the tides scheduling. Other won't have any. The local ops know where they're diving so don't worry, Raja4 or Alor may be even more tricky for currents at some times.
LBJ-Maumere is great land sightseeing trip you can do in 4 days with a private car/driver, villages, unspoilt landscapes with volcanoes and jungle. It does require 5-7 hours driving per day though, there are plenty of local tour agencies you can ask either in LBJ or Maumere.

N/Sulawesi - I find Bangka diving much much better than Bunaken (my suggestion : Murex Bangka, great beach). Sahaung is indeed a spot for nice corals, personally I rate it as one of the best in the world.
don't expect big animals though.
Great idea to combine with Toraja landtrip from Makassar.

Alor - Personally I love it, went 4 times. Alor Divers is my favorite operation, fantastic beach, great bungalows, food, atmosphere. Blue water, great viz, lotsa fish, however currents can be really tricky, some dives are challenging such as the ones for spotting hammerheads but you can skip them, the dive managers really know where and when to dive the spots (on the difference of liveaboards who might not have such in deep knowledge of the sites) . The last part of August is a good time to dive, more than July.
You're right, land sightseeing is limited, you can couple it with time in East Timor though or even Landbased trip in Flores (Maumere to LBJ) since flying back to Kupang is your only option.

Triton bay - Not been yet, FYI July/august is out of season.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Adopt me?

I should note, I am a good cook, clean like a whirlwind, and can carry a great deal of luggage.

Submitted for your consideration.

 

[Centrals]

Sulawesi
Bangka? Or Bunaken? Which is better to have a chill-sunbathe-read-realx time after dives? We're not into muck diving and prefer nice coral, lots of fish and if possible some bigger stuff.
Would love to combine this with Tana Toraja so we would probably have to split this trip in two parts.

Bunaken + Toraja

I have spent several days in Toraja yrs ago and it is the place that I would recommend to anyone who has even slight interest on culture. Because it is so unique.
The funeral season is from June to Oct.
There are land tours in North Sulawesi and we were offered bat and dog meat as part of the feast then.

 

[Redtwo]

You can dive bunaken land based from Manado and then combining it with land based trips is easy. Surroundings of Manado are very nice and as one of the few Christian parts of Indonesia also different from other locations.

And a couple of days on siladen or bunaken with full focus on diving and then some days on mainland also possible of course. Bunaken has great wall diving, and quite easy. so that would suit your husband for sure. And although the big life is scarser you can get lucky.

 

[CWK]

I’m at Alor Divers now. The two Dutch dive managers are relatively new, having been with Alor Divers since March this year.

Minimum temperature on my second dive today was 22 degrees C and I’m told that there is another site that can be 20 degrees C and possibly lower.

Komodo can be cold too. You may want to consider sea temperature.

 

[Juli124]

My feedback on your options :

Komodo - yes of course doable from landside. You can base yourself in downtown LBJ, where you'll have more options for dining out. The boat ride to the divespots maybe longish, you can select the dive shops having fast but smaller speedboats or comfortable but slower phinisi style boats, ideal for spending time on a larger sundeck or in the shade.
I personally had good times twice with Dragon Dive Komodo, their accoms are both comfortable and affordable in the mid market range. I didn't like Blue Marlin for the crowd, although they have a faster speedboat while often packed, I didn't like the guide they provided neither.
There are island based options like upmarket Komodo resort, closer to the sites but more expensive.
I wouldn't mind too much for the conditions in august, great for Central-North Komodo, some sites maybe currenty such as Castle rock, Crystal rock or Tatawa Kecil, depending on the tides scheduling. Other won't have any. The local ops know where they're diving so don't worry, Raja4 or Alor may be even more tricky for currents at some times.
LBJ-Maumere is great land sightseeing trip you can do in 4 days with a private car/driver, villages, unspoilt landscapes with volcanoes and jungle. It does require 5-7 hours driving per day though, there are plenty of local tour agencies you can ask either in LBJ or Maumere.

N/Sulawesi - I find Bangka diving much much better than Bunaken (my suggestion : Murex Bangka, great beach). Sahaung is indeed a spot for nice corals, personally I rate it as one of the best in the world.
don't expect big animals though.
Great idea to combine with Toraja landtrip from Makassar.

