Help with first Indo-Pacific Trip (Raja Ampat ?)

[astralmind]

I've already read many threads that did touch on this topic (there are tons out there) but was curious what your thoughts were, understanding where we come from.


We are a couple from Montreal Canada where scuba diving is rather limited in its options, cool wrecks aside.


Besides a few local dives, we dove in Roatan twice for 2 weeks and have close to 60 dives logged in total. We are AOW (knowing there is nothing advances about it) and are looking at doing our rescue cert next. All that within the past year It is now clear for us that all future travelling will revolve around what kind of diving we can do there, no more AI down south that's for sure - it changed our life forever.



We have thoroughly enjoyed every single dive we've been on. Absolutely loved Roatan (dove with Bananarama both times) but would like to "graduate" to something different.


Unfortunately, we do not have an unlimited budget which somehow drastically restricts our options. Our current Roatan option comes up to roughly 3000$ per person for 2 weeks all in (2 dives and a bit a day, some drinks,taxes) If we are to spend more, it has to be worth it.


I read up on different destinations and the one that stood out to a point where it's become an obsession is Raja Ampat.


Obviously, getting there is complex and expensive - Montreal - Roatan is a 800$ trip while Montreal to Sorong would easily get close to 2000$, 1 800$ at the very least. Based on the pictures I've seen and from what I've read we would be absolutely comfortable paying an extra 1000$ for such a destination. We've never experienced flights for long than 10 hours and understand the stress level and energy required for a much much longer trip and would be willing to give it a go.


We are not looking for luxury, a comfy bed good food (tasty, not fancy) and awesome diving is what we are looking for. As a benchmark, our Roatan experience exceeded our minimal requirements.


My quick research pointed towards the Raja Ampat Biodiversity as the cheapest yet complete option for roughly 3000$ all in, 2 dives a day for 2 weeks. Has anyone used their services before and would care to comment ? Would you happen to know of a better or similar alternative ?


Thanks !

 

[weeksd]

Check out Mermaid liveaboards in Komodo. The komodo trips depart from bali which from montreal is quite easy to get to. Komodo offers just about as much as raja ampat. And no inter indonesia flights which adds to the price. Mermaid 2 offers 7 night trips with 4 dives per day. If you have points such as aeroplan you can get to bali on points or to singapore and buy the singapore to bali flight. Bali does have many places to dive also. Mermaid liveaboards are steel boats and are very well run. I have done 7 trips with them and and have booked an 8th. I have done raja ampat once and komodo 4 times. For some picture ideas my website is reefscenics | SmugMug

 

[gekodivebali]

You're missing out the most important piece of information: what time of year will you go?

 

[astralmind]

Weeksd, thanks for the suggestions.You've got some pretty awesome pics !

Komodo also looked extremely promising. We're not dissing the idea of a liveaboard but somehow think we'd prefer a ground location (small dive resort opp). I checked out the Siren II, looked great but almost comes to the same price as 2 weeks in Raja Ampat Biodiversity (albeit with more diving). If we are to travel that far, we are definitely looking at a 2 weeks trip so it would add up pretty fast.

Gekodivebali: Highly tentative at this point but most likely in July. Good point... any better times for visiting the area (assuming so!)

Thanks again

 

[divenski]

There are lots of people on here with more Asia/Pacific experience than I have, but out of Philippines (2 trips), Solomon Islands, GBR, and Raja Ampat, RA was by far the most expensive. Our first Asia trip was Philippines - Atlantis Puerto Galera and then Atlantis Dumaguete each for a week (5.5 days diving) and I thought the value was very good and so was the diving! RA was better, but about twice the cost (and also a liveaboard - but if you look at many of the shore-based options there, they are almost as expensive!)

RA diving was also pretty advanced - some strong currents around submerged seamounts, and much fewer restrictions than the Caribbean (though divemasters were good at watching/helping you if you wanted them to...)

I am budget-minded myself - the way I look at it, if I don't spend all I've got in one place, I get to go to another place (without waiting years!)

Anyway, hope this is helpful. Oh yeah, and timing is important - if you search online for "best time to dive _________" and poke around a bit, you can get some good advice!

 

[astralmind]

There are lots of people on here with more Asia/Pacific experience than I have, but out of Philippines (2 trips), Solomon Islands, GBR, and Raja Ampat, RA was by far the most expensive. Our first Asia trip was Philippines - Atlantis Puerto Galera and then Atlantis Dumaguete each for a week (5.5 days diving) and I thought the value was very good and so was the diving! RA was better, but about twice the cost (and also a liveaboard - but if you look at many of the shore-based options there, they are almost as expensive!)

