Most of us have a wish list of places that we want to visit in our lifetime. I have one too and it’s really long. But to be honest, I’m not too sure whether I would have visited all of them in my lifetime. I hope I will!
As for diving, I have my wish list for dive destinations too. They’re all within the South East Asia region because here we have one of the best dive sites in the whole world. I feel really lucky for this. Cheaper flights, cheaper accommodation, cheaper food and all the additional budget can be channeled to diving expenses.
As of writing (April 2010), I’ve only been to Lembeh Straits. I’ll be diving in Anilao in a few weeks time, so that makes it two. I’ve dove many other places, but if I have an unlimited budget for diving, these would be my only places to dive. I’m planning to dive at these places at least once in the next 2-3 years.
1. Lembeh Straits (North Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Bernard & Wife at Lembeh Straits - © Bernard Loke
Top of the list would be Lembeh Straits, better known as the macro heaven or the heaven for underwater photographers. There are just so many wonderful, unique, rare, tiny, ugly, you-name-it creatures in the waters of Lembeh Straits.
Some of my friends even came up with a list of creatures they want to see (and it runs to hundreds) during their trips. And they won’t give up going to Lembeh Straits again and again just to see everything on the list.
I was there back in December 2009 but I only managed to dive there for 2 days. My other 5 days was spread between diving in Manado and Bunaken National Park. That’s obviously too little and not enough. The next time (very soon) I’m going back there, I’ll be diving exclusively in Lembeh Straits. There are a whole bunch of creatures on my list which I’ve not seen yet!
2. Anilao (Batangas, Philippines)
Corals at Anilao, Philippines - courtneyplatt@flickr
Anilao is another macro heaven for underwater photographers. It’s one of the favorite dive destinations for many of my diver friends especially those who are into underwater photography like me. One of them even dove there more than 10 times and he is still not bored of it yet. So how can I not dive there for at least once?
I’ll be there in a few weeks time, so I’m really looking forward for it.
3. Raja Ampat (West Papua, Indonesia)
Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia
I’ve heard of Raja Ampat even before I started diving back in 2008! Some of my friends were saying, You’ve to go to Raja Ampat when you have the chance!, and I was like, where the hell is this place?
For most divers in the South East Asia region, Raja Ampat is among the top 3 destinations for them besides Lembeh Straits. Some would call it the excotic dive destination. The good (and bad) thing about Raja Ampat is that it’s mostly accessible via Live-on-Boards (LOB) which are usually 6-8 days. And that would mean I’ll be disconnected from the hectic world and it’s just diving all the way!
4. Komodo Island (Indonesia)
Komodo Island - thejerk@flickr
Komodo Island made it to the headlines in 2008 when 5 divers got lost from their group during their dive. It became even scarier when they came face to face with the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizards.
Diving in Komodo Island is usually via Live-on-Boards (LOB) which would bring divers to some of the most secluded and exotic dive sites.
5. Pulau Sipadan (Sabah, Malaysia)
A School of Barracudas at Sipadan
Ask any Malaysian diver whether they’ve been to Pulau Sipadan and you’ll probably get yes for an answer. Rightly so. Pulau Sipadan has always been the forefront of scuba diving in Malaysia since it was mentioned as one of the top 10 dive destinations in the world quite some time ago. And since then, divers have been flooding the island until a point that they need to close down the resorts in Pulau Sipadan and moved them over to the nearby Pulau Mabul to preserve it’s ecosystem.
Wait. Why have I not been there? I’ve actually planned to go there. I’ve my air tickets booked and almost booked my accommodations. But I decided to give it a miss so that I can go to Lembeh Straits.
The reason?
There are only two things that you won’t see in your Lembeh Straits trip (including Manado and Bunaken) compared to Pulau Sipadan – school of barracudas doing the famous tornado and jacks. Other than that, Lembeh Straits has a lot more – Rhinopias, Mimic Octopus, Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Electric Clam just to name a few.
There are other destinations on my list as well, like Maldives, Tubbataha Reef in southern Philippines, Malapascua for sharks, Bali for manta rays and moola moola, Palau in Micronesia..and the list goes on and on.
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