Fiji V Raja Ampat

[hutchinson12]

Hi Siren,
What I meant by this is that I treat it as a reply from a Liveaboard fleet rather then an individual diver such as myself. I usually post threads to get dive destination recommendations and also experiences from divers who have been on different Liveaboards as a customer. Having said that, your information and comparisons were a great help to me.....this is exactly what I was looking for and I am very grateful for your reply. I had been in touch with Siren directly about the Fiji trip and I have to say that the communication I received was fantastic!!, I was very very impressed ;-)

---------- Post added May 7th, 2014 at 02:51 PM ----------

You've dove many great places. What's your opinion on those places ? What did you like/dislike ?

I've put below the places I have dove with likes/dislikes on my experiences

* Philippines - Moalboal - great diving especially around pescador Island. Huge school of sardines, beautiful wall. Chance of seeing Thresher sharks and Whale sharks but I didn't see these on this trip. Just a short weekend trip which was perfect. The place itself was quiet with a few dive resorts to choose from.
- Malapascua Island- Went here to see the thresher sharks. Very early start (around 5am) but saw quite a few which was great. Also great night dive. Lots of Mandarin fish doing there dance and other critters such as crabs, octopus and seahorses. Other then the Thresher sharks and night dive which are the highlights for Malapascua I found the other diving average. Beautiful part of the Philippines with plenty of dive resorts and a few nice restaurants.
- Borocay - Beautiful place with white beaches and the clearest water I have ever seen but it has become very commercial. I found the diving quite poor, I enjoyed the snorkelling more! could of been the time of year but the visibility wasn't great and just not much to see. I would only go here if you want to party
- Puerto Galera - Fantastic diving. I didn't have a bad dive. Lots of muck diving around the resorts with lots of interesting critters. Had a day diving at Verdi island which was amazing. Such a beautiful colourful reef. Any diver who goes here should definitely try and get to Verdi Island and other surrounding islands. The place itself has lots of dive resorts. We stayed with Atlantis who were great. The nightlife is quite seedy but it has many restaurants/bars.
- Cebu - Not great diving. Went mainly for the Whale shark snorkelling at Oslob but did a couple of dives. Wouldn't go back.

I know people who have done the philippines Siren liveaboard and they highly recommended this

* Komodo - Went with the Mermaid Liveaboard. Loved this trip so much that we are repeating it this in August. Lots of strong currents and drift diving , great Manta action. Good mix of pelagic and critters. Manta Rays, Eagle rays, pygmie, seahorses, sharks, lots of macro. Spent an afternoon on land seeing the Komodo dragons. The topography was very beautiful

* Maldives - Went with Carpe Vita Liveaboard. I didn't know what to expect for this trip but I was blown away with the diving. The diversity was great. Saw Whale sharks, lots of Manta rays, some beautiful reefs, sharks, some great night dives with shark action. We had great visibility. I would go back but would try a different Liveaboard. The boat itself was fantastic, I felt the staff were lacking when I compare it to the other Liveaboards I have been on.

* Palau - Went with the Aggressor. Amazing diving. Lots of shark action and plenty of them! lots of hook in diving in the strong currents. Visibility was good but some dives not great. Saw lots of Mantas and the famous friendly Wrasse. Some of the famous sights got busy but Aggressor did a good job at avoiding this. Visited Chandelier cave which was great and also the Jellyfish lake which I loved....so magical. I would definitely go back but would add Yap to the trip as I have heard great things.

* Galapagos - Went with the Aggressor. Loved this trip....The land and the diving. Saw huge schools of Hammerheads (200+) and close up. Lots of Manta Rays, Huge schools of Mobula rays (200+) Eagle rays etc. No reef diving...it was all about the big stuff at Wolf & Darwin. I would of loved longer at both of these places (only had a day at each...I believe there are restrictions) The diving at the other places on the trip was average with some very bad visibility. Saw the Marine iguanas which was a highlight and also dolphins, sea lions & penguins. Very Cold!! If I went back I would try a different Liveaboard. They were good but they didn't seem very organised.

