gajahduduk
Contributor
I will be in Indonesia from 13 Dec 2014 to 27 Dec. I know Indonesia very well and have been all over the country, and speak Indonesian. (I'm American).
However I'm having a devil of a time finding a way to do about 4-5 days of excellent diving without too much mucking (sic) about. Ideally I'd like to fly into CGK on 13th (arr. 18:25) and go straight out somewhere, and be back by around Dec 20. I definitely want to be in town over Christmas, and either way need several days in Jakarta.
Both Banda Aceh and Manado are obvious choices, but don't want to repeat. I've been diving a lot in Northern Sulawesi (Bunaken, Sangir-Talaud, Lembeh). All fabulous diving (yes, Bunaken in 1996, I've heard latest). I've dove in and around Komodo, and in East Timor (both wonderful) also, but prefer not to repeat. I wasn't terribly impressed by diving at Pulau Weh in the 1990s. Though I love Bali, the diving there is not very good.
Imagine Alor is close to diving in East Timor, but would be interested. I'd love to go to Raja Ampat but it seems impossible to do without at least 9-10 days. I tried to get to the Bandas once from Ambon, but that was a nightmare always bad weather for the flight and never made it out of Ambon.
Are there no operators out of Ternate? Why aren't people diving there? It's easy to fly into Ternate.
Just seems hard to get anywhere from Jakarta same day? I would prefer a simple land-based resort but would consider a live aboard.
Anything I'm overlooking here?
However I'm having a devil of a time finding a way to do about 4-5 days of excellent diving without too much mucking (sic) about. Ideally I'd like to fly into CGK on 13th (arr. 18:25) and go straight out somewhere, and be back by around Dec 20. I definitely want to be in town over Christmas, and either way need several days in Jakarta.
Both Banda Aceh and Manado are obvious choices, but don't want to repeat. I've been diving a lot in Northern Sulawesi (Bunaken, Sangir-Talaud, Lembeh). All fabulous diving (yes, Bunaken in 1996, I've heard latest). I've dove in and around Komodo, and in East Timor (both wonderful) also, but prefer not to repeat. I wasn't terribly impressed by diving at Pulau Weh in the 1990s. Though I love Bali, the diving there is not very good.
Imagine Alor is close to diving in East Timor, but would be interested. I'd love to go to Raja Ampat but it seems impossible to do without at least 9-10 days. I tried to get to the Bandas once from Ambon, but that was a nightmare always bad weather for the flight and never made it out of Ambon.
Are there no operators out of Ternate? Why aren't people diving there? It's easy to fly into Ternate.
Just seems hard to get anywhere from Jakarta same day? I would prefer a simple land-based resort but would consider a live aboard.
Anything I'm overlooking here?