Recommendations for easy diving in Indonesia

[Walde]

Give us your recommendations for diving in Indonesia.
We have tickets to Singapore and from there we'll continue to some part of Indonesia.
We are traveling at the end of May and we have three weeks to go and explore.
Probably two places would be nice. Also like to explore places above the surface.

Diver 1: 95 dives, 40m, nitrox, doesn't like cold water or currents
Diver 2: 245 dives, 45m, tmx, happy when diver 1 is happy

Diver 1 has done most of her dives in Thailand (Koh Tao, Ko Lanta, Similan, Surin).
Conditions has always been really good and we don't have that much experience on currents.
One dive we did at Similan where we just went along with the current the whole dive and it was nice, but there were no up or down currents and it was easy. Mild current is ok, but there are just too many stories about someone hanging on rocks because of a down current and then crawling to safety. Diver 1 also doesn't enjoy cold at all. We do have 5mm long wetsuits and hoods if necessary.

Which islands, dive sites and operators do you recommend? Original plan was to start from Nusa Penida area, but so far I have heard that the water is somewhere between 18C (64F) and 28C (82F) and diver 1 gets cold easily.
Of course it would be nice to see mantas other big things, but I assume those come along with currents and colder water. We also enjoy seeing a lot of smaller stuff.
Thanks.

 

[Centrals]

Scoot has direct flight to Manado.
Bangka, Bunaken and Lembeh.
And if time is available then a trip to Toraja will be real eye opener to certain distinctive culture.

 

[JonnieB]

Give us your recommendations for diving in Indonesia.
We have tickets to Singapore and from there we'll continue to some part of Indonesia.
We are traveling at the end of May and we have three weeks to go and explore.
Probably two places would be nice. Also like to explore places above the surface.

Diver 1: 95 dives, 40m, nitrox, doesn't like cold water or currents
Diver 2: 245 dives, 45m, tmx, happy when diver 1 is happy

Diver 1 has done most of her dives in Thailand (Koh Tao, Ko Lanta, Similan, Surin).
Conditions has always been really good and we don't have that much experience on currents.
One dive we did at Similan where we just went along with the current the whole dive and it was nice, but there were no up or down currents and it was easy. Mild current is ok, but there are just too many stories about someone hanging on rocks because of a down current and then crawling to safety. Diver 1 also doesn't enjoy cold at all. We do have 5mm long wetsuits and hoods if necessary.

Which islands, dive sites and operators do you recommend? Original plan was to start from Nusa Penida area, but so far I have heard that the water is somewhere between 18C (64F) and 28C (82F) and diver 1 gets cold easily.
Of course it would be nice to see mantas other big things, but I assume those come along with currents and colder water. We also enjoy seeing a lot of smaller stuff.
Thanks.

Amed and/or Tulamben in Bali. Easy diving, with little to no currents most dives. The water is usually warm water (28-30°), and there is coral, wall, wreck, and much diving. The macro is world class diving; other sites offer White Tip reef sharks and turtles (Amed). Everyone's got their favorite resort and dive shop...there's everything from hostels to 4 star resorts. Just work out your budget and pick in that range from Maps or Agoda/Booking.com reviews. I prefer smaller locally owned reports and dive operators. My go to's in Tulamben are Wonder Dive and Utama Villa 2. Wonder is the smaller operation with only two villas. Utama is more luxe but still reasonable. If you want something beachfront, I'd go with Mimpi Resort. In Amed, I dive with Dream Divers and usually stay at Enak Bungalows.

 

[underwater_j]

Nusa Penida has some currents dive especially SD, Pura PED side and sometime Toyapakeh. Temperatures are still alright about 27 - 28C. Water gets colder from July - Sept/Oct where the molas will appear. Other than that a 3mm wetsuit will do just fine.

Between Bali and Nusa Penida, I would dive Penida because the marine life is more abundant and higher chances of seeing more big things. Penida has Manta Point and Crystal Bay which are both very famous dive sites.

Enjoy Indonesia!

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

Sulawesi Strait (Manado, Bunaken, Bangka, Lembeh) seem tailor made to your requirements. Murex offers a package that does all 3 resorts that my dive group really enjoyed. There were only 2 dives out of the ~35 we did that had current: they were both transit dives between resorts, the current was very easy to manage, and were among the best dives on the itinerary.