Land based diving: Komdo or Raja Ampat? Which makes more sense?

[qwimjim]

I know everyone recommends LOB for these two locations but because we are travelling with kids (and grandparents) this is not possible. But from what I can tell it's still possible to get to many (just not all) of the best sites even doing land based diving, just with long days on the boat. So the diving will still be amazing, just less of it if land based? If so, I'm ok with that. If I'm mistaken please let me know. I've done a fair amount of research so if someone who knows the area well could go over my post to let me know what I got right, what I got wrong, what I overlooked it would be greatly appreciated! It's a long post so I will post the conclusion first, and those that are interested can read the details below the dotted line

The big question: It seems like Komodo makes the most sense from a land based perspective as far as costs are concerned, least expensive Komodo option for my wife and I and grand parents: €1500 for all of us for one week, accommodations and diving, meals not included. Least expensive option for Raja Ampat: €5000 for the 4 of us at Kri Eco for one week, which apparently is the cheapest resort/land based option. That's a pretty significant difference, especially considering there might be more to do for the grandparents/kids in Lubuan Bajo with a pool and town to explore in addition to the beach. It is also the cheaper option by a very wide margin, so ultimately how does the diving compare between Komodo and Raja Ampat? Are they both equally amazing? Does it make sense to pay three times more for a week in Raja Ampat?


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From what I can tell for Raja Ampat you have to stay in a resort, there is no town with budget accommodations like Lubuan Bajo. And that the least expensive resort is Kri Eco which is €1519-1911 for a week of diving per person. Is this the least expensive option? How far are the best dive sites from this resort (in terms of hours)? Prime season would be October to April? What land based activities would there be?

Second option is Komodo. We can stay in Lubuan Bajo at somewhere like Luwansa Beach Hotel which has a beach and pool and big rooms, is 5 minutes from town, restaurants, etc.. all of which would be good for kids and grandparents while we are out diving all day. €35/night per room. And local dive ops work out to be about €55/euro per day if you book at least 5 days of diving. So a week of accommodation/diving would €507 per person plus dinners which I'm assuming are probably pretty cheap in Lubuan Bajo. From what I can tell all the dive ops go to the best sites in the north: Castle Rock, Manta Point, Tatawa Besar, Batu Bolong. It's just a matter of long days, leaving at 7:30AM and getting back around 5-7pm. Plus we can check out the komodo dragons on Rinca.

There's also the Komodo Resort and Dive Center on Sebayur which would cut daily transit times to dive sites by an hour each way, looks like a beautiful setting, secluded island paradise, but not sure this would be as practical for kids and grandparents? Cost is also significantly more at €1200 for a week of diving per person. As far as grandparents are concerned staying in Lubuan Bajo is also by far the cheapest option because the grandparents would be paying €35/night for accommodation for a double room plus cost of meals instead of €130+ per person at one of the resorts. €245/week + meals for the two of them vs €1820/week.

Would it also make sense to spend some time in Bali? The diving off Nusa Penida/Nusa Lembongan seems to be highly regarded as well, chance to see Mola Mola's.. there's Manta Point, Blue Corner, etc.. and the USS Liberty wreck. Or should we skip Bali in favour of spending more time diving Komodo or Raja Ampat? It seems like the Mola Mola season lines up well with the ideal season for diving Komodo North (which is where all the land based dive ops go right?) So something like September or October would be a good time if going to both places?

 

[Immeriswas]

Have not been to Komodo. So there is no comparisson about the diving possible, but there is more fancy and in the same pricerange Resort opposite Kri on Gam : Papua Explorer. Just have a look at their Homepage and into my report in this forum. They offering some excursions beside diving as well.

 

[qwimjim]

Have not been to Komodo. So there is no comparisson about the diving possible, but there is more fancy and in the same pricerange Resort opposite Kri on Gam : Papua Explorer. Just have a look at their Homepage and into my report in this forum. They offering some excursions beside diving as well.

Thanks, is there an even less expensive way to dive Raja Ampat?

 

[Immeriswas]

Thanks, is there an even less expensive way to dive Raja Ampat?

