Ideal 12 Day Itinerary For Indonesia

[DiverAussie]

Hello,

I'm planning my Indonesia Trip during June 28th to July 10th and with some many great options to choose from, I'm a bit confused.

I've just completed my SSI Advanced Open Water and have a total of 13 Logged Dives.

After doing some research i'm looking at the following two options:

1) 3 Days In Bali + 7 Days in Komodo (Scuba Junkie)

2) 3 Days In Bali + 7 Days in Raja Ampat (Wicked Diving Resort Based)

I'm inclined towards the Komodo option because it's working out way cheaper and flights are much cheaper.

Where i would need some help:

Is the diving in Raja Ampat that great thats it's worth selling out the extra $$$ over Komodo?
Do i have enough experience to dive at Raja Ampat?
The top sites/Dive centers around Bali for 3 days?

Thanks In Advance!

 

[Diving Dubai]

Having dived both...

First I can highly recommend Wicked. I've dived with them twice (off livaboards) - more importantly I allowed them to put my two 11 & 13yr old boys through their DSD. They are very safety conscious, while at teh same time being chilled out.

Raja ampat is a great place, I went to the southern part and it's the only place I'd re visit again and again - and we had great Manta's there. Komodo again is known for mantas

I would suggest that perhaps you don't have enough experience for Komodo. The best places are full of quite strong currents - of course you'd be safe in both places, but may not enjoy the diving as much as you would if you were more comfortable with currents. I would normally advise 50 dives before visiting either place, but that's just my opinion

 

[Adelaar Cruises]

If you are thinking of doing Raja Ampat (R4) then you may want to do (3Nts.) in North Sulawesi and (7Nts.)in R4. Flights will be faster & possibly cheaper to Manado (connecting to R4) and you can do a 3 day stopover and dive Bunaken.

It's usually pretty easy diving; clear water, lots of reef fish, turtles, nice hard corals, sponges, cuttlefish, pygmey seahorse...etc. Murex Manado is only an hour from the airport and they are moderately priced & a good value for the money. They are one of the 1st operators to dive in Bunaken National Park and they have great guides. They do 2-3 tank dive to the park and macro diving in the bay, so you'll have variety.

Raja ampat is a great place, I went to the southern part and it's the only place I'd re visit again and again - and we had great Manta's there. Komodo again is known for mantas

R4 is amazing, you will not be able to get to the southern part from Wicked (too far) and it's South East Monsoon season so most operators will not venture south. Unfortunately it is not manta season at that time of year in the Dampier Strait. Even without the manta's, the Strait in R4 is legendary. Keep in mind though, some of the better sites in the Dampier Strait are also know for current (see more on that below) I am not familiar with Wicked's resort, so I can't comment on them.

June & July is peak season in Komodo and there are usually mantas at this time of year. Granted there can be strong currents, especially around the area known as "current city". With your experience, most operators will try to put you in around slack tide or in the lee of the current (behind the island or pinnacle), with 13 logged dives everything you see is going to be better that what you've seen anyway. So diving in a bay, with hard corals, turtles, nudibranch, cuttlefish, giant clams...etc, to hide from strong current wouldn't be a bad thing, right? In addition, operators also try to go with the flow and have drift dives.

You can also ask about a private local guide, you'll have undivided attention and an opportunity to learn from them on how to handle yourself in current, talk with the operator and see what they think. If you can get more experience before you come even better.

Wherever you end up have a great dive holiday!

Cheers,

 

[Darnold9999]

I would spend 12 days in Bali. With only 13 dives you will find it amazing and significantly cheaper than either of the other two options. Both Komodo and RA would be much better with more dives and experience. You will be more comfortable and get much more out of the diving once you have 50 or more dives. Komodo in particular is best dived in current and to dive those sites not in current would be to miss the best of that site so why bother.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Do yourself a service and log more dives before doing either Raja Ampat or Komodo. You'll enjoy those locales significantly more when you are a more experienced diver than you possibly could at your current level.