Late December Diving in Indonesia: anywhere on par with Raja Ampat?

[DivingChipmunk]

Hello, we are planning our 2024 Dec diving trip during the Christmas/New Year Holiday, for about 2 weeks.

We took 2 December dive trips to Indonesia before: South Komodo+ Bali (2019), and Raja Ampat (2022), both LOB+ a few days of land based. We enjoyed them both, esp R4. We also took recent Dec dive trips to Maldives, and will go to Fiji in a couple of weeks.

We like warm water reef dives with coral gardens and marine life diversity, not (yet) into micro or muck dives.

We did some research on SB for Dec in Indo , considered these and have some concerns/questions :

1) Alor: water can be cold and late Dec is out of season.
2) Triton Bay: visibility can be an issue (??) and no 24 hour electricity
3) Wakatobi: is the diving quality as good as or close to R4? We do not care much about the luxury side of the resort but will go there if the diving is really good.
4) Anywhere else? We are also considering Tufi in PNG (NOT part of Indonesia), unsure if Dec is rainy season there thus not the idea diving time.

What's your suggestions for diving destinations in last two weeks in December in Indonesia, or the general Coral Triangle Area if we need to expand the scope? Somewhere with diving quality on par with or close to R4?

Thanks!

 

[FishCity]

Wakatobi was almost as good as the best we saw in Raja Ampat as snorkelers. The divers seemed very happy.
They have a boat, Pelagian, that we will try next visit.

 

[paolobl65]

Hello, we are planning our 2024 Dec diving trip during the Christmas/New Year Holiday, for about 2 weeks.

We took 2 December dive trips to Indonesia before: South Komodo+ Bali (2019), and Raja Ampat (2022), both LOB+ a few days of land based. We enjoyed them both, esp R4. We also took recent Dec dive trips to Maldives, and will go to Fiji in a couple of weeks.

We like warm water reef dives with coral gardens and marine life diversity, not (yet) into micro or muck dives.

We did some research on SB for Dec in Indo , considered these and have some concerns/questions :

1) Alor: water can be cold and late Dec is out of season.
2) Triton Bay: visibility can be an issue (??) and no 24 hour electricity
3) Wakatobi: is the diving quality as good as or close to R4? We do not care much about the luxury side of the resort but will go there if the diving is really good.
4) Anywhere else? We are also considering Tufi in PNG (NOT part of Indonesia), unsure if Dec is rainy season there thus not the idea diving time.

What's your suggestions for diving destinations in last two weeks in December in Indonesia, or the general Coral Triangle Area if we need to expand the scope? Somewhere with diving quality on par with or close to R4?

Thanks!

I will go to Tompotika dive lodge in Sulawesi ( Tompotika ) in two weeks .
I never been there but I heard very good things about that place and I have seen very nice underwater pictures .
I have already been in December in Raja Ampat ( x 2 ) and Triton Bay ( x 2 ) so when I came back I can give you a comparative feedback and tell you , hopefully , good things .

 

[DivingChipmunk]

I will go to Tompotika dive lodge in Sulawesi ( Tompotika ) in two weeks .
I never been there but I heard very good things about that place and I have seen very nice underwater pictures .
I have already been in December in Raja Ampat ( x 2 ) and Triton Bay ( x 2 ) so when I came back I can give you a comparative feedback and tell you , hopefully , good things .

Thanks @paolobl65 ! Tompotika resort and the area look quite inviting. Would love to hear your diving experience.
And thanks for your trip reports on Raja Ampat and Triton Bay, and all your wonderful diving video. They provide great resources for diving in Indonesia.

 

[Trilobite]

4) Anywhere else? We are also considering Tufi in PNG (NOT part of Indonesia), unsure if Dec is rainy season there thus not the idea diving time.

I was in PNG in May-June 2023 for a land-based tour on the island of New Guinea and also visted Walindi Dive Resort in New Britain. Air travel was extremely unreliable, so I would recommend sticking with Indonesia unless you have some special reason for going to PNG (I did). Also, not sure if you are aware, but, if I recall correctly, newspaper reports indicate that in the last few years Tufi has been robbed twice by an armed gang that held guests at gunpoint. [Edit: it was Tawali resort I was thinking of; but there is also a report about Tufi being robbed once, but no guests held at gunpoint.]

 

[Cali_diver]

I will go to Tompotika dive lodge in Sulawesi ( Tompotika ) in two weeks .
I never been there but I heard very good things about that place and I have seen very nice underwater pictures .
I have already been in December in Raja Ampat ( x 2 ) and Triton Bay ( x 2 ) so when I came back I can give you a comparative feedback and tell you , hopefully , good things .

Oooh I can't wait to hear what you think. I had a friend tell me I needed to go there as well. She loved it! We are headed to Komodo for xmas and new years.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

I was in PNG in May-June 2023 for a land-based tour on the island of New Guinea and also visted Walindi Dive Resort in New Britain. Air travel was extremely unreliable, so I would recommend sticking with Indonesia unless you have some special reason for going to PNG (I did). Also, not sure if you are aware, but, if I recall correctly, newspaper reports indicate that in the last few years Tufi has been robbed twice by an armed gang that held guests at gunpoint.

Thanks @Philosopher King for your comments about safety in PNG dive resorts.

After searching the Pacific Board, we learned about armed robbery at Lissenung Trip Report - Lissenung Island Resort, Kavieng PNG Quote: On 13/1/23 a gang armed with guns and machetes held up Lissenung. They held guests hostage, robbed each room and raped a member of staff. Kavieng in general has seen an enormous uptick in crime the past few years. Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.

and at Tawali (http Trip Report - Lissenung Island Resort, Kavieng PNG
Quote: An alternative for muck divers would be a side trip to Tawali Resort in Milne Bay, but according to ‘well informed local sources’ it has allegedly now been held up at gunpoint and robbed four times, each corresponding with high foreign diver occupancy rates to maximise takings of cash, phones, laptops and cameras… pointing to an ‘inside job’.

And an Internet search brings up news on armed robbery in Tufi Tufi robbery condemned | Loop PNG

Reading this definitely makes us not comfortable to head to Tufi next Dec. Thank you!

 

[outofofficebrb]

I will go to Tompotika dive lodge in Sulawesi ( Tompotika ) in two weeks .
I never been there but I heard very good things about that place and I have seen very nice underwater pictures .
I have already been in December in Raja Ampat ( x 2 ) and Triton Bay ( x 2 ) so when I came back I can give you a comparative feedback and tell you , hopefully , good things .

I have heard good things from a friend's parents. I look forward to your comparison.

 

[JonnieB]

Maybe consider Sangalaki in south Borneo, Indonesia, or Sipadan/Mabul next door in Malaysia.

 

[Dan]

Maybe consider Sangalaki in south Borneo, Indonesia, or Sipadan/Mabul next door in Malaysia.

Here are my experience of diving in Sangalaki: