Going back to Indo in December 2015 - But were....after Raja Ampat??

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SpeckledGrouper

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We did Raja Ampat, Menjangan and Tulamben in December of 2013. Just came back last week from Fiji, Kiribati and Marshall Islands....
And already time to make new plans :) I had my mind set on Wakatobi, but there were some not so favorable reviews just lately and it's also incredibly expensive. We are not the Liveaboard kind and unfortunately cannot live without Internet. So I am looking at Komodo Dive Resort (maybe 5 to 7 days) and also Bunaken, Bangka Island and Lembeh (for 7 to 9 days).
Is there something else I should look at? any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
 
+1 on Bunaken/Gangka/Lembeh, I am planning on this combination for some point in 2015.
 
I thought Komodo Dive Resort was great. My wife, who is not such a gung-ho a diver also loved it for its beauty and amenities and great snorkeling. I would classify it on my scale as pretty expensive but worth it, at least with wife in tow. I am not usually a luxury traveler but I have to admit the service, food and ambiance was pretty addicting at Komodo Dive Resort. Great, great food. They had an amazing Italian Chef there. Very different Italian style food than what we get in the USA and absolutely delicious. Very good staff and DMs. Great side trips for the dragons, fruit bats, isolated islands, sea eagles etc. Make sure you establish good clear e-mail communications regarding all expectations/needs/issues and desires. English is not #1 language, as it's mainly run by Italians but they do pretty well. English is spoken by practically everyone and there were Aussies and Kiwis there too. FYI, the free shuttle boat to the island from Labuanbajo runs at certain times only so you must plan that in your travels or pay for a boat rental.

Best diving I have ever done. Currents are quite significant and occasionally the water was a bit cool. Tremendous variety of life and very healthy corals. Manta Alley and Batu Balong stand out in my memory but it was all good. A few sharks but many many close up mantas and turtles. Great snorkeling right at the resort. Beautiful, isolated place with an international and extremely friendly group of divers. We did Komodo as part of a Singapore-Bali-Komodo trip and loved each part with the only regret not giving each part a couple more days, esp Komodo. European oriented so they deal in BAR etc but that was no problem. Their rental gear, which I did not use, appeared brand new. I would go back in a second.
 
Hmmh... december maybe tricky.
Lembeh maybe OK but I wouldn't do Bunaken neither Bangka in december, should be raining, sometimes the Bangka strait gets windy and wavy, not ideal for shallow diving spots.
Similar goes for northern sites of Komodo, I think beginning of December is the end of the season, January and February are the worst months so if you plan a stay end of december that might be risky.
In indonesia, Ambon and surroundings (Lease islands : Molana, Saparua.. check out Cape Paperu) would be good

Are you stuck with Indonesia? I rather go to the Phils at this time of the year, Sipadan in Malaysia is also an option, it's diveable year round.
 
We went to Indonesia last year in December. Apart from Raja Ampat , the weather was mostly terrible....it got worse as the month went on. The islands don't have the infrastructure to cope with loads of rain and now the many vehicles. The Philippines should be a lot better. Having said that friends of ours were in Komodo Dive Resort this year in December and it was fantastic.
 
My trip to Komodo was in September fwiw...good then.
 
We just came back from a longer trip to Ambon, Banda and Ra at the end. We had about four days of rainy weather ( one to two hours of downpour a day ) during 7 weeks , so that area seams ok weatherwise for Nov/Dez .
In Laha , Ambon we stayed at Patra homestay and dived with bluemotion - pretty relaxed crew there. A lot of critter especially in the twighlight - or as I called it - "toilet "zone . The amount of garbage is not too nice in the first moment, but after a few dives you get used to it.
In Bandaneira Molana hotel was a great choice and the diving with Bluemotion again was great. Amazing wall diving with huge barrel sponges and gorgonias and colourfull reefs. Not too much amount of fish, but some hammerhead ( our first ! )and turtles as well as jack fish, travellies, napoleons and baracudas. Unexspected a lot of macro, ( Toby the guide, who discovered years ago the ambon frogfish has incredible good eyes !) the night dives direkt in front of the hotel were quite amazing with froggies , nudibranches , mandarin fish, differant eals and the microscopic hairy shrimp ( even smaller than the tiny hairy octopuss we saw some years back in Lembeh ).
Bandaneira and the other Bandas are very unique a well worth to do some landprogram beside the diving. A lot of history !
If you plan for Banda, make sure to fix the rare flights (only three times the week with 16 seats ) well ahead or get a first class cabin on one of the Pelni ships "Kelimutu" or "Tidar". We went third class "Kelimutu" , because the booked Tidar had to see the dry dock. That was quite a 12 hour trip with another 4000 people on board !!.
 
We just came back from a longer trip to Ambon, Banda and Ra at the end. We had about four days of rainy weather ( one to two hours of downpour a day ) during 7 weeks , so that area seams ok weatherwise for Nov/Dez .
...
In Bandaneira Molana hotel was a great choice and the diving with Bluemotion again was great. Amazing wall diving with huge barrel sponges and gorgonias and colourfull reefs. Not too much amount of fish, but some hammerhead ( our first ! )and turtles as well as jack fish, travellies, napoleons and baracudas. Unexspected a lot of macro, ( Toby the guide, who discovered years ago the ambon frogfish has incredible good eyes !) the night dives direkt in front of the hotel were quite amazing with froggies , nudibranches , mandarin fish, differant eals and the microscopic hairy shrimp ( even smaller than the tiny hairy octopuss we saw some years back in Lembeh ).
Bandaneira and the other Bandas are very unique a well worth to do some landprogram beside the diving. A lot of history !
.

Yes for sure, Banda is amazing, it was a good bet in december, but the problem is that flights are running on a very irregular frequency. As almost every year, the Ambon Bandaneira flights stopped end of december, exactly at the time the regional govt contract has to be renegociated. I wouldn't advise going to Banda when you only have a week or even two week vacations, especially in december, the risk for being grounded somewhere anytime is too high.

It's a pity because Banda is beautiful on the landside, one of the last untraveled gems in Indonesia.
 
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. It will definitely be Indonesia as we also have some business to do on Bali. Raja weather December 2013 was not perfect 100% of the time but acceptable, so I figured North Sulawesi would be similar. Murex Diving has some package were they take you to their 3 resorts in Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh, any comments on that? And what about Wakatobi? It's not totally out of my head just yet......
 
I would go back to Murex Bangka and have stayed at Murex Manado and their partner Critters at Lembeh - Bangka can be choppy in december but nothing outrageous just a little more effort some days getting in and out of the boat.
I have not done Wakatobi and after speaking to two of their former DMs the reports are not as glowing as the website, a little overpriced for what you get. The package Murex are offering is good value.
 
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