Misool Eco Resort October 2017 trip report

[mostlyirish]

CERT 1967 - Thanks for the great details.

 

[mostlyirish]

Bill, you raise an excellent point. In fact, our boat ride was fine (less than 3 1/2 hours both ways, and very smooth), but I can imagine it is possible to experience a longer and rougher ride than we had, and this would be a definite negative. In years past, the boat they used was slower, and the ride had been as long as 5 hours, which is why we had not been to Misool previously. I think that they have made things as fast as possible, but I agree that the boat ride can be an issue for some.

Erwin,
We are in the final planning stages to book a 12 night stay at Misool in Feb. I understand you used an "Ultimate Dive Travel" agent to facilitate the trip. Are they based out of Vero Beach, FL www.ultimatedivetravel.com/‎ ? Did they do all the booking including the Misool ECO Resort booking or did you do some of the booking on your own. So far we have been in contact with the resort to determine availability and choose a time frame and our preference for a particular Villa. Thanks again for your great review and information.

Pat Lynch

 

[Erwin Poliakoff]

Hi Pat,

Yes, I have used Ultimate Dive Travel as my dive travel agent for many years, and I am a loyal customer. I understand the alternative viewpoint of doing things a la carte, but I have always been more comfortable using a travel agent, particularly when booking trips to remote locations in Asia. They really do know the finer details of the trip, which is particular important to me, as my wife has MS, and that makes some of these details important. For example, Ultimate Dive Travel emphasized to me the importance of not doing the red-eye from Jakarta to Sorong, which was excellent advice for us. I do not want to turn this response into an advertisement, but feel free to message me if you want any details.

Erwin

 

[freedc]

Thank you Erwin for this post. I am drooling over your pictures and studying all the information. How would you compare the reef diving at Misool to other reef dives you've done in S. Pacific (assuming you've dived a lot there)? For time and cost reasons I do most of my diving in quarries and the Caribbean but thinking if I make one big, long, expensive trip, should this be it.

 

[Erwin Poliakoff]

Thank you Erwin for this post. I am drooling over your pictures and studying all the information. How would you compare the reef diving at Misool to other reef dives you've done in S. Pacific (assuming you've dived a lot there)? For time and cost reasons I do most of my diving in quarries and the Caribbean but thinking if I make one big, long, expensive trip, should this be it.

Thanks for you kind remarks. I loved the diving at Misool, as my report indicates.To answer your question, I would rate the diving at Misool as superior to Wakatobi (which I mention because it is a similar resort), and probably the best that I have ever done. I think that a lot of diving in the Philippines is underrated and is nearly as good as Misool (I have dived in Moalboal and Bohol, specifically). However, I am hesitant to travel to the Philippines currently because of the political instability there. The only dive options that are better than misool in my experience are liveaboards in Raja Ampat, as they dive the area around Misool, and get more variety by visiting several excellent northern Raja Ampat dive sites, too. If you are considering a Misool trip, it is also important to choose the right time to visit Misool, which I should emphasize. The visibility was mediocre during our October visit compared to our liveaboard trips in this area in the February/March time frame. I actually booked us for another trip for 2018, and am looking at dates when the visibility has been better, historically. I hope that this information helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.
- Erwin

 

[billt4sf]

Would love to know if anyone else has seen differences in viz at Misool based on season?

- Bill

 

[mostlyirish]

Hi Pat,

Yes, I have used Ultimate Dive Travel as my dive travel agent for many years, and I am a loyal customer. I understand the alternative viewpoint of doing things a la carte, but I have always been more comfortable using a travel agent, particularly when booking trips to remote locations in Asia. They really do know the finer details of the trip, which is particular important to me, as my wife has MS, and that makes some of these details important. For example, Ultimate Dive Travel emphasized to me the importance of not doing the red-eye from Jakarta to Sorong, which was excellent advice for us. I do not want to turn this response into an advertisement, but feel free to message me if you want any details.

Erwin

Just finished discussing our trip with Karen at Ultimate Dive Travel. I let them know you recommended them. They are going to finish our arrangements for our trip to Misool Eco Resort and flights. We are booking Date 7 the 12 night stay in Feb. We are taking the advice to spend a night in Sorong prior to heading to the resort. Thanks again for taking the time to provide such valuable input.
Pat

 

[Erwin Poliakoff]

Just finished discussing our trip with Karen at Ultimate Dive Travel. I let them know you recommended them. They are going to finish our arrangements for our trip to Misool Eco Resort and flights. We are booking Date 7 the 12 night stay in Feb. We are taking the advice to spend a night in Sorong prior to heading to the resort. Thanks again for taking the time to provide such valuable input.
Pat

Wow! Good for you. I am going to be at Misool again with my wife for the Date 6 trip just before you. It is a 9 night trip, and we are going to Ambon first for 5 days of muck diving. I hope that you like Misool as much as we did. Let me know how it goes.

 

[RB7]

fyi .. for those of you considering Srijiwaya/NAM airlines, they both offer a 10kg extra allowance for "dive gear" .. I recently did a liveaboard trip that ended in Sorong and I flew NAm/Srijiwaya from Sorong to Jakarta and got the extra allowance without any issues.

 

[Deinonych]

Thank you for posting this, Erwin. My wife and I have Misool on our bucket list, and this confirms that we need to go there! Great pictures.