Yes! there are some so called "homestays", which are more basic concerned food and accomodation, but their locations near Dampier Strait are the same. So you dive at the the same great spots.
One of the more higher up standard homestays, which got already very good recomandations on the german " Taucher Net " forum is the Raja Ampat Biodiversity Eco Resort - http://rajaampatbiodiversity.com/ .
The main advantage there is the beach, especially if you travelling with kids, whereas in Kri and at Papua Explorers the bungis are more or less directly over the reef top - not so good for bathing.
Hope that info helps.

 

[matts1w]

Just to put this out here...how old are your parents? Are they pretty seasoned travelers? Healthy? Whenever my 72 year old parents come to visit in Jakarta and we travel to Bali, it is pretty hard on them. My friends all have the same issues with their parents. We think the water, air, food, etc... is really tough on older people. About 2 years ago we all went to Gili T for a week, stayed in a sweet private villa, and were very careful about food and hygiene. They did great, but it was still a bit like being in the Death Zone on top of Mt. Everest. Every day their health got a little bit worse and I really felt we were at their limit.. The point is both Labuan Bajo and certainly R4 are at the end of the Earth. I would not dream of bringing my parents to either place.

If health concerns are not issue...I would absolutely steer you to Flores. I love R4 and highly recommend Kri, but it is very, very basic and there aint much to do besides dive. I would think non divers would go nuts after three days. Labuan Bajo has improved much in the last the few years, but understand it is still a small, dirty Indonesian fishing town on the edge of nowhere. There are more and more restaurants that cater to tourism every year, but really it serves as a jumping off point to tourists (Mostly backpackers) coming to dive, see the dragons, or travel across Flores. I have stayed at the Luwansa, and it is pretty nice. The beach out front is good to explore at low tide and the pool is great. It is absolutely a good choice. Just realize most people spend a night or two in Labuan Bajo, then move on.

What about leaving the kids with the grandparents in Bali while you run to Flores and do a 3 liveaboard through north Komodo? That would certainly keep costs down, keep everyone happy, and then you could dive great areas around Bali in the meantime. The expat high school kids I teach in Jakarta call Sanur, Bali the place of the "newly wed and the nearly dead" and "snore." They simply mean young couples like it as the kids can play in the water at the beach as the waves are small and lots of people retire there. I like Sanur far more than the party side of Bali (Kuta, Legian, etc...)..Anyway, I hope it helps with some ideas.

 

[qwimjim]

Just to put this out here...how old are your parents? Are they pretty seasoned travelers? Healthy? Whenever my 72 year old parents come to visit in Jakarta and we travel to Bali, it is pretty hard on them. My friends all have the same issues with their parents. We think the water, air, food, etc... is really tough on older people. About 2 years ago we all went to Gili T for a week, stayed in a sweet private villa, and were very careful about food and hygiene. They did great, but it was still a bit like being in the Death Zone on top of Mt. Everest. Every day their health got a little bit worse and I really felt we were at their limit.. The point is both Labuan Bajo and certainly R4 are at the end of the Earth. I would not dream of bringing my parents to either place.

If health concerns are not issue...I would absolutely steer you to Flores. I love R4 and highly recommend Kri, but it is very, very basic and there aint much to do besides dive. I would think non divers would go nuts after three days. Labuan Bajo has improved much in the last the few years, but understand it is still a small, dirty Indonesian fishing town on the edge of nowhere. There are more and more restaurants that cater to tourism every year, but really it serves as a jumping off point to tourists (Mostly backpackers) coming to dive, see the dragons, or travel across Flores. I have stayed at the Luwansa, and it is pretty nice. The beach out front is good to explore at low tide and the pool is great. It is absolutely a good choice. Just realize most people spend a night or two in Labuan Bajo, then move on.

What about leaving the kids with the grandparents in Bali while you run to Flores and do a 3 liveaboard through north Komodo? That would certainly keep costs down, keep everyone happy, and then you could dive great areas around Bali in the meantime. The expat high school kids I teach in Jakarta call Sanur, Bali the place of the "newly wed and the nearly dead" and "snore." They simply mean young couples like it as the kids can play in the water at the beach as the waves are small and lots of people retire there. I like Sanur far more than the party side of Bali (Kuta, Legian, etc...)..Anyway, I hope it helps with some ideas.

