Please guide me with an itinerary for Indonesia

My wife and I, both MSDs, dove in many parts of the world, and we are planing to dive in Indonesia for about a week during the first week in June. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We love large Pelagics and other diverse life. We dove the Brothers in the Red Sea many times; however, we are told that Indonesia is among the best diving in the world. We love drift diving, but it is not necessary. We are confused; we do not know where to go. We are not sure if we should dive by liveaboard or is there a resort where we can stay and enjoy the same diving? (In the Red Sea the liveaboard is the only way to reach the best locations).

Is Indonesia better than the Maldives for this sort of diving?

Which liveaboards do you recommend? We love the big stuff and the great diversity.

Also, I noticed that there are numerous itineraries with liveaboards off of Bali, including:

1. Gems of Alor (Alor Islands)
2. Komodo National Park
3. Raja Ampat Discovery

Which is best to see big and wild stuff of Indonesea?

Alternatively, is there a dive resort where we can take a quick daily boat. In Palau the daily boats from the resorts take a long time to reach their destination. We ususally dive liveaboards because of teh convenience.

Thank you so much in advance for you assistance!
Terry

If you like big stuff and diversity then you really want to look at Komodo National Park. It will also quench your thirst for some currents as well.

Raja Ampat would also suit you but to visit here you would need to fly to Sorong - LOBs tend to get booked up early but still worth contacting (Indo Siren, Arneui, Damai I & II, Pindito amongst others) . if not try Misool Eco Resort, Raja 4 Divers Resort amongst others.

If you have only a week then Raja Ampat is a bit far for such a short time. Komodo is a good idea , there are few dive cruises already in Komodo in June.
For diving Alor there is one fine resort : Alor Divers Eco Resort.

Remember that even if there are some mantas together with some sharks in Komodo or Raja Ampat, Indonesia IS NOT a big fish destination. Indonesia is more about diversity, excellent fish life, healthy coral reef, and macro paradise.

For a week in June, Alor resort or Komodo cruise would be my best choice.

My wife and I, both MSDs, dove in many parts of the world, and we are planing to dive in Indonesia

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So you ain't dived anywhere until you dive Indonesia.

Is Indonesia better than the Maldives for this sort of diving?
We love the big stuff and the great diversity.

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While there are indeed big stuff in the Maldives, I don't remember it for great diversity...
You can't get more diverse than Indonesia. Period. This has been proved on numerous times with the help of fish counts (google search Allen).
The area named as the 'coral triangle' is the motherland of all marine species... The eastern of Indonesia the better, while the westernmost is already more diverse than the Maldives.

Alternatively, is there a dive resort where we can take a quick daily boat.

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In Raja Ampat 3 or 4 of them (I am not sure June is the best season for diving Raja Ampat though)
Alor divers in Alor, but they're already full from mid june to september.
It can be quite painful and tiresome to stay in a land resort in Komodo area, like 2hrs boat ride OW, you can't even reach the best spots.
Otherwise if you don't know Indonesia yet, Bali can be very good landbased, with all the stuff you want supermacro to mantas, sharks or molamola.

We have been to Komodo , Bunaken , Bali and Lombok. All were fabulous , but Komodo on a liveaboard was, for us , the stuff that dreams were made of. We did a week's liveaboard trip Bali to Bali on Mermaid 2. Seeing the so ugly but fascinating dragons half way through diving these exquisite sites on such a wonderful boat was bizarre in the extreme.

Our introduction to Indonesia was on the Komodo Dancer LOB and it was enough to hook us into the Indonesia train! We will head there in a few months for our 10th time. I agree that Komodo is a good start! It might freak you out getting to RA the first time with all of the flights etc. but RA can not be missed. I would suggest the Paradise Dancer( both for Komodo and RA). We are going on that boat for the 3rd time on our next trip! FABULOUS !! Have a great time! You can not go wrong with Indonesia!!

big stuff is komodo, live a boards like pindito or 7seas are a great way to dive there. also in ra u have divesites where u see the mantas and sharks. but personally i love komodo.

IMHO it depends on where you're traveling from as to which would be better for a one week trip. If you're closer to The Maldives and are sold on pelagics then that would be the place to go. We saw far more pelagics in The Maldives on a LOB trip than we saw on a Komodo trip. If your closer to Indo, though, Komodo would be the choice for pelagics in June. If I were traveling for just a week, though, I'd go to Lembeh for muck diving.