N. Sulawesi or Komodo/Alor?

[danz]

Thank you Katja,
What was the name of the operator in Komodo?

What dou you mean by 'but from my opinion Alor was a bettter experience. But the positive thing is that of all the 3 places this is the most family friendly place'?

 

[kilo_fox]

I'd say N Sulawesi is the most family friendly place as there is many spots for good snorkeling (Bunaken and Bangka, not so much in Lembeh) and quite some things to do on the topside (jungle, traditional villages, volcano,...). I didn't appreciate the diving in Bunaken much, but Lembeh and Bangka are awesome.

In Komodo and Alor, there are much less exciting things to do on the topside, the diving however is extraordinary (in Alor however the sightings of big stuff have decreased a lot). At all dive sites in Komodo snorkeling is possible.
It is definitely possible to dive (and snorkel) Karang Makaser/Manta Point during a day trip, the dive site is about 2 hrs by boat from Labuan Bajo.
The 5 dive shops in Labuan Bajo:
Divine diving
C N Dive (no website I think)
Dive Komodo
Bajo Dive Club
Reefseekers

The traveling in NTT has become much easier during the past year as Trans Nusa, the main airline in that area has increased their capacity, e.g. there are now direct flights from Labuan Bajo to Kupang (means you don't have to fly via Bali anymore) and other added routes (if you want I can find out the details for you).
Another thought - maybe look into Maumere (on Flores) - fantastic diving (Muck, wreck and reefs with lots of big and small stuff), good for snorkeling (though not as good as N Sulawesi) and a few things on the topside (volcano to climb, traditional villages).

 

[silent running]

SR...I have not dove Alor but looked at it closely....from what I have read it can be cool waters. What are the water temps? When you say the accomodations are a bit Spartan could you elaborate?

Hi Scott, sorry for the late reply, just saw your post. The water temps are highly variable, which is a good sign as it means there are frequent cold upwellings from very deep and that means a very vibrant food chain. The best way to deal with it is to have 2 suits on the boat; I would bring a 3mm and 5mm with a hood.

To give you an idea of my trip, I had no issues diving to 200ft in a .5mm skin for most of the 12 days I was there, 79-82F all the while. However, towards the end of the trip, we ran into steep thermoclines even in the shallow sites down South. On one dive at Clown Alley, I started the dive at 81F and had a thermocline roll up the reef and freeze me breathless in my .5mm with a temp of 68F in less than 30 seconds. FWIW, the fish activity was fantastic, there were big jacks striking and the viz was unreal. It was predictable in that after one dive like that, you can be reasonably sure it will happen again at the other Southern sites, so just deal and put on the heavy suit...

The accommodations were actually very nice considering the rest of Alor, but the AC didn't work much, due to the sagging voltage and the windows didn't open or have screens on them. To be fair, the hotel had not officially opened yet, but they tried their best to make sure we were happy. The food was good but very limited and totally Indonesian, fine for me but not for most caucasians.

Sorry, but I don't agree that Alor is not as good for big stuff as Komodo. There are not
as many Mantas, due to the lack of plankton blooms and shallow plateaus, but I have never seen so many oversized dogtooth tuna, reef fish and aggressive sharks in Indo as I have in Alor. Also so saw a 5+ school of large dolphins in Kepa Channel. Alor is a wild and dynamic dive destination, I highly recommend it and will go again... -Andy

 

[Katja]

Hi,

What I meant to say was that from my experience Alor had better makro diving than Bunaken and Lembeh. But Bunaken is a more family friendly place.

I can see that Kilo_fox has already written the names of the dive operators in Labuanbajo/Komodo. I've tried 3 of them. It's pretty much the same price they charge. What counts is how your divemaster is. Maybe I've been unlucky but the western divemasters were not were good - so if I were you I would make sure to go with local divemasters.

Maybe I see you there - going back to Indonesia in july and august 2009 for diving )

 

[reubencahn]

I've done Komodo twice and Lembeh twice. Each are fantastic but they are completely different. Komodo is a mix of reef and macro diving with relatively decent vis, nice reefs, some big fish, etc. It can also have some extremely difficult currents. Lembeh is mostly muck diving--amazing muck diving--in crappy vis at shallow depths--though there are some good reef dives at the north end of the straits. Komodo is best done from a liveaboard which might be less than ideal for a non-diver. The currents and depths also might or might not be suitable for you daughter though, fwiw, my son was fine on both these trips, one when he was 13, one when he was 16.