Kusu island Halmahera

[scubaozy]

Hello,
Anyone been to Kusu Islands in Halmahera? I would be hapy if you share your experiences. It looks like there are 2 small resorts in a small island. I hear positive things about Halmahera but it is such a large region, I can't quite imagine how the diving in Kusu island going to be like. If there are better resorts, diving spots available, I would be happy to hear about them as well.

 

[SaltyWombat]

I have not been, but I looked into it after seeing your post. One of those resorts appears to be run by the Swiss, which is a nice sign. The other resort has beautiful videos on bluewaterdivetravel.com.

Undercurrent.org has reviews of resorts near there that are worth reading.

 

[acidrush]

Hello,
Anyone been to Kusu Islands in Halmahera? I would be hapy if you share your experiences. It looks like there are 2 small resorts in a small island. I hear positive things about Halmahera but it is such a large region, I can't quite imagine how the diving in Kusu island going to be like. If there are better resorts, diving spots available, I would be happy to hear about them as well.

I have not been to the resorts, however I have dived the area twice from liveaboards. Great diving however you must be comfortable diving in very strong currents. Furthermore the dive experience of your group is also important with regards to the choice of dive sites by the operator.

 

[scubaozy]

I have not been to the resorts, however I have dived the area twice from liveaboards. Great diving however you must be comfortable diving in very strong currents. Furthermore the dive experience of your group is also important with regards to the choice of dive sites by the operator.

How is diving compare to R4? Is it worth the lengthy travelling or am I better off to travel again to R4? What I like is the abundance of soft corals and fish life, less interested in macro or big fish.

 

[acidrush]

How is diving compare to R4? Is it worth the lengthy travelling or am I better off to travel again to R4? What I like is the abundance of soft corals and fish life, less interested in macro or big fish.

If what you desire is abundance of soft coral. Stick with Raja.

 

[scrane]

How is diving compare to R4? Is it worth the lengthy travelling or am I better off to travel again to R4? What I like is the abundance of soft corals and fish life, less interested in macro or big fish.

Also check out Bangka Island near Manado.

 

[Immeriswas]

Hi, been to Sali bay the resort on the neighbor a few years ago. Below is my report and a link to some picture

Salibay - a new juwel in North Maluku

Our second destination this autum after Kalimaya/Sumbawa was Salibay Resort on Sali Kecil, a small island between Bacan and South Halmahera. Salibay Resort | Salibay Resort - South Halmahera - North Maluku - Indonesia Being the first resort in a sparesly populated area , where only a few...

scubaboard.com

 

[ppina]

New resort on this area - Proco Island Bambu Resort - Halmahera | Best Dive Sites, Scuba Diving & Snorkeling Tour Package in North Maluku

 

[elegant_phyllidia]

Just got back a few weeks ago from a 12 day liveaboard starting from Raja to Misool to Halmehera. Halmahera felt like a very "under the radar" diving destination, we didn't see any other boats on our dive sites. Agree with Acidrush, you have to be comfortable diving strong currents.

The weather was not agreeable during our stay and so many planned dive sites were nixed because conditions were not good.

One dive we had ripping currents and had to abort after 25 minutes but the coral reefs were so beautiful and super healthy (wish we could have explored further). Think this was a one off as cruise director said last year it was calmer (maybe medium currents haha) . Afterwards, on our boat, we could see whirlpools swirling on the surface, we picked up the other group we lost who struggled in the water but didn't fly in the opposite direction like us.

Another day, the alternative plan was to dive the other side and we had to barter with the local village chief in order to dive the area (gave him some litres of fuel). This dive site was akin to Melissa's Garden but with all soft corals, blew us away! Definitely a hidden gem and now a "secret" dive location.

In general, we found the dive sites were great, soft and hard corals, very fishy dives with macro stuff and we saw more sharks than in Raja Ampat.