Question Banda or Raja Ampat liveaboard in Oct / Nov?

[muralidharan]

I have the opportunity to travel in Oct / Nov this year and am keen on doing some bucketlist diving. I have about 75 dives logged and have been on a liveaboard in the red sea before (saw several hammerheads among other things!). I have flexibility in dates during this time except for a couple of restrictions. Need to be home (Dubai) Oct 30 - Nov 2 (don't want to miss Halloween and Diwali with the kiddo) and after Nov 25 (kiddo's birthday). I'll be travelling solo.

I'm torn between Banda Sea and Raja Ampat. Oct seems like the better time in Banda Sea and Nov seems like a better time in Raja Ampat, but it's unclear to me which destination between the two will be more enjoyable for me. Any suggestions / liveaboards suggestions are welcome! I'm not super price sensitive for this trip - I'll get to do a trip like this only once a year or two and want to maximize the experience.

Also, any advice for the best way to go about booking these liveaboards? Liveaboard.com seems to have a pretty good listing and availability. Is booking with them the best way? Is there any advantage (price / discounts / anything else) to contacting multiple agencies / the boat operators directly for booking?

Thank you!

 

[Cali_diver]

Oct. I would do Banda for sure. I would book directly with the liveaboards and not use liveaboard dot com. Just research what boats you would like to go on then see if there is availability. Some trips do Raja to Banda so you may find a trip with both.

Also when you look at availability and a boat shows a trip chartered you can also inquire with the group chartering it because they often have room on trips but it may not show on the boats page. You can find great travel groups like this!

 

[muralidharan]

Thanks for the advice! Decided to book Banda in Oct.

It seems like there is a benefit to booking with an agent atleast in this case. An agency called Blue Water Dive Travel (which I encountered on this forum) is running a 20% off promotion with MSY Seahorse for trips booked by May 15. They are running a 12 night Ring of Fire - Forgotten Islands itinerary in October that works great for me and the agency has confirmed that the discount will apply. The boat seems to have good reviews on this forum from past trips.

Anything else I should be mindful of before putting money down on this trip given I only have a few days to secure the 20% discount?

 

[Cali_diver]

Blue water is very reputable.. I have just heard too many nightmare stories about liveaboard.com.

I haven't been on the seahorse so can't speak to them. I am doing a similar trip this October as well. Is that Ambon to Saumlaki or Raja to Saumlaki? Either way you will enjoy. Ambon is some of the best critter muck diving in the world (with a sprinkle of garbage) and Raja is amazing as well. There is a lot more travel (usually done at night) with those Ring of Fire itineraries. This brings the possibility of rough seas. Whereas a Raja Trip will usually have only short crossings like 3-4 hours with more opportunities to get out of weather. The Banda Sea is worth it to me for the chance to see hammerheads and the snake islands etc. The water is usually blue and very fishy with consistent temps of 82ish (28c). Both Banda and Raja are amazing and different but less people usually in Banda/Forgotten Islands.

 

[muralidharan]

Blue water is very reputable.. I have just heard too many nightmare stories about liveaboard.com.

I haven't been on the seahorse so can't speak to them. I am doing a similar trip this October as well. Is that Ambon to Saumlaki or Raja to Saumlaki? Either way you will enjoy. Ambon is some of the best critter muck diving in the world (with a sprinkle of garbage) and Raja is amazing as well. There is a lot more travel (usually done at night) with those Ring of Fire itineraries. This brings the possibility of rough seas. Whereas a Raja Trip will usually have only short crossings like 3-4 hours with more opportunities to get out of weather. The Banda Sea is worth it to me for the chance to see hammerheads and the snake islands etc. The water is usually blue and very fishy with consistent temps of 82ish (28c). Both Banda and Raja are amazing and different but less people usually in Banda/Forgotten Islands.

Thank you! Eases my mind to hear that blue water is reputable. I've now paid an advance and confirmed the trip. It's a 12 night Ambon - Saumlaki itinerary.

I can deal with the rough seas. My wife is more prone to motion sickness, so this is not a trip I can do with her. That only adds more weight to the decision to dive in Banda over Raja where she can join me too in some future trip.

 

[muralidharan]

I've also been dreaming of diving with sea snakes ever since the segment on planet earth, so it's super exciting!