RA diving was also pretty advanced - some strong currents around submerged seamounts, and much fewer restrictions than the Caribbean (though divemasters were good at watching/helping you if you wanted them to...)

I am budget-minded myself - the way I look at it, if I don't spend all I've got in one place, I get to go to another place (without waiting years!)



Anyway, hope this is helpful. Oh yeah, and timing is important - if you search online for "best time to dive _________" and poke around a bit, you can get some good advice!

Thanks for the great suggestion! Wouldn't necessarly have thought much of the Philipines. I've just finished a chat session with the Atlantis staff and they quoted me a package that came up to a bit more than the lower end Raja Ampat alternative. In the end, the flights to Dumagete or Sorong are roughly the same price. The accommodations you suggested are slightly more costly but are higher end and espcially includes unlimited dives (huge plus) and a 4x day trip to Apo island.

So if I go for a 3 dive a day experience, Raja at the Biodiversity vs Dumagete at the Atlantis come up to the same price. More isolated virgin island for Raja Ampat, more all inclusive resort on Dumagete. Both looking outstanding, R4 looking a bit more magical although more complicated to reach

Edit: If I may ask, any reason for visiting both locations instead of spending 2 weeks at the same spot (beside more variety). Was the traveling from one another complicated ? Out of the 2 location, which one did you prefer ? I'm staring at both lists of dive sites and they seem similar.

 

[Woodiver]

If you are planning to travel all the way to R4, be sure to check which months are the best. North American summers are when most of the liveaboards move out of R4 to areas like Komodo. Komodo has a good mix of macro and larger stuff. Dumaguete is muck except for the Apo day trips but the guides are good and they do take care of you.

During July, I'd do a liveaboard in Komodo over Dumaguete.

 

[divenski]

I am not familiar with the resort you mention but the Trip Advisor reviews look good. If i were to pick between RA and Philippines, I would go for RA - and I liked Puerto Galera better than Dumaguete. Dumaguete was sand/muck with amazing critters, but hardly any coral, except for the day trips to Apo Island (which I found to be a mixed bag... most people love it.) We did a week each place because they are very different - Puerto Galera is more corals and tons of nudis; as I said, Dumaguete is more for small/weird critters unless you go to Apo. But Raja Ampat is likely to be more species, healthier corals, etc etc. I am surprised - and good for you - that the prices aren't very different. It took us a long time to get to Sorong (though we did go to Lembeh first, hee hee) and Manila, I think, is easier.

But again, all considered, if you can find a similar price in RA, I'd say go for it! (I have not looked at seasonal things - we were in RA in December and Philippines in May - so be sure and check on your timing!)

And please post a trip report here and on Undercurrent when you are done!

 

[astralmind]

Thank you guys, some very valuable info there, much appreciated.

Atlantis got back to be with a quote and some promo offers that do make Puerto Galera quite agressively priced (2nd person pay half!), making it an ineresting option. Biodiversity did get back to me too (impressed by how both were quick to answer) and did throw in a bit of an extra. Down the road, similar situation - prices are very close to one another with the known differences. Based on that, R4 still seems like the most interesting option albeit a more challenging one.

Unfortunately, weather wise, July seems like the most horrible month for many tropical locations (not so surprising after all). This is our unique window of opportunity for 3 weeks off and will most likely be the same of the coming years also. That being said, based on some info I found here: Raja Ampat weather - Budget accommodation in Raja Ampat, Indonesia it seems that things aren't necesseraly horrible in July, it is just riskier. As we'd stick to dive sites that are close by to the "resort" it could be less of an issue. If anyone as experiences on R4 in July please share

As for Komodo, I'll definitely have to research it more. It came up high on my original list but Liveaboard are generally speaking much more expensive than the ground location based option I had reviewed so I somewhat gave up on the thought. 2 weeks on liveaboards might be a bit much too. Any interesting 'ground" based accommodations in Komodo to recommend ?

In terms of what we enjoy diving well... we love diving as it is for the simple pleasure of the dive itself regardless of what's around us (let's face it, we have to or else wouldn't be diving locally in freezing cold water with no life around to see). That being said, we LOVE corals, macro, critters and esp. cephalopods. Of course larger pelagic are awesome too but we wouldn't sacrifice the sight of healthy reefs to see a bunch of sharks so to put it.

 

[astralmind]

So after further research, R4 still seems very doable in July albeit not ideal. I've looked for alternative but it still seems like Biodiversity lodges are the cheapest place besides Stay at Home.

I've only found a single "resort" listed as part of Komodo and it was a great deal more expensive. Any other options to suggest ?