Diving Indonesia (Komodo, Wakatobi, Lembeh and Bali)

[Mattias Granberg]

Video from our trip to wonderful Indonesia, home of the largest marine biodiversity in the world.
Hope you enjoy!

[video=youtube;4XhNFnrqTjs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XhNFnrqTjs[/video]

 

[Freewillow]

Nice Video. Would be nice to get some details about material used and maybe places of some images. Well done.

 

[diverjen]

Nice Video, would love to hear your set up and see your written trip report! Where are you at 3:39 ish???

 

[Mattias Granberg]

Thank you! Im using the XA10 from Canon in a Gates housing. I edit the in Sony vegas pro 12. So much to tell We started diving at Tomia island - Wakatobi. Pristine reefs, lots of fish and good visibility sums the week. We dove with Tomia scuba dive - a small dive center driven by local people. I could easy go back dive with them. We then moved on to Lembeh strait for three days diving. Good muck diving with many weerd creatures to see Dove with Divers lodge. We proceeded to flores and Komodo for one weeks liveabord with Grand Komodo - Also driven by local people. I very much recommend them. So on we did the south and north trip and we got to see lots of sharks, mantas and also very good muck diving on the night dives. For last we ended up at Tulamben, Bali for some dives around the liberty wreck. Mostly overcrowded, but the diving were allright in my opinion. 3.39 is recorded on the safetystop at The Zoo - Wakatobi. Hope you got something out from it

 

[EL Pistoffo]

That would be dive trip of a lifetime for me. I would love to do something similar someday but would require I take out a 2nd mortgage I think.

 

[Mattias Granberg]

It was a trip of a lifetime Dont get me wrong, it took me countless hours of working overtime to save for the trip. Luckily Indonesia offer lots of budget options when it comes to diving and travelling. Nice videos by the way!

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I will try to do a similar trip sometime in the future. Both my wife and I dive so a little more expensive. I have family member in airlines that can save me a bundle on airfare.

I was going to try for Bali this year but plans changed. I really want to do Bali, Lembeh and Komodo or Raja Ampat. How long was your trip and what kind of costs are we talking about minus the airfare?

 

[Mattias Granberg]

Sounds like a good choice to do. From Bali they have direct connections to Labuan Bajo and Komodo. You can also fly direct to Manado and go to Lembeh from there. In Tulamben, Bali we just rent tanks and weights and dove by ourselfes in and around the Liberty wreck. They have sand slopes where you can find very good muck diving. We did one weeks liveaboard at Komodo with Grand Komodo and it costed 1300 USD. We did the north and south tour but in my oppinion, the north had better diving. More sharks, mantas and also very good muck diving. If you just going to dive the north you can find far more cheaper alternative. We dove with Divers Lodge in Lembeh for three days and had private boat so the price got kind of high, 600 Euro I think. If you go when its lowseason you probably going on your own boat so thats crazy to pay for (regret now). We spend 5 weeks going around Indonesia and did 65 dives so thats almost the only thing we did If you plan to go to Komodo from Bali i sugest to fly at least one day ahead and not with Garuda airlines (always late and cancelling flights). They have no landing lights at the airport in Labuan Bajo so they are closing the airport around 4. For total we paid around 3500 Euro each (all flights excluded) If you looking for domestic flights in Indonesia look at this site Book Cheap Air Tickets, Flight Ticket Booking, Domestic Flights at Lowest

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Good info Mattias.

When I make this trip I will have 2 weeks at most. Might have to pick either Lembeh or Komodo. I think I'd go Komodo because it more varied type of diving. I love muck but would pick Komodo above all. I would also spend some time in Bali. I'd like to see the sights there plus do a little diving around the island too. Tulamben and the mantas of Nusa Penida top that list.

 

[Joelage]

I just returned from there not too long ago - (Komodo) - I would recommend NOT taking Lion Air/Wings Air/Batik Air (they are the same) - They also had a number of cancelled/delayed flights (they are also Blacklisted from flying in the EU)

Perhaps if Garuda is no good either, at the very least, have a plan, should the plane not arrive on the day intended.... nothing worse than missing the departure of a live-aboard.