anywhere from terengganu to johor side is fine.
but if monsoon season starts. can go up to kedah side - pulau payar etc.

September is fine. Any islands along the East Coast should still be open. Weather can sometimes be really good, some days a little bad, but shouldn't be too bad compared to Oct/Nov.

Greetings earthlings... m planning to dive Komodo in December... anyone can recommend good dive centre? Also if accomodation details can be shared will be good.. tenkiu tenkiu

if you prefer quiet, can try Scuba Junkie Komodo. It is located away from Labuan Bajo, meaning away from the city.

They have very good dive guides, and service quality. Typically 4 diver to a guide, same practice as at their other locations.

In terms of accomodation they have 2 types, Bale (which is like huts with shared toilets) as well as private A/C ensuite rooms.

Having said that, because they are land based, you dont get flexibility like a liveaboard, and the furthest south they go is to three sisters/pillastein. If you want to dive manta alley, cannibal rock etc i think those can only be done liveaboard.

Yo yo yo! Been thinking to pick up diving again! Any interesting trips lately?

I think I need to do a long refresher course.

This post has been edited by miyakochan89: Oct 2 2023, 10:55 AM

I'm heading to Komodo in December..
I'm heading to tioman kg genting 12-15 October...

contact idive Marcia. very good service.

Cool tenkiu... let me re-check with them

Looking for Dive destination in Feb that can be reached with 1 flight.
Ruling out the usual sites like Sabah/Semenanjung, Bali, Lombok, Gili, Weh. Anyone got any interesting place to recommend that doesn't cost a big bomb.

Similan lor

Got recommendation?

only heard my friends mention about it

can try those liveaboard tours

MV Pawara

I joined this LOB earlier this year.

1. Nitrox is inclusive (just show your nitrox cert)
2. Transport from airport to port is included
3. They really tried to group the diver based on experience/air consumption and they willing to change DM / group when me and my buddy gave some feedback/suggestion

Meanwhile during the same trip, diver on their sister ship "mv sawasdee fasai" were complaining about the service over there, so I supposed it depends on your luck

Most of the dive is deeper than 20m so having nitrox (32% for all dives) really helps on the NDL when you are diving 4 times per day.

Analyser is available on the boat, so no need to buy.

This post has been edited by scchan107: Nov 29 2023, 06:33 PM

Oh thanks. Too bad they don't have slot for CNY time.

Then I share you the few LOB that was in my consideration while doing my survey for your reference.

MV Tapana / MV Tapana Cataman (sister ship, more expensive)
Their selling point - Food, upgraded bed mattress

Manta Queen series (Multiple ship with multiple schedules)
Been in the market for sometimes, so ship condition may be old

MV Peter Pan
Saw it in Malaysia Diver FB page

MV Summer
Yolo Diving trip is via this ship
Relatively new ship

Personally I consider the ship size (width and length) and availability of attached bathroom. Imagine need to Q for sharing bathroom to change dry clothes after each dive.

Greetings... Anyone can recommend good dive centre in Lombok? I'm back from Komodo ( had a blast there ) and now need to prepare my next trip... Appreciate the intro's thanks

i dive on this boat end 2022. didn't really have good experience. me and my diving buddy booked the Twin cabin (lower deck). the engine diesel smell is horrible.
The AC in the room spoilt. I can't sleep without AC so they transferred me to sleep at the upper deck room to sleep with the boat captain. (the captain never come in to sleep anyway).
My buddy being a female have no more rooms available so they (a few more girls) end up sleeping on the roof level on those beach bench coz cannot tahan the diesel smell.

we go in a group of 8. instead of splitting us into 2 groups to follow 2 dive guide. they lump all 8 of us in 1 group. the dinghy is so small that it can't fit all of us when we are geared up.
most of the time the boatmen can only throw a rope to us and ask all of us to hold to it and he pull us back to the main boat with the rope.
in the beginning when we all climb up to the dinghy after the dive, as we are all wet and heavy. the dinghy is half sunk into the ocean when heading back.
so in the end we either swim back to the big boat directly after each dive or we get pulled to the boat with the dinghy if there are current.

If i happen to go Similan islands again, i will definitely not choose this boat.

Edit PS : forgot to mentioned after the first day when they transfer me to the room behind the captain. they forgot about me at the upper deck and i missed 1 dive because of it.

This post has been edited by Lester1987: Jan 2 2024, 03:24 PM

Sorry you had such bad experience.

Room location in LOB is always my priority, so I picked the middle deck (behind dive gear) to avoid the engine. During my trip, there's 2 room with 1 pax only, but i did overheard about AC problem (leaking i think) so they combine both of them in 1 room.

There's a huge china group (10?) but only 1 group ended up 5 guest vs 1 dm. Dingy wise, they split into 5 trips with total of 23 divers, so it didn't feel packed to me. Meanwhile 1 thing I realised is that don't be afraid to voice up your request (to split into 2 group for example), my buddy requested to change group/dm (more because of the DM than the other 2 ppl in the group) and they actually willing to change the arrangement for it, so it depends on the dive leader i supposed. Vanesa is the leader during my trip.

I do admit climb up dingy is tiring so sometimes i rather get pulled to the boat with dinghy. 1 particular dive the surface condition was so bad that the captain says screw the local regulation (of using dinghy) and everyone giant stride off the main vessel (while the vessel move away slowly) like an army parachute off the plane.

Also, I never stayed inside the room in LOB unless I'm sleeping or taking shower. Always hangout at main room or dining room.

This post has been edited by scchan107: Jan 2 2024, 09:15 PM

anyone been to Moalboal sardine run? planned yourself or package from Malaysia? seems very do-able own planning?

anyone heard of this brand : DynamicNord?