Travelling around Indo and diving, too.

[burnerking]

Hi All,

I'm going to be travelling around Indo for 2 months from July. I'm starting in Pulau Wei and then heading East towards Komodo, going up to Banda/Spice Islands and then onto Sulawesi and Borneo.

As my total trip will probably be 6 months with 2 months in Indo, I'm thinking I'll do land dives instead of liveaboards due to the cost - want to make my money last but also dive!! I want to dive at least once in each of the locations.

What are the MUST do dive sites, preferably from land? Komodo is a must, it'll be from land though (I know liveaboard is best). Primarily looking for big pelagic like mantas, sharks etc... but will want to mix it up too.

Also, would I really need to take my 3mm full wetsuit? Due to bulk and weight, is it really necessary in Indo - is it warm enough to dive in shorts and tee? Or just rent will be easier.

I'll be taking my reg, mask, and travel BC (when I buy it).

Cheers

 

[Zippsy]

Rent the wetsuit. Some places you will probably prefer a 5mm. Others, a tee shirt will be fine. It's possible though that some places like Banda may not have rentals.

 

[burnerking]

Just read Elilang's thread too with dive locations.

Hadn't thought about places not having rentals.

 

[Magrone]

As far as i know, July/ August is not a good time to try and dive Banda. As I have been informed there are two windows out of the year that you can dive Banda Sept-Dec then again in march and april. Otherwise the seas are really rough.

 

[Luko]

Maulana divers or Walo walo dive centers in the Banda do provide rentals, fortunately enough since there are only 10kgs allowed on the flights from Ambon.

July-August is really not a good idea to go to Ambon/Banda area. If you are not stranded without diving, you could as well see nothing below since it's what they call white water season, with sometimes 1-2m visibility inside Ambon bay .

 

[Zippsy]

Banda has two dive centers. Oh my God.

 

[Luko]

Banda has two dive centers. Oh my God.

There are even more.
But what do you mean with ?

 

[burnerking]

Cheers for the replies. So Banda isn't looking good.

Shall I ditch the wetsuit then? Maybe get a skin or a fourth element skin which works as a 3mm but very thin (expensive though)

 

[instructorchick]

July/Aug is great for Komodo, blue water in the north with schools of fish and lots of white tips and grey reef sharks, and easily accessible from Labuan Bajo, Flores, but you won't get to the south unfortunately unless you go by liveaboard. But the north is still worth it!
It's also a good time of year to dive Lembeh/Bunaken.
For all of the above destinations, a 3mm would be fine, but if you don't want to carry it with you, all of the areas have good dive operators with plenty of neoprene to rent if you get cold.
Have fun!

 

[Zippsy]

There are even more.
But what do you mean with ?

It's been more than 20 years since I visited. Back then, the island had two "hotels" (attached mandi), one tv, one compressor and 12 tourists. The plane was broken the day we were to leave Ambon so we hitched an overnight ride on a navy boat. Pam Des Alwi himself was our dive and tour guide. I could not have imagined a more remote (and magical) place on earth.