Thanks I really appreciate all that, grandparents are in their late 60's. Last couple of years we've traveled to Mexico with them and Turkey, no problems. But Indonesia is probably a different ballgame. We're fairly well traveled ourselves (africa, middle east, southeast asia, south america, etc) so I have an idea of what Indonesia will be like.. it never occurred to me that the food might be a problem. I just assume if they have a comfy bed, nice pool and nice beach they can play with the kids during the day and relax and read when we're back. I wouldn't leave them with the kids in Bali while take off on a liveaboard, we definitely want to come back to kids every day.

Another poster above mentioned homestays for R4, do you know much about those or where they're situated? Do you just rent out a home and then pay one of the nearby resorts to take you out diving? Would that be a lot cheaper than Kri?

Another option would just be leaving the kids at home with parents and just doing a two week trip on our own when the kids are a little older. But I think despite it not being an ideal trip for the grandparents, they'd still have a good time and see something interesting even if a lot of it is spent babysitting by the pool/beach?

 

[mikeycanuk]

Look at this site

Accommodation in Raja Ampat homestays - what to expect

Way too rustic for us but would be curious to hear how others have made out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[drrich2]

Whenever my 72 year old parents come to visit in Jakarta and we travel to Bali, it is pretty hard on them. My friends all have the same issues with their parents. We think the water, air, food, etc... is really tough on older people. About 2 years ago we all went to Gili T for a week, stayed in a sweet private villa, and were very careful about food and hygiene. They did great, but it was still a bit like being in the Death Zone on top of Mt. Everest. Every day their health got a little bit worse and I really felt we were at their limit.

You've got me curious. I wonder what the mechanism involved is? I'd like to hear your thoughts on how much the debilitation of the trip has to do with...

1.) The general physical & psychological stress of travel, particularly long flight times, running around multiple airports etc...?

2.) Foreign food they don't like & won't eat much of?

3.) Spicy foreign food that upsets their stomachs, causes diarrhea, etc...?

4.) General physical & psychological stress of being in a strange place, with strange customs & ways of doing things, etc...? (I hear in some parts of the world people crap in a hole in the floor. I don't think I want to go somewhere I have to crap in a hole in the floor).

5.) Something else?

Richard.

 

[matts1w]

You've got me curious. I wonder what the mechanism involved is? I'd like to hear your thoughts on how much the debilitation of the trip has to do with...

1.) The general physical & psychological stress of travel, particularly long flight times, running around multiple airports etc...?

2.) Foreign food they don't like & won't eat much of?

3.) Spicy foreign food that upsets their stomachs, causes diarrhea, etc...?

4.) General physical & psychological stress of being in a strange place, with strange customs & ways of doing things, etc...? (I hear in some parts of the world people crap in a hole in the floor. I don't think I want to go somewhere I have to crap in a hole in the floor).

5.) Something else?

Richard.

All of those things...and the water. I think one of the dirtiest things I handle are 1000 and 2000 rupiah notes. Maybe eating some fruit that was improperly washed. So many things can get you here. Almost everyone I know has spent more than a few week choking down flagyl treatments. Who knows? When I moved to Jakarta I don't think I had thrown up since college...at least ten years. I think a year later I had thrown up on at least ten different occasions. It really took almost two years to adjust to where I am pretty confident (Not too confident) eating anywhere.

 

[qwimjim]

So back to the original topic, with Komodo costing a little as €500 for a week of diving and a comfortable room in a hotel with a beach and pool, leaving us only to pay for our dinners since the hotel provides breakfast and the dive op provides lunch.. that seems very inexpensive. It seems like a no brainer to me especially considering we can coordinate the trip with the Mola Mola season in Bali.

But out of curiosity, in Raja Ampat there doesn't seem to be anything less expensive than Kri Eco Resort which costs €1519 for one week of diving if you take the most basic bungalow. Still 3 times the cost of Komodo, albeit without the 2-3 hour boat rides everyday. Someone mentioned Raja Ampat Biodiversity but their price list isn't working on their site and I'm waiting to hear back from them, does anyone know if they are less expensive than Kri? Or of any other resorts that might be?

And regarding homestays which definitely look rustic, how does one go diving if staying in a homestay? Do you just use a nearby resort as your dive op and they come pick you up? We definitely need to dive with a reputable, well equipped, well experienced dive op. I can cut corners on accommodations but not on dive boat and dive master.