billt4sf, We had very good weather for the trip with only one day of pretty rough seas (a couple folks, not wearing scop patches, got sick) but my impression was that we were lucky to have such calm seas for the whole time. All other things being equal, I would do the Maumere to Sorong direction, rather than the reverse, as we did. Getting to the departure port at least a day in advance is a good idea in case of lost bags. Maumere seemed to me to be a more comfortable and entertaining place to spend a day or two prior to catching the boat than Sorong.
Tippytoes12, Socorro was my first liveaboard and I had a great time. We were on the Rocio del Mar. The attention there was all on big stuff and we dove with schooling hammerheads, dolphin, friendly mantas, and tiger, reef, white tip, silver tip, and silky sharks. If you can take your eyes off those, there are also plenty of moray, schooling fish, and even macro on the rocky reefs. The water temps were lower, the vis generally poorer, and the currents were almost always quite strong. Mostly negative entries. I was quite happy with the boat and crew and would really like to book with them again.
I liked the variety of big and small animals as well as the diversity of habitats we dove in Indonesia. The Mermaid boat was also a bit more comfortable than the Rocio. If you are mostly into the big fish and don't mind current and a little colder water, Revillagigego will spoil you. If you want more diversity or need warmer water, go Indonesia.
highdesert, My bad. The island is KAWULA. Sorry for the spelling error. It's in East Nusa Tenggara. Dan_T is correct. It was close to Maumere. Just picked up my DAN Alert Diver mag and they have an article, "East of Flores" that talks about the general area.
Happy diving all!
Tippytoes12, Socorro was my first liveaboard and I had a great time. We were on the Rocio del Mar. The attention there was all on big stuff and we dove with schooling hammerheads, dolphin, friendly mantas, and tiger, reef, white tip, silver tip, and silky sharks. If you can take your eyes off those, there are also plenty of moray, schooling fish, and even macro on the rocky reefs. The water temps were lower, the vis generally poorer, and the currents were almost always quite strong. Mostly negative entries. I was quite happy with the boat and crew and would really like to book with them again.
I liked the variety of big and small animals as well as the diversity of habitats we dove in Indonesia. The Mermaid boat was also a bit more comfortable than the Rocio. If you are mostly into the big fish and don't mind current and a little colder water, Revillagigego will spoil you. If you want more diversity or need warmer water, go Indonesia.
highdesert, My bad. The island is KAWULA. Sorry for the spelling error. It's in East Nusa Tenggara. Dan_T is correct. It was close to Maumere. Just picked up my DAN Alert Diver mag and they have an article, "East of Flores" that talks about the general area.
Happy diving all!
