Liveaboard: Komodo or Alor?

I'm looking at doing one of these itineraries later this year.

Which is better for the non-macro stuff?

i don't mind some macro, but not a whole trip of it!

All advice appreciated

thanks

John

We had a great time on the Komodo Dancer in Komodo. We did about 15% of the dives on muck diving sites. The rest was regular reef dives with some pretty amazing dives in there.

BTW, if you go on the Peter Hughes website and go to the Komodo Dancer section, there are "divemaster" descriptions of the dive sites compiled by Garry Bevan, a Brit. Garry ran the boat and was the main dive guy during the trip. Very experienced. That would give you an idea of the sites. I considered going to Alor but my perception was that it would be mostly small stuff and my interest was for the larger stuff. That was only my perception.

The number of dives on black sand locations might be closer to 20% but those dives weren't just macro stuff. Maybe 4 dives were actually on "nothing but black sand and little nudibranches, etc" dives, though your site selection will depend completely on conditions at the time.

thanks for the info.

after a few weeks of indecision, i finally booked the Alor itinerary last night.

Will post a trip report when i get back

John

mantajohn:

thanks for the info.

after a few weeks of indecision, i finally booked the Alor itinerary last night.

Will post a trip report when i get back

John

Click to expand...

I'll be looking forward to your trip report. I'm considering a trip to Alor next summer. What boat did you book?

I'll be interested in your trip report as well.

i chose Komodo Dancer

.......not to be a party pooper, but I got this quote from the July 2009 edition of UNDERCURRENT: " Although she was built in 2001, the DANCER, one of the Peter Hughes' fleet, looks much older and needs TLC. After dives, the sloped, multipurpose forward deck was slick with water, resulting in at least half of the dozen divers falling. There were some scraped legs and one more serious accident. One woman was sitting in a chair on the sloped deck, which slid, tipping sideways, resulting in a back injury and reduced diving. In Bali, she went to the emergency room for X-rays and DAN arranged for her to fly back in business class. " ...so be careful.

My experience from Jan 09: I didn't see any issues which would make me recommend avoiding the boat. The area described does exist but I stayed away from it. The boat has some miles on it, but appeared to be well maintained. We had no problems and lots of crew is mandatory in Indonesia. This is Indonesia so it's a Phinisi type boat and so it's Indonesia style.

The deck on the boat had rubber matting covering all the walkways and main deck area around a large table, used generally as dinner and assembly table, except a strip of raised deck down the center. The raised deck could definitely be slick. You had to watch your footing and not run around on that area.

The deck area referred to is probably that just in front of the mast. The general open area/gear up/dining area was bordered on the bow end by a mast and lines running across the boat for hanging wetsuits,with the suit rinse barrels next to the mast. On the bow side of the mast (on the other side of the clotheslines), the deck does curve upwards and can be slick. Can't dispute this isn't a slick area, but I avoided this area by approaching the lines from the stern side of the lines to hang my suit. Sometimes I had to deal with this area, but just took care. It could be possible to fall here. I wear ratty slippers after every dive because I smash my feet on the deck stuff. They can help.

I found the steep stairs between decks, down to your rooms, and up to the top room, more of a problem due to the volume of use. Take them backwards like a ladder. My wife fell down them. It could easily be ugly. Clamp on the railing because this is a boat and it does move.

Don't pick the best room unless you want to be at the end of the pendulum.

The majority of the time we were diving during the day or even moving, seas were calm. We had a few times at night of pretty heavy storms while crossing, but other than serious bobbing, we seemed OK. The only problem really seemed to be it would slow us. Luckily of course.

All the diving is from metal skiffs. Easy walk up ladder on the back.

Thanks to the last 2 posters for their helpful comments. i shall definitely watch out for those slippery decks!

i had also read about the boat needing some tlc - but the best liveaboard trip i ever had was on quite a tired boat, but the outstanding dive guides made up for everything.

All paid for now - so too late to reconsider.

Trip report to follow when i get back