Advice on Komodo please (or other destination for Xmas)

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I prefer to go to Komodo in August than in December. I saw more mantas at Manta Alley (south Komodo) in August than in Taka Makassar (central Komodo) in December/January. In fact we had no luck of seeing any manta in Taka Makassar in August.

The temperatures in the southern Komodo is colder in August than in December, due to it is winter time in Australia. The Indian Ocean currents bring cold streams to southern Komodo. Check Indonesian Throughflow - Wikipedia

Here are some temperature data at the same dive locations in Dec/Jan versus that of in Aug.

Shotgun, 80F in Dec 2012, 81F in Aug 2014
Gililawa, 82F in Dec 2012, 82F in Aug 2014
Yellow Wall, 82F in Jan 2013, 78F in Aug 2014
Cannibal Rock, 82F in Jan 2013, 76F in Aug 2014
Torpedo Rock, 81F in Jan 2013, 75F in Aug 2014
Pink Beach, 81F in Jan 2013, 77F in Aug 2014
Batu Bolong, 80F in Jan 2013, 80F in Aug 2014
Taka Makassar, 81F in Jan 2013, 82F in Aug 2014
Tatawa, 82F in Jan 2013, 82F in Aug 2014
Wanilu, 80F in Jan 2013, 80F in Aug 2014

You can see in the central & northern Komodo the temperatures are about the same, but they drop by 4-6F when you are in the south Komodo. So if you want to go to Komodo in Aug, bring your 5mm full wetsuit with hood.
 
I personally would never book a trip on an Aggressor boat ... that said and as said for December I would dive elsewhere.
 
I personally would never book a trip on an Aggressor boat ... that said and as said for December I would dive elsewhere.

Any reason why you don’t like Aggressor liveaboards?

I’ve been on 2 of them, Maldives Aggressor II, Maldives 9 - 16 December 2018 TripReport and Palau Aggressor II, December 24-31, 2017 Palau Trip Report and both trips were great December trips. In fact I have 3rd December trip in 2 months on Read Sea Aggressor II. It’s interesting that I kept getting on Aggressor II liveaboards on December 3 years in the row.
 
I was just in Komodo for the second time from mid Oct to late Oct and wanted to chime in on temps as there were references to August temps and I wanted to offer a contrasting bit of info. Oct sees many liveaboards transitioning to Raja Ampat so it’s going into low season and Oct is a little closer to Dec for comparison. We hit north, central, and south. South saw temps ranging from 67-74F. North and central, as expected, was 78-82F. Dec should be warmer in the South.

With that said, while many of us froze our butts off, we had at least 15 mantas, some so close I could barely get my camera rig up to take photos (that we could count given visibility) with us in the channel at Manta Alley when we were hooked in. My friends that were further away could count some I couldn’t see. In any case, it was epic. They were stationary with us for the rest of the dive in the ripping current. It was incredible.
 
I do not like their inability to make things right when things go wrong. Which is how a company should be measured.

Are you referencing how the Sudan Aggressor free trip fiasco was handled?

My understanding is not all Aggressors are “equal” in that they are franchises. With that said, I agree with you by and large but also think that was a unique situation. Perhaps you have had something else happen?

With that said, I’ve been on the Raja Ampat Aggressor and it is a top notch boat and operation. I also strongly suggest booking through credit cards so you can have chargeback capabilities with your credit card company when services are not rendered as advertised. In addition, you can get some trip interruption and cancellation included as a result for charging it on there. That means no wire transfers to avoid credit card fees or surcharges. Also book with an agent to avoid those credit card fees.

I also highly suggest also purchasing trip insurance with a liveaboard rider such as Dive Assure should things go wrong that the op may not be responsible for.
 
Are you referencing how the Sudan Aggressor free trip fiasco was handled?

My understanding is not all Aggressors are “equal” in that they are franchises. With that said, I agree with you by and large but also think that was a unique situation. Perhaps you have had something else happen?

No, in general. And while true not all operations are equal they are all under the same booking agent. And IMHO therein lies the problem. But this discussion is a digression from the OP's questions. For the OP Komdo is more for the "summer" months look at Raj Ampat for the "winter" months.
 
I was just in Komodo for the second time from mid Oct to late Oct and wanted to chime in on temps as there were references to August temps and I wanted to offer a contrasting bit of info. Oct sees many liveaboards transitioning to Raja Ampat so it’s going into low season and Oct is a little closer to Dec for comparison. We hit north, central, and south. South saw temps ranging from 67-74F. North and central, as expected, was 78-82F. Dec should be warmer in the South.

With that said, while many of us froze our butts off, we had at least 15 mantas, some so close I could barely get my camera rig up to take photos (that we could count given visibility) with us in the channel at Manta Alley when we were hooked in. My friends that were further away could count some I couldn’t see. In any case, it was epic. They were stationary with us for the rest of the dive in the ripping current. It was incredible.

The manta experience sounds so thrilling! I could see/feel it in my mind's eye.

But the south, brrrrrrrrr . .
 
Are you referencing how the Sudan Aggressor free trip fiasco was handled?

My understanding is not all Aggressors are “equal” in that they are franchises. With that said, I agree with you by and large but also think that was a unique situation. Perhaps you have had something else happen?

With that said, I’ve been on the Raja Ampat Aggressor and it is a top notch boat and operation. I also strongly suggest booking through credit cards so you can have chargeback capabilities with your credit card company when services are not rendered as advertised. In addition, you can get some trip interruption and cancellation included as a result for charging it on there. That means no wire transfers to avoid credit card fees or surcharges. Also book with an agent to avoid those credit card fees.

I also highly suggest also purchasing trip insurance with a liveaboard rider such as Dive Assure should things go wrong that the op may not be responsible for.

What happened to Sudan Aggressor? I tried Google but most results are commercials for making reservations.

And yes, I also had a the pleasure diving with Raja Ampat Aggressor, and the crew went above and beyond to help me out when I had unexpected issues.

Thank you for the intel on temperature, very helpful x
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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