Question Diving destination recommendations for South East Asia? - interested in corals/reefs, looking for area with casual + sociable vibe (no fancy resorts)

[liekejane]

Hi everyone! We are a (34 and 33 years old) couple without kids, in the process of planning our next diving holiday of October of this year. We are investigating different places to go, mostly in Indonesia and Philippines. However, we are hoping to get some recommendations from experienced diving travellers to make the search just slightly easier!

To give you an idea what we are searching in a (diving) holiday destination: last year we've been to Bunaken island in Northern Sulawesi for about 2 weeks, and this place had more or less everything we are looking for! Fantastic dive sites (mostly corals/reefs), a chill and casual vibe going on the island, and with regards to the people whom we met there: a nice crowd of like-minded travellers, who are looking for awesome diving experience but also like to socialize in the evenings (e.g. go out for dinner and/or drinks together). NB: with sociable I do not mean the kind of folks who are only looking to go party and get f***** in South-East Asia, like the crowd that you mostly find in places like Bali or the known party-places in Thailand.

So we are looking for a place that has a kind of similar vibe! And whilst searching the internet for various highly recommended dive destinations, the problem I run into is that some of those places seem very attractive with regards to the dives they offer, but the adjacant town and resorts seem super-super-fancy... which is really just not our vibe, but I'm fearing, also not attracting the kind of people that we would click/connect with. Examples of those places are for example Wakatobi in South-East Sulawesi (diving destinations seems beautiful, but resort is ridiculously fancy) and Alor (maybe this one is a little bit less exaggerated then Wakatobi, but still, the dive resorts website seem to target some kind of audience looking for a crazy luxury experience, and this is just not our style). On the other hand, we also want to avoid diving spots that are attracting just backpackers/party people... for example, we went diving on Amed in Bali as well in the previous year, and really hated it because it was overcrowded, and attracted a lot of people not really respecting the marine life but who "just want to see the wreck"... error

Finding a diving place that hits just the sweet spot that we are looking for.. I'm sure they are out there, but it's tricky to Google your way into finding them. Does anyone have recommendations of places that would fit what we are looking for? We are grateful for taking your time to answer us. Thank you!

 

[arew+4]

Hi everyone! We are a (34 and 33 years old) couple without kids, in the process of planning our next diving holiday of October of this year. We are investigating different places to go, mostly in Indonesia and Philippines. However, we are hoping to get some recommendations from experienced diving travellers to make the search just slightly easier!

To give you an idea what we are searching in a (diving) holiday destination: last year we've been to Bunaken island in Northern Sulawesi for about 2 weeks, and this place had more or less everything we are looking for! Fantastic dive sites (mostly corals/reefs), a chill and casual vibe going on the island, and with regards to the people whom we met there: a nice crowd of like-minded travellers, who are looking for awesome diving experience but also like to socialize in the evenings (e.g. go out for dinner and/or drinks together). NB: with sociable I do not mean the kind of folks who are only looking to go party and get f***** in South-East Asia, like the crowd that you mostly find in places like Bali or the known party-places in Thailand.

So we are looking for a place that has a kind of similar vibe! And whilst searching the internet for various highly recommended dive destinations, the problem I run into is that some of those places seem very attractive with regards to the dives they offer, but the adjacant town and resorts seem super-super-fancy... which is really just not our vibe, but I'm fearing, also not attracting the kind of people that we would click/connect with. Examples of those places are for example Wakatobi in South-East Sulawesi (diving destinations seems beautiful, but resort is ridiculously fancy) and Alor (maybe this one is a little bit less exaggerated then Wakatobi, but still, the dive resorts website seem to target some kind of audience looking for a crazy luxury experience, and this is just not our style). On the other hand, we also want to avoid diving spots that are attracting just backpackers/party people... for example, we went diving on Amed in Bali as well in the previous year, and really hated it because it was overcrowded, and attracted a lot of people not really respecting the marine life but who "just want to see the wreck"... error

Finding a diving place that hits just the sweet spot that we are looking for.. I'm sure they are out there, but it's tricky to Google your way into finding them. Does anyone have recommendations of places that would fit what we are looking for? We are grateful for taking your time to answer us. Thank you!

Let me know when you find it, sounds like what my wife and I are looking for. We are a little older, mid fifties "nearly adult" adult kids. I've been looking at the Philippines, Puerto Galera, and Anilo. There seem to be a few resorts that would be a match. The tickets and travel time to get there would make it a two week minimum, so budget starts to become a real factor.

A helpful review, the place he started the first week in Puerto found interesting to me.

Thread 'Philippines: 3 weeks in Puerto Galera and Dumaguete' Trip Report - Philippines: 3 weeks in Puerto Galera and Dumaguete

 

[Xterra]

Try look into Malaysia Sipadan / Borneo island

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Why not book a liveaboard? We do exclusively liveaboard unless there is a place we really want to dive that only has a land-based operation (rare). Liveaboard diving is a whole level above land-based. We just completed our 35th liveaboard.

 

[Edward3c]

If you liked a place why not go back. Diving isn’t about the number of places you’ve dived it’s about enjoying your diving.

 

[living4experiences]

You might try Puerto Galera in the Philippines. After doing lots of research and reading lots of trip reports here on SB, I've booked my first trip at the El Galleon in Puerto Galera. The town seems to be close enough if you want to wander and the diving looks to be quite varied, reefs, macro, a wreck, and Verde Island for a day dive trip. They offer night diving, DPV diving, and blackwater diving, too. Their onsite shop, Asia Divers, has good reviews.

There's a DEMA special for travel through 12/31/24. El Galleon Dive Resort DEMA 2023 Special: All-Inclusive 7N Packages

 

[Searcaigh]

There's a DEMA special for travel through 12/31/24. El Galleon Dive Resort DEMA 2023 Special: All-Inclusive 7N Packages

Less than 10 years ago it was about a quarter of that price, then I noticed the promotion by Blue Water Travel.

 

[diveUAE]

We have not been to Bunaken, but for what you describe have a look at Mafia Island, Tanzania (we dived with Mafia Island divers back in December 2017), very laid back, nice people and ok accommodation - but check if October is a good time of year. Could also look at Pemba.

Alternatively Seychelles was also laid back. And had some nice diving - especially from Praslin. I know Seychelles is know to be expensive, but we found some cheap places to stay and really enjoyed it.

For South East Asia maybe Bangka, Indonesia? (Haven’t been, but it’s on my list) or some of the home stays in Raja Ampat?

Malapasqua in Philippines might also be a choice, but in terms of crowds/people might be too close to Amed (we loved Mala more than Amed though).
Could maybe look at Southern Leyte - haven’t been, but also on my list.

Alor was one of my favorite places to both stay and dive - did you look at Alor Divers?

 

[Centrals]

October:
Indonesia & Malaysia:
Scuba Junkie Komodo. The Dragon is the added bonus.
Scuba Junkie Sipadan + Sangalaki.
Homestay at Raja Ampat is top notch.
Please check the weather pattern first.

Philippines:
Southern Leyte should be very quiet at that time.
Malapascua attracts far more divers and more lively.
Typhoon is your main concern.

Thailand:
Koh Tao should be slightly less crowded but just cannot compare the diving with Indo, Malay and Phil.

 

[Centrals]

If you liked a place why not go back. Diving isn’t about the number of places you’ve dived it’s about enjoying your diving.

Going to new new places always present a new challenge and I do enjoy the intriguing part of getting there.
Getting there is half the fun.