Destination advice for spectacular diving in april? (worldwide)

[gekodivebali]

Lol, bubba gump shrimps, nightlife and someone who has 5 dive operations in Bali... Definitely not talking about the same island mate!

 

[vladimir]

Yes, Tulumben with 40 to 50 divers crawling over the wreck doesnt do it for me although the north like Amed and out to the Gillies is a lot better and i never venture into Kuta...Ive been using Bali as a jump off point for other islands for 20 years and especially the last 6 as cheap fares mean its a $99 fair from home in Perth to DPS then I will grab a lion air flight somewhere else. I always end up staying a night with friends (Friend owns 5 bali dive ops in Bali so its not because Ive seen a tiny bit of downtown kuta and base my judgement on that) because Kuta is full of drunken Aussie, Nusa Dua is full of drunken Russians and you cannot compare Bali's scenery even from the Candi Dasi > Lovinia > Tulumben > Amed strip to say..the Togians or North Sulawesi. I know lots of people like Bali, Ive transitted through DPS 6 times last year on my way to other islands in Indo. I dont ''do'' the tourist areas - maybe im just spoiled but give me anywhere else in Indo rather than Bali. I consider it a filthy place, getting up to Tulumben and Pemuteran were about the only areas that werent covered in McDonalds wrappers...just my opinion. And i do have comparative destinations other than Penida on Bali island itself and it is my personal opinion that there is way better diving to be found in Indonesia than on Bali island. Passport is covered with Indo visas but most of those DPS airport stamps are transits to Sumatra or Sulawesi or Flores or Komodo. I guess if you are the sort of person who wants Bubba Gump shrimp and nightlife to go with your dive, then Bali would suit, doesnt suit me. We are all different.

I recommend (and dive) Bali pretty often, but usually because a diver has parameters like "in a weekend," or "a direct flight," or "with good topside activities," etc. I agree that the diving is less that "spectacular," and there are many better places along the archipelago to dive, particularly for travelers like the OP, who have the time to do so. And I agree that the island gets filthier with every visit. That said, I had the Liberty wreck to myself on a couple of morning dives last month, and the reef 300 meters east was almost always free of divers. The best time to dive Tulamben is during rainy season, in my opinion.

 

[Tkay]

I have dived in the Phillippines (Bohol and surrounding area), extensively in Thailand (east coast, west coast and up to the Burmese border), Brazil (Bahia, Fernando de Noronha), Egypt (Sharm), Norway, Vietnam, and last year Borneo - Mabul and Sipadan. I did about 30 dives, out of them as many as I could at Sipadan. It is the most amazing diving destination I have ever experienced. And it is not expensive to get there compared to some other hard-to-get-to places. Absolutely FANTASTIC. Sipadan has it all. Whatever is your underwater favorite to see and experience, Sipadan has got it.