Alor - Personally I love it, went 4 times. Alor Divers is my favorite operation, fantastic beach, great bungalows, food, atmosphere. Blue water, great viz, lotsa fish, however currents can be really tricky, some dives are challenging such as the ones for spotting hammerheads but you can skip them, the dive managers really know where and when to dive the spots (on the difference of liveaboards who might not have such in deep knowledge of the sites) . The last part of August is a good time to dive, more than July.
You're right, land sightseeing is limited, you can couple it with time in East Timor though or even Landbased trip in Flores (Maumere to LBJ) since flying back to Kupang is your only option.

Triton bay - Not been yet, FYI July/august is out of season.

Wow, thank you for the detailed opinions and experiences, very helpful! Murex Bangka looks great! We'll also have a look at your Komodo recommendations!
Getting the feeling that Alor might have to wait a couple of years for us both to really enjoy it.

Adopt me?

I should note, I am a good cook, clean like a whirlwind, and can carry a great deal of luggage.

Submitted for your consideration.

Hah, sounds great! Unfortunately we already have to "outsource" our two boys to the grandparents in order to travel once a year so adopting is not in our immediate future. xD

Bunaken + Toraja

I have spent several days in Toraja yrs ago and it is the place that I would recommend to anyone who has even slight interest on culture. Because it is so unique.
The funeral season is from June to Oct.
There are land tours in North Sulawesi and we were offered bat and dog meat as part of the feast then.

That souds amazing and might have just tipped me more towards doing Sulawesi. Diving-wise, Komodo has been on my bucket list for a while but I feel like, a really unique cuture/travel experience would be just the right thing for us right now.

You can dive bunaken land based from Manado and then combining it with land based trips is easy. Surroundings of Manado are very nice and as one of the few Christian parts of Indonesia also different from other locations.

And a couple of days on siladen or bunaken with full focus on diving and then some days on mainland also possible of course. Bunaken has great wall diving, and quite easy. so that would suit your husband for sure. And although the big life is scarser you can get lucky.

That sounds like a great plan actually. Good to know that there is more exploring possible up north!

I’m at Alor Divers now. The two Dutch dive managers are relatively new, having been with Alor Divers since March this year.

Minimum temperature on my second dive today was 22 degrees C and I’m told that there is another site that can be 20 degrees C and possibly lower.

Komodo can be cold too. You may want to consider sea temperature.

Oof! I wasn't aware of the temperature, thanks for mentioning! I just dove in a 24°C low viz lake in Germany and was freeeezing in a rented 7mm semi-dry (though without hood and gloves).
Also didn't know that Komodo could get cold-ish.
I think my sweet spot temperature wise is 29-30°C with a 3mm full suit. So, I guess, I get cold pretty easily.

 

[Juli124]

If you'd have to chose between Bunaken and Bangka, what would you chose and why? Are there major differences under or over water?

Thank you so much!

 

[Luko]

If you'd have to chose between Bunaken and Bangka, what would you chose and why? Are there major differences under or over water?

For me, Bangka no contest.

Underwater Bunaken is mainly walls, corals not in a very good shape. Bangka is much more varied with pinnacles, mini walls, coral bommies... so much colorful while I find Bunaken quite dull and boring.
Photos of Bangka to prove my point?
Here is my Bangka gallery : UW Bangka 2009/15 - N/Sulawesi

The only thing you might not see in Bangka is hammerheads that you may spot deep and early on Nain with quite a big luck factor.

Overwater, resorts in Bangka have a more remote feel, sandy beaches and much less people around.

Re water temp in Alor, while it is true a few sites south of Pura island can get cold under certain conditions, the vast majority of the dives are in the 27-28C temperatures. In my 4 trips and more than 80 dives in Alor, I may have encountered only 4-5 dives in the 20-22C range.
Stating Alor is cold water is just like saying diving in Bali is 19C because that's what you can get on Mola dives on Crystal bay or Padang Bai. That's more of the exception than the rule.
Similarly for Komodo, you freeze in the whole southern part (which you cannot go to in august) but the central and northern dives are balmy 28C

 

[Redtwo]

I only know bunaken and definitely did not find it boring but thats just me.

For a land based accommodation look at something like this:

Land Tours

Bunaken, Bangka & Lembeh diving in North Sulawesi

murexresorts.com

They offer both diving and land tours .
Some land tours which just visit places you can also 'copy' by hiring a private driver for the day. Thats cheaper most of the time.