Any recommendations for late Feb/early March?

[Luko]

Looking to spend £3500 pp max incl flights. Do u think drop accomm standard and go raja or combine bali luxury spa resort with East Coast diving?

i don't know how much it costs for you to go to Indo (sorry I'm an airline staff husband ...so not paying much...). My thoughts :

Not the best idea to stay 3 weeks in Bali in feb-april, one month later in the year or september-october would be better.

You should look at RADL in Raja Ampat excellent quality for your £. the food is so so, though but the bungalows are good and the diving is superlative.
If you can couple it to Ambon, say one week at DiveiNAmbon/Aston Natsepa (don't expect luxury spa though) and go downtown to eat local, otherwise expensive Cape Paperu, but that would hurt your budget as much.

Why don't you go to Alor in April, Alor divers beach and bugalows are gorgeous, since Gilles is french there can't be bad food (don't expect gourmet restaurant though), at the time I was there we had 30m viz each dive and anything from rhinopias to hammerheads... it's not a macro destination per se, but when you see hammerheads and such colorful coral you don't regret too much macro.

Komodo at Komodo resort, italian owned, should be good for you too.

Both Alor and Komodo are easy to couple with Bali (10 days Alor + 1 week Bali is a great trip to indulge the best of macro and wide angle, deserted beaches & infinite blue vs. decadent food & supermacro).

---------- Post added October 8th, 2014 at 07:05 PM ----------

btw, pughio are you sure you don't want the Philippines?
Three weeks would mean one week in Anilao either at La Chevrerie a new built french resort or Buceo Anilao (Anilao is one of my top three locations for macro), and two weeks in the Visayas : Dauin's Atmosphere resort is supposed to be classy, there's also Amorita on Alona/Bohol.

 

[Searcaigh]

Critters@Lembeh is very luxurious 5 star resort IMHO but not overly expensive.

Is you budget based on flights from Malaysia or elsewhere?

 

[Luko]

Critters@Lembeh is very luxurious 5 star resort IMHO but not overly expensive.

Is you budget based on flights from Malaysia or elsewhere?

If you're replying to OP, I'd say 3 weeks in feb is not the best period for Lembeh and North Sulawesi in general, 1 week ok but prepare for rain.
If you're replying to Pughio I think he mentioned he'd like to change from Lembeh.

 

[glozz]

Thanks for all the replies; it's been useful. So it would seem the advise appears to be Ambon, is Blue Rose any good?

Luko: What's the issue with Derawan/Gorontalo? Just going for the diving; so the size of the place is not really a concern, just the quality of the diving.

 

[Luko]

Thanks for all the replies; it's been useful. So it would seem the advise appears to be Ambon, is Blue Rose any good?

Luko: What's the issue with Derawan/Gorontalo? Just going for the diving; so the size of the place is not really a concern, just the quality of the diving.

1- Blue Rose is fine whenever you can contact a reliable guy in charge (ie. not the one called John Sidjabat). I dived three times with them, Robert is a great macro guide, one of my favorite buddies in Indonesia : they can organize mini safaris to the Lease islands which are very close to sandy beach paradise islands you usually see in the glossies.
2- The following is according to friends reports. For Gorontalo, there are not many dive sites around, it's mainly walls and that's pretty much it.
For Derawan it's a long way to get to and the most interesting dive spots are very far away (Maratua), don't expect much corals.

 

[pughio83]

Thanks for the info luko, I will look into RADL, Alor and ppines. I love the ppines and have been many times but not to anilao which is on the list and not to dumaguete. Atmosphere is nice but pricey but could be combined with cheaper anilao place I think. The weather should be good then , maybe best in March- april? I've been to Bohol a couple of times and the diving was good not great but the island itself is nice. Where u off nxt?

 

[Luko]

I love the ppines and have been many times but not to anilao which is on the list and not to dumaguete. Atmosphere is nice but pricey but could be combined with cheaper anilao place I think.

if you want less pricey in Dauin Mike's beach resort is great, otherweise there are many other options like Atlantis, Pura Vida or Eldorado.
Anilao is not the place to go cheap otherwise your gf might get bored quickly, you're basically stuck in your resort for the time you're there. Otherwise Acacia not very less expensive and Crystal blue a dollar step below are said to be good too. (I went to Aiyanar, hated the managers more than the place, so I won't recommand)

Going to Alona for Xmas, they didn't have room for me in Dauin.

 

[Wisnu]

I personaly enjoy Gorontalo, plenty of dive sites (more than 30) for a week trip. although well known for wall with massive sponges incl. endemic salvador dali; you'll find almost any types, ie. wreck, cave, overhang, pinnacles, slope and at least 4 muck dive sites. Mostly good viz.
Whalesharks is regularly sighted but not to my luck. On the surface; dolphins in large quantity is typical daily welcome
Been there 3 x, the last trip was a short 2 days diving in March 2014.
Here is the pics I took during that trip

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wisnupurwanto/sets/72157641881368484/

 

[glozz]

Thanks all for the advise; Anyway; after comparing, some thinking and calculating costs; I believe i'll aim for a combination of Gorontalo/Ambon with BlueRose.

We'll see how this pans out...

 

[Freewillow]

keep us posted. CAn you give an idea of you budget and how many dives and nights you are getting. If you are shy, MP