Labuan Bajo -- Reefseekers or Komodo Divers

We're going to risk the rain and check out Labuan Bajo in January

Any recommendations on Reefseekers vs Komodo Divers? Both seem equally friendly and competent.

Anyone have strong feelings one way or another?

Hey,

I will be in LB in early-mid december and plan to dive with both. I'll write a report afterwards.

MJG

PS. The Giants are for real this year...can you say repeat?

I just came from over there. I would recommend Dive Komodo. While I was there, Reefseekers had another incident of losing divers (this time another boat found them much sooner) and the time of year youre gonna be there is very strong currents. I had a good time at Dive Komodo, they seem to run a good operation. There are several live aboard options over there that do not need to be booked ahead as well.

adamtodd,

thanks for the update. can you provide more details behind the lost divers?

how many divers were landbased while you were there?

do you think it would be hard to get a LOB together? thanks

Well, I basically showed up in LB without any reservations or anything. I checked out the shops, and did a day trip with Dive Komodo. The following day I got lucky and was able to hop on a LOB with Dive Komodo that visited the North and South Komodo sites. I found the Northern sites to be very different and equally as good as anything in the South. I was under the impression that the South was supposed to be way better, but I did not find that at all. That being said, you can dive many amazing sites on day trips using about four or five operaters in LB. There are LOB's being organized all the time, and I do not think it would be hard to get one together. I can be very cheap if you are just there at the right time and place. No worries on it all- It is very easy to organize on arrival, and many people are doing that.

As far as the lost divers... Well, I am sure you heard about the incident this summer (I think there are tons of threads about this on here), this was not as serious.. Basically a group of divers got lost due to the strong surface currents and the boat man wasn't able to find them. They were not in the water to long when a passing boat (another dive company) saw, and picked them up. Some of these currents are 6 knots or so, meaning you can haul ass pretty good, and get yourself into a real situation.
The problem that is re-occuring is that this company is dropping off two groups of different skill levels and while the first group comes up (if they take a while to get outta the water) the other group can get sucked into the strong surface current. You will see when your over there, exactly how easy this can happen if you come up in the current and boat isn't very close.

That is what happened when I was there. Based on that, I felt it was better to have one group, on one boat, at one time.

Hope that helps...

Can anyone who has done dives with Reefseekers confirm this for me? I heard the following from another diver who was leaving LB as I was arriving.

He said that he wasn't a fan of Reefseekers because they double up on sites. That is, the boat will drop divers at one site(Crystal rock, for example) then run over to another site(Castle Rock, for example) and drop divers there. They will therefore have 1 boat watching 2 sites with 2 different sets of divers.

While this may not be a problem in Thailand or sites with little current, Komodo's currents rip, and divers bailing out early may end up a quarter mile away from the site and even farther from the boat, which increases risk of them getting lost.

Anyway, I hope its not true. Can anyone verify this, or was the guy just talking ****?


I was very happy with my Safari trip with Bajo Dive Club. They helped those who needed it and let others dive to their abilities, which is perfect for me. Many dives over an hour.

I done 4 dive days with Reefseekers this Aug.
Basically there were 3 groups on 1 boat.
Typically each group had 4-6 divers.
With 1 guide for each group.

At the full moon dive site (Don’t know the local name)The experienced group went in 1st in blue water and was closely followed by the 2nd group. The 3rd group went in at a different spot that was more sheltered from the current. On one dive I did not want to jump in with my camera and by the time I surfaced after jumping in I was approx 5 m from the boat due to the fast surface current. Could not get back to get my camera and that turned out to be the best dive (Dolphin & calf!!! And me with no camera)

I never experienced groups being sent to different sites.

We always surfaced at a sheltered spot with not much current and therefore was not much of a problem for all groups getting back to the boat. However i can definately see why there may be problems if different groups come up at different spots.

While I was there I was very surprised to see young kids (14-16 years old) with not much experience dive Komodo.

I was happy with reefseekers , my only small complaint was they forgot my gear 1 day. Otherwise I was happy diving with this Op.
I will definitely return to Komodo but will definitely do one of the cheaper LB options like the Mona or Dive Komodo.

Hi,

So I take it the other dive ops (not Reefseekers) group all divers together regardless of their skill level?

Would the divers with less experience buddy up with the guide? Thanks

my preference would be with Dive Komodo DIVE KOMODO Liveaboards and Diving in Indonesia