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Agree with everyone's comments on Julian Rocks. I'll add that the town of Byron Bay may be the hippest place on the planet.

If you want LOBs in that area of the world, perhaps add Solomon Islands to your list. There are 2 LOB's out of Honiara. I've done LOBs in both places. Both are excellent. I rate PNG higher but adding Solomon Islands doubles your options.

I have used Expedia several times to book Garuda flights. Seat selections performed during bookings with Expedia always transferred over to Garuda without any problems.

Travel time is highly dependent on time of day. At 5pm, it took over an hour to get to my hotel across from the Mega-Mall. Going back to the airport at 8am took about 20 minutes.

Singapore Air flies to Makassar. Then there are direct options to either Sorong or Ambon. Only catch is the Singapore flight is not everyday. Same is true for Singapore Air to Manado. Then options to Sorong (but no direct flights to Ambon).

I was on the Hungarian-part owned boat (Andromeda) 3 years ago out of Port Sudan in late Oct./ early Nov. The diving was just OK due to the water being too hot for any big stuff (like 30 -31 C hot). Port Sudan visa is expensive but no trouble as the boat handles the details. Your passport is...

I did a deep south tour end of Feb/ early March 2 years ago. Diving was fantastic. But a heads up, there were many many boats diving the area. All were waiting on the incoming tides to dive the channels. I think Kooddoo airport becomes a hub of live aboard operations that time of year. The...

To me, the draw for Maldives is channel diving. If your in the right place (mouth of the channel) at the right time (incoming tides), then there can be amazing shark (mainly Grey's) and big fish action. Usually those dive end with a nice drift to observe the hard corals. There are also...

I've dove Halmahera on several different trips, all on the Tambora. They were a combination of Sorong - Ternate, Ternate - Ternate, and Ternate - Manado. While at Halmahara, most of the diving has been around the south, mostly at or near Bacan with a few dives near Ternate/ Tidore during the...

. And how comfortable are the tenders to put one's gear on. I need to put the gear on from the exact place that I backroll. Thanks, Bill Then you should add into your decision mix rib's versus metal tenders such as this.

One more data point. I did pretty much everything said in Adelaar's post but to the Houston consulate. Included in my cover letter that I was visiting Papua. I received my passport back on the 4th day after sending in my passport. Received a call on day 3 asking if I had been to Papua before...

Actually, I believe arriving/ departing different int'l airports on a free VOA is (mostly) permitted. Manado is not listed as one of the allowed entry airports for a free VOA. Strangely enough, Manado is listed as a departure airport.

The staff, including DM's were all really good. On my trip, 3 of the co-owners were on-board so who knows what that means for normal operations. I believe one of the co-owners is always on-board as the Cruise Director. The trip was Bali to Komodo. We had a few nice dives but in general Komodo...

I was in the same situation a few months back with the other volcano. Fortunately, my plans had me arrive into DPS several days early and depart 1 day after the Komodo LOB trip, otherwise I too would have been terrified. Everything worked out except my flight back from LBJ to DPS was about 6...

I did an early March 2015 trip from Meemu - Thaa - Laamu, return (not on the Carpe Diem). Trip was 14 days. The diving was fantastic with many many Grey Reef Sharks and good fish populations. ~90% of the dives were channel dives on the incoming, ocean side currents. I believe March is the...

I've heard from one boat owner (who isn't chasing after the eclipse) that Raja Ampat will be deserted of boats during that time. That many already have full charters and are heading over to Halmahera area for viewing.

I've stayed at BSDR and KBR, each twice. Both are 1st class operations. Really splitting fine hairs on which is better. -BSDR was less expensive when I last went. -BSDR house reef has fine black sand ideal for octopus. They allowed sole night dives while I was there. -BSDR boats are small...

North Raja Ampat! Many people will say this is the wrong season for Raja and they are correct for the Southern Misool region. Great diving in the North with not too many other boats in the area.