Komodo or Philippines in Dec?

Ok, IÃ×e got it narrowed down between Komodo/Bali or Philippines from Nov 29-Dec 21st. I will be land based for both locations.

Komodo: Con: Worried about the current given lack of experience; Weather
Pro: It's Komodo; chance to dive south komodo

Philippines: Con: Travel time, not as hyped up as komodo
Pro: Good time to go, cost, thresher and whalesharks (maybe), can do 3 dives per day

So, Komodo or Philippines?

Thanks.

Komodo is much better diving, but as you said, not the best season.
Not really the best season for Philippines either though.

My reports are the following:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/259917-my-bali-komodo-trip-oct-nov-2008-a.html

vs.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...ers/224146-moalboal-alona-beach-part-1-a.html

Either way, with 3 weeks, you can probably hit multiple sites within the same country.
Lombok, Bali, Labuan bajo vs Malapascua, Bohol, Donsol for example.

My sentiment is that my trip around Indonesia was far better than around Cebu/Bohol. I enjoyed that there were other things to do besides dive, and I felt that the value was better in Indonesia.

Do you think there are more things to do besides diving around Komodo compared to Philippines?

Do you think the weather in Pulau Weh is "better" than Komodo in early december?

Thanks

Labuanbajo, the town nearest Komodo, is not much fun really. There is not a lot to do and I found myself mostly just hanging around in the restaurant where I had lunch. The scenery is nice, but I am glad to have spent most of my time on the boat. Bali, on the other hand is quite festive.

In my experience, topside attractions are like this

Boracay = Bali > other philippines towns > Labuanbajo

Keep in mind that I've only been to Moalboal and Alona(phils) this year

I haven't been to Pulau Weh, but I have been to that side of Thailand a few times and I'd say the weather will probably be better in december, based on monsoon patterns.

mjgoodman:

Ok, IÃ×e got it narrowed down between Komodo/Bali or Philippines from Nov 29-Dec 21st. I will be land based for both locations.

Komodo: Con: Worried about the current given lack of experience; Weather
Pro: It's Komodo; chance to dive south komodo

Philippines: Con: Travel time, not as hyped up as komodo
Pro: Good time to go, cost, thresher and whalesharks (maybe), can do 3 dives per day

So, Komodo or Philippines?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hello mjgoodman, I agree with what has been written above. I have been to Komodo twice, once in Dec. and another time in June, the diving was top notch on both trips despite being very different, but I saw mantas and sharks on both trips. I have been to Bohol in the P.I. once and would not return. I have never seen so many people fishing in a "nature preserve", 10 times the number fishing in Komodo. Yes, there was fishing in both "preserves", but much less in Komodo. I'm sure there is great diving in the P.I., but it will be harder to find. I would bet on Leyte or General Santos, or any place further South, which means more risk for anybody with pale skin.

There are 77+ million people in the P.I. and the population is much more evenly distributed than Indo, where the vast majority live on the one island of Java, far away from most of the best diving. I've been to Ambon, Komodo, Bali and Alor and even the worst dive in Bali was better than my best in Bohol. The best Indo dives are as good as any I did PNG.

I only hope that the P.I standard of living can rise fast enough that they can afford to care about their environment more. The people are great and it must have been a fantastic place 30 years ago... -Andy

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your response. As you can tell I'm trying to figure out where to go from Nov 29 until Dec. 21. From Dec 28- Jan 8, I'll be diving in Bali. Raja Ampat is not an option.

I would rather stay and dive in Indonesia. The problem is that I don't know where to go. Basically, I want to go to the place where the weather is least likely to impact my diving. I want the quality of diving to be worth the money is cost to dive. When I read that it's high season in the Philippines it sounded like a good option.

People rant and rave about Komodo and it doesn't sound like the longer boat rides would be a problem. However, it's not the "high season" and I'm wondering if the currents are worse than normal during this time of year.

I need to be in Makassar on Dec. 22.

With those considerations in mind...where do you recommend? Thank you very much.

mjgoodman:

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your response. As you can tell I'm trying to figure out where to go from Nov 29 until Dec. 21. From Dec 28- Jan 8, I'll be diving in Bali. Raja Ampat is not an option.

I would rather stay and dive in Indonesia. The problem is that I don't know where to go. Basically, I want to go to the place where the weather is least likely to impact my diving. I want the quality of diving to be worth the money is cost to dive. When I read that it's high season in the Philippines it sounded like a good option.

People rant and rave about Komodo and it doesn't sound like the longer boat rides would be a problem. However, it's not the "high season" and I'm wondering if the currents are worse than normal during this time of year.

I need to be in Makassar on Dec. 22.

With those considerations in mind...where do you recommend? Thank you very much.

Click to expand...

Hi mj, I did not find the currents to be any worse on either trip. Though in general, in my experience the currents down at the Southern end were less than Northern places, like Banta Island or midway down like Batu Tiga. But the currents should be manageable by any knowledgeable dive operator, who should understand the tides and pick sites accordingly and with the diver's experience level in mind. I will say that just like any place I've ever dived with great fish action, the fish are almost always where the current is, so it helps to be comfortable diving in currents, most of which are quite predictable and can be managed by listening to your dive guide or at least following their lead. I only ever got into trouble when I went too far in a direction I was warned not to go... -Andy

Hi Andy,

Thank you very much.

I only have the option to do go landbased. I would hope to do a short LOB to the south. Would you still advise to go to Komodo? Thank you very much.

Matt

silent running:

But the currents should be manageable by any knowledgeable dive operator, who should understand the tides and pick sites accordingly and with the diver's experience level in mind. I will say that just like any place I've ever dived with great fish action, the fish are almost always where the current is, so it helps to be comfortable diving in currents, most of which are quite predictable and can be managed by listening to your dive guide or at least following their lead. I only ever got into trouble when I went too far in a direction I was warned not to go... -Andy

Click to expand...

I agree 100% with Andy.

When I dived for the first time in Komodo, I had only 17 dives logged. The first dive was a very easy dive site where they checked out all divers and then they chose the sites accordingly. I got once into trouble when I swam 2 metres too far away from the reef and then couldn't swim back to the reef due to the current.. Obviously it had clearly been mentined in the dive briefing.

In Pulau Weh, there are also dive sites which can have strong currents (one of them is named 'Arus Palae' which means 'Bastard Current' in Acehnese, and that's what the current there is...). But when there were diver(s) on the boat who don't want to dive there, the the dive guide(s) always changed, no problem..

Cool. PW is just too far out of the way for this trip....next time.

Looks like I'm heading to Komodo to join you afterall. I don't know if I'll dive with Bajo. They had the highest prices. I want to get a few days in around the South.

Thank you everyone.