Trip Report Tompotika Dive Resort - December 2023

[paolobl65]

Interesting observation. What do you think you might've seen had they ventured into current?

... who knows ?
I hope I have seen a little bit of everything there was to see.... however, for example, it happened same times that my guide and I ( because I had asked for a private dive master ) went to points exposed to the current ( and it was fantastic : so many school of fish ! and many shark as well ) while the rest of the group with the other guides remained in the comfort zone , anyway I don't know if it was a request from the clients or a choice from the guides ( and it didn't seem elegant to ask .... in the end we were all satisfied with our own dive and that's the only thing that matters )

 

[drrich2]

Oh, forgot to mention. You've got some great shots, but that one of the octopus in the glass mug ought to be a framed print on a wall somewhere with a witty statement under it.

Richard.

 

[chillyinCanada]

some macro photos :

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Omg! These are amazing

 

[paolobl65]

thank you for all the comments ... here some other macro photos


here is the same octopus , with this point of view the eggs inside the glass are visible .

 

[outofofficebrb]

Amazing photos! Thanks for sharing! I am considering a trip here. Would you say 12 days was perfect or do you suggest less? More?

 

[paolobl65]

Amazing photos! Thanks for sharing! I am considering a trip here. Would you say 12 days was perfect or do you suggest less? More?

Thank you very much !
I think 10 to 12 days is a good amount of time , because you are also underwater photographer you want to repeat more time the best dive sites .

 

[diveaddict123]

Your pictures make Tompotika look really amazing, tempted to go there now. I'm very familiar with Raja Ampat and Alor and I love both, but never been to Tompotika. You mention initially you rate it below Raja and Alor, for what reasons? In your photos, it looks like the soft corals, seafans and amount of fish are a stand-out, and the muck diving as well. How many dive sites are there? Is it because it's a small place that you rank it below the other 2? What kind of big stuff is normally seen there? I imagine white tips, black tips, nurse sharks? Any others?

 

[paolobl65]

Your pictures make Tompotika look really amazing, tempted to go there now. I'm very familiar with Raja Ampat and Alor and I love both, but never been to Tompotika. You mention initially you rate it below Raja and Alor, for what reasons? In your photos, it looks like the soft corals, seafans and amount of fish are a stand-out, and the muck diving as well. How many dive sites are there? Is it because it's a small place that you rank it below the other 2? What kind of big stuff is normally seen there? I imagine white tips, black tips, nurse sharks? Any others?

thank you very much for your comment .
As I said in Tompotika there was a lack of a relly WOW factor , but this is just my personal opinion . This means I was impressed but not as much as Triton Bay / Raja Ampat / Alor impressed me .
All in all Tompotika is a very nice place I'd like to visit again .
Here are the dive site map Tompotika | Diving , you can see there are 16 dive sites .
About big stuff : I saw quite many white tips and grey reef shark ( especially in Solan Reef ) , a very nice school of mobula ray in Tanduk , a couple of big marble ray .
all my best
Paolo

 

[chillyinCanada]

thank you very much for your comment .
As I said in Tompotika there was a lack of a relly WOW factor , but this is just my personal opinion . This means I was impressed but not as much as Triton Bay / Raja Ampat / Alor impressed me .
All in all Tompotika is a very nice place I'd like to visit again .
Here are the dive site map Tompotika | Diving , you can see there are 16 dive sites .
About big stuff : I saw quite many white tips and grey reef shark ( especially in Solan Reef ) , a very nice school of mobula ray in Tanduk , a couple of big marble ray .
all my best
Paolo

Have you been to Monado/Bunaken/Bangka, North Sulawesi and if so, how do you compare Tompotika and North Sulawesi?

 

[diveaddict123]

thank you very much for your comment .
As I said in Tompotika there was a lack of a relly WOW factor , but this is just my personal opinion . This means I was impressed but not as much as Triton Bay / Raja Ampat / Alor impressed me .
All in all Tompotika is a very nice place I'd like to visit again .
Here are the dive site map Tompotika | Diving , you can see there are 16 dive sites .
About big stuff : I saw quite many white tips and grey reef shark ( especially in Solan Reef ) , a very nice school of mobula ray in Tanduk , a couple of big marble ray .
all my best
Paolo

Thank you for your reply, what would you say was the WOW factor that was missing that you had in Raja / Triton / Alor that you didn't find there?
Sorry to ask many questions, just curious and interested in your opinion.