* Fiji & Tonga - Started in Tonga for the Humpback Migration. We spent 3 days snorkelling with the Humpback Whales and calves which was breathtaking. we did 2 dives which were average. Not too much to see but we did hear the humpback whales singing whilst on a dive. If you are lucky you can sometimes see them. I heard they had recently discovered a place where they had regular Manta sightings but we didn't go there. Went on to Fiji to Taveuni. This was so beautiful....so colourful...hence called the rainbow reef. The Great White Wall was stunning. Only had a few days but this has inspired us to try the Fiji Liveaboard. Went to Pacific Harbour to do the Shark feeding dive. Tried both companies that offer this. One was much better than the other. Not sure how I feel about the whole shark feeding thing but I'm glad I did it. Lots of Bulls, Nurse, Black tips and a Tiger! Wouldn't need to do it again.

* Sipadan - Been to Sipadan twice. Stayed at Kapalai and Seaventures Oil Rig. Kapalai was very luxurious, great dive operation and amazing rooms to relax in between diving. We was lucky and got 3 days at Sipadan. The diving is great...big schools of Barracuda, Jacks, Bumphead Parrotfish, sharks and 100's of turtles. Also some great muck diving around Mabul! Seaventures is a good option if you are on a budget and just want to dive. The accommodation was basic, the dive operation wasn't quite as good as Kapalai. There were pro's and cons with both. Good to link the trip with a land trip to see the Orangutan's.

Great Barrier Reef - Went with Mike Ball Liveaboard. Probably the best liveaboard I have been on. The service was amazing. They gave each diver lots of attention and made sure you had a great trip in all aspects. The diving was great, especially for beginners. Lots of nice reefs and good night dives. Probably wouldn't go back but I wish Mike Ball would expand his liveaboard fleet to Asia.

Similans - Went with the White Manta Liveaboard - 5 day trip. Good trip but was a little disappointed. I know they suffered from coral bleaching so I guess this has had big effects on the fish/reef life. Richelieu Rock was our best dive...very beautiful. Also a couple of good wrecks. The Liveaboard was great and the staff were extremely friendly. I have heard great reports this year from the White Manta about the Similans.... lots of Manta and Whale shark action. I would repeat this trip

Layang Layang - Went with the White Manta. Great Liveaboard but average diving. We went here to try and see the hammerheads. Saw a couple but not very close. The reef was good but it was very repetitive diving. Wouldn't go back.

 

[Shasta_man]

FWIW, my observation of posts from the Siren Fleet has been usually responses to direct questions about them and just "yes, we have a boat" comments. They don't push the boat too much and do provide actual knowledge about the place rather than just what the brochure says. I don't like travel agent responses here with "here's a link to what turns out to just be a list of boats I could sell you but I haven't got any first hand knowledge about" posts because I can easily get the brochure, but I'm trying to understand the reality of the place or operation. Since they want to sell you SOMETHING, it's difficult to get a real objective opinion due to risking losing a sale.

I did Fiji on the Nai'a and enjoyed it very much. There were a couple of dives that weren't that spectacular but after a few days of talking with the cruise directors at that time, it came out that they try to always go somewhere new because the response they get from customers is "wow, that was an incredible dive! However, what do you mean we are diving the same place again?!" So we did a few dives that weren't so colorful but maybe a hammerhead showed up. It was also more open ocean type diving with bigger swells, between the two big Fijian islands, than the diving in RA where it was usually calmer. Night dives weren't so good in Fiji either as we had pretty good current at a few spots and mixing that with big swells to come back up in the dark isn't so fun. I had some awesome night dives in Komodo and RA.

 

[AlMitch]

What a great overview of all the places you've been to. Thanks for that. Always very interesting to read direct comparisons between places.

 

[ronscuba]

Thanks Hutchinson12.

Very rare to read a well written overview and comparison of many of the top dive destinations by someone who has dove all there. I'm going to bookmark your post for future reference.

 

[Acetechnology]

If you are looking for recommendations of other liveaboard destinations, I just returned from Ocean Hunter III in Palau and some people were returning for their 4th time. One diver said they saw more in one day than in any of their other 300 dives. Palau GH2 on Vimeo check out this video for an idea.

 

[HowDidIGetIntoThis?]

Since you've done Palau (and many other great places), I think you may find Yap to be a bit of a let-down. It was nice but, having done Chuuk, Palau, and Yap in one trip (Palau and Yap being land-based), I'd give the top marks to Palau.