Diving Indonesia (Komodo, Wakatobi, Lembeh and Bali)

[matdiver]

Well done! Great mixture of shots, very nicely put together.
Thanks for posting.
Matt

 

[Mattias Granberg]

Yeah, the route from Bali to Labuan Bajo seems to be "the route of canecellation" and the best way is to go a day ahead at least.

Thank you Matt!

 

[nanerl]

Mattias,

thank you so, so, so very much for all the info!!! You've just saved me a lot of headache!

I'll explain: I'm going to Komodo in August as part of a trip to Fiji. I have all of my tickets, but the one from Bali to Labuan Bajo, I just couldn't book. I've tried all options of the lion air site and nothing, they didn't accept my payment (because it isn't an Indonesian CC, I was told). I've tried through other Indonesian sites (travel agents) and had the same problem.

With the link you've provided, now I have my tickets!!!! I'm so happy. I was afraid I'd get there and end up not doing it for lack of place on planes!

I realize there are cancelled/delayed flights and all, but that's a risk worth taking.

Thank you so much for that link and for sharing your fantastic video!

 

[Mattias Granberg]

Thank you for the feedbaack!
I'm glad I'll could help. We booked all our Indonesian flights through that site without any problems. I my opionion Lion Air may be the better option on the route Denpasar - Labuan Bajo. And yeah, it's a risk worth taking since the diving in Komodo is truly amazing. Have you booked any dive center yet?

 

[Carol202]

Thanks for the video and the info on airline tickets. Do you have a recommended time of year to go? I found the same liveaboard outfit through some other good reviews so we are thinking about doing a similar trip.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I did a similar trip in 2008 ... started with 3 days in Tulamben, then 6 days in Komodo on the Pelagian (Wakatobi's liveaboard), followed by four days each in Bunaken and Lembeh Straits. Each has its own unique charm. It was, for us, a very special trip ... 23 days total with 17 days of diving.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[nanerl]

Thank you for the feedbaack!
I'm glad I'll could help. We booked all our Indonesian flights through that site without any problems. I my opionion Lion Air may be the better option on the route Denpasar - Labuan Bajo. And yeah, it's a risk worth taking since the diving in Komodo is truly amazing. Have you booked any dive center yet?

I haven't booked the dives, yet. Do you think I could go and book there? I think I'll do day trips, or a short liveaboard, the Backpackers version. Is there a lot of dive centers, or only a few ones? What about accommodation? Did you see a lot of budget accommodation, like in Bali, or it's all high end?

Thank you for your input!

 

[Mattias Granberg]

It was the first time in Komodo for us so I have nothing to compare with. We went there in late March. We had quite bad visibility, but we got to se lots of mantas and sharks during our trip. I've heard from a girl who taken her instructor course there that she had never seen that much mantas during her time there, which was from juli - november. There is a lot of dive centers in Labuan Bajo and im sure you can find a dive center there. We did one weeks liveaboard south to north and for me I liked the north better than the south. You can do day trips and 3 days dive trip in the north from Labuan Bajo. I think you will find lots of budget accommodation over there if you search. I totally agree with you NWGratefulldiver. They sure do have their own unique charm and I think it's hard to compare between them since they are so different from each other.

 

[Rusty Roo]

Mattias,

thank you so, so, so very much for all the info!!! You've just saved me a lot of headache!

I'll explain: I'm going to Komodo in August as part of a trip to Fiji. I have all of my tickets, but the one from Bali to Labuan Bajo, I just couldn't book. I've tried all options of the lion air site and nothing, they didn't accept my payment (because it isn't an Indonesian CC, I was told). I've tried through other Indonesian sites (travel agents) and had the same problem.

With the link you've provided, now I have my tickets!!!! I'm so happy. I was afraid I'd get there and end up not doing it for lack of place on planes!

I realize there are cancelled/delayed flights and all, but that's a risk worth taking.

Thank you so much for that link and for sharing your fantastic video!

i did my DMT in komodo and lived in labuan bajo for 6 weeks.

flights, don't worry, both lion air (wings) and garuda will cancel flights and you will be delayed. but both are fine (i know lion are blacklisted in europe) don't worry about excess baggage that you will pay with scuba gear on a wings flight. cheapest excess baggage ever! £8 i think for 20kgs of excess.

you won't struggle to find an operator to do day trips - there are loads!

there are loads of places to stay but in the high season these will get booked up. but just stroll along the main "strip" and ask dive ops, anyone really.