Sleeping in the tropics.

[chillyinCanada]

Lower than the competition. We understand charging less than the cost of doing business doesn't work long-term. It'd be interesting to know more about the demographic of customer who stays with you.

To get from the United States to Indonesia for a dive trip (and back) is a long, I suspect arduous (compared to quick Caribbean trips with much shorter flights) trip - a fellow diver on a boat once likened his trip to/from Truk Lagoon to a 'forced march.' So it's a substantial investment in time and effort.

Some people traveling that far will want to dive...a lot. This is how I think. Those people will focus on live-aboards.

Some people love exotic travel but need to keep costs way down...even if it means less diving.

Some people like 'cultural' attractions, interacting with people and visiting scenic sights. I notice on Scuba Board that Bali gets recommended to these types.

There are doubtless people we could file under 'other' (e.g.: maybe topside natural wonders are a big deal).

What sort of person is your 'typical' American client? Well-off, or a budget conscious backpacker? A chubby middle-aged guy with an office job, or fit youngsters? How many dives/day do they do? What do they do during the day when they're not diving?

Pretty much the same thing as when on a liveaboard except on land. Sit and look at the scenery or have a snooze. Or go snorkeling from shore.

Wingy is the person who suggested Bangka to me. I had such a wonderful diving experience that I returned a number of times.

Yes, sometimes the journey to a destination is a bit of a slog but the rewards once one arrives help the journey fade (much like the pain of childbirth fades, I suppose, lol).

 

[Indah]

Pretty much the same thing as when on a liveaboard except on land. Sit and look at the scenery or have a snooze. Or go snorkeling from shore.

Wingy is the person who suggested Bangka to me. I had such a wonderful diving experience that I returned a number of times.

Yes, sometimes the journey to a destination is a bit of a slog but the rewards once one arrives help the journey fade (much like the pain of childbirth fades, I suppose, lol).

Daniel Kahneman wrote a fascinating book in which he described the "Peak - End" memory.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Daniel Kahneman wrote a fascinating book in which he described the "Peak - End" memory.

I suspect Dr. Rich is familiar with this principle and probably even the book by Kahneman.

 

[Dan]

How very true. Chasing the American market can come at a cost of other markets. Example - I used to adore Murex's Bangka island for the awesome forgotten world feel. For being able to wake up, sit up in bed and take the pic below. Then improvements to cater for the US market...Air-conditioning/Wifi/improved cabins...WTH was wrong with the cabins? Nothing, I loved them. If anything the improvements have put me off not excited me. Im also curious as to how our travelling habits and demands on tourism providers will look post covid. How long the dive industry can sustain this constriction is yet to be seen, but I hear of many operators having to shut up shop for good in this early stage of our being grounded and sent to our rooms. Indah would a slow trialling of say a couple of cabins being fitted with AC in your pod idea or any other form with feedback from the domestic market and then whatever country you first get bubbled with be worthwhile before investing in major capital works be advantageous? Im hoping we Aussie's get bubbled up with Indo as quickly as possible ... lol what a ridiculous world we live in where our governments decide whos bubbling with who - make it all go back to how it was when bubbles were what we blew not what we lived in. View attachment 606293

Then you would love going to Pulau Pef - Little Raja Ampat Trip Report

 

[Wingy]

Been to Pef a couple of times. That region of RA is my favourite, the passage is memorable, one of the dives I could do 100 days on a row and never say..Im bored now. Out of PP and R4D id probably choose R4D but not for any facilities reasons...my Californian based buddy tacks on some time land based before or after a LOB and has stayed at both with praise for both. BTW I hope you've got in that night dive under arborek Dan, its worth it. Ive never looked at Indahs site before because I've done Halmahera by LOB and my all time favourite dive site is near Tobelo so id imagined id return to Tobelo.
Ive changed my mind on Weda for similar reasons id pick R4D over PP - both websites had all the keywords I personally look for before booking. Indah you may not know but im a total ARW Junkie and the Wallacea line is something ive been following for decades of travel. When Indah mentioned bird watching I immediately thought Oh, cools I know what sort of person travels to remote islands for birdwatching. Geeks like me that spend quarter of a century looking for a tiny frog. So, the geographer in me then looked for the other keywords - sustainability, local empowerment, training, fixing not replacing shows me a commitment to cradle to grave accounting so Indah and R4D nailed the social and environmental sustainability I seek perfectly. I look at construction and sourcing of materials, happy to notice Indah has the local style bungalows I found so fascinating on Tidore. Both Weda and R4D had personality - the blog on R4D was a good read, Indahs family ties to the area and community kept me going straight to the rates page. Even on LOBs I want to know about the new generation engines and what fuel they are using so I am just as picky as the person who can't do without AC. One other kudos I will give R4D was the strong emphasis on dive safety and currents...I love that C word.
Im a total luxury hotel/wake up in a castle person in some parts of the world, a tree house and a communal latrine beside a volcano in others. Price Point doesn't actually come into my decision making much at all.
I also love that Indah offers camping - not that id want to do it for more than overnight but a certain Tulumben op once forgot to allocate me a room and apologising offered a tent a torch and a foam mattress because of flight delays I didn't arrive til 2am so I took what I could get thinking #$%?! But when I woke up at dawn and looked out of my tiny tent I thought..what a view - winning!
It takes me 3 flights and at least 36 hours to get to Sorong from Perth, and im ok with that. Imagine RA if it was an easy three or four hour direct flight...there would be a four seasons and a Conrad's on every island and more divers than sweetlips.

 

[Indah]

Do you know the name of the dive site near Tobelo? I lived and dived there 1997 - 2000. And we still visit from our Magic Bay Rao, which is not that far from Tobelo. As far as I know, I was the first person diving the passage. Quite an adventure. It was the first time I encountered Crocodile mimicking trees.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Do you know the name of the dive site near Tobelo? I lived and dived there 1997 - 2000. And we still visit from our Magic Bay Rao, which is not that far from Tobelo. As far as I know, I was the first person diving the passage. Quite an adventure. It was the first time I encountered Crocodile mimicking trees.

 

[Wingy]

Indah I will PM you the name of the site I dread seeing it on every LOBs itinery and am glad to see it isn't. I think there was a Russian guy snorkelling taken by a croc shortly after I last dived the passage. It is very very crocodily there...you know the abandoned rangers station? A few of us went ashore before doing the crossing to pass some time and while finding huge amounts of trash including enough shoes to get a "pair" for every diver and staff on LOB I did my usual and went inland a little to see what I could see. Theres a muddy creek bed near a rock overhang (I will show you that pic) and being a biogeography geek I was following it when I suddenly got that incredibly uncool feeling that something was watching me...i looked down and saw big croc footprints and tail drag marks so decided to "casually walk back". As an Australian I'm not unfamiliar with crocodiles and have seen one baby while diving in PNG but...YUK im scared off crocodiles and there are more than a few there. Not a place for solo riverbed wandering. We had Morotai on our itinerary so you really are lucky - I'd be quite cool staying at your Rao resort too.

 

[Dan]

BTW I hope you've got in that night dive under arborek Dan, its worth it.

I did 3-4x. It's one of the best night dive sites I've been in. One time, while I was busy snapping pictures of the critters, wobbegong shark happened to swim around my fins.


The next contender night dive site is Pink Beach, Komodo.

 

[Wingy]

@drrich2 sorry but I just have to say .... your explanation of the American mindset is baffling to the rest of the world and sort of makes me wonder what would happen if people declined a LOB cabin share based on that mindset which is completely incompatible with mine. Im not the only person who's slept in jeans and a jumper on a LOB while trying to find some middle ground and both of us can sleep comfortably. Ive bèen lucky enough to have shared with people who have been willing to do that on all but one LOB trip. Im not sure I'd put up with someone having a "It better have!" attitude and displaying no intention of acknowledging that another person may have a mindset/cultural conditioning that is as important as yours. They paid the same $, flew just as annoying a route to get there to have a very special experience and have the same hopes of having dream diving and fun in an amazing part of the world too. I understand you are profiling an average American mindset and not specifically yourself so this isn't an attack on you personally.

I live where people die in heatwaves too, a week of 42 - 44c temps is enough to piss the entire nation off, and we have wet tropics and a monsoon season right thru to dry heat. We all like air-conditioning when it's ridiculous, but im not going to ever do what my Texan cousin did last week and book into a hotel because the air conditioning had died.

Sorry to steer the thread off into dangerous territory - you can burn me at the stake - but this LOB cabin + air con issue has been on my mind since last komodo LOB I did when I discovered a Swiss lady sleeping in the saloon in jeans jumper gloves and a beanie. A couple of boat owners have also mentioned how contentious the air con in a shared cabin can be.