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Hey guys, I am exploring vacation options for next year, perhaps 2018. It would be centered around snorkeling (ideally straight from the beach, perhaps one or two boat trips to fancier locations) with hiking as a backup activity in case visibility in the water is crap. I've visited Hawaii on four separate occasions, and I want a major change in scenery. Also, while I loved the simplicity of Hawaii (rental car, grocery stores) I was underwhelmed by the dying coral both on Maui and on the Big island. I read that Indonesia has a lot more living coral so it's on my list of destinations, the area around Komodo National Park in particular, but I am flexible on the specific location. Questions: How safe it over there? Should I be worried about getting sick from the tap water? Should I be concerned about flesh-eating bacteria that will kill me on day one? Should I be worried about getting robbed, or should be worried about getting robbed each day? Where do I stay? I see resorts on Flores island that are within my budget. But I am a picky eater, so I would prefer to be able to buy and cook my own food. Is this even possible to do that over there - go to a store and buy milk, cereal, sandwich ingredients, eggs, and frozen vegetables? How easy is it to get vegetarian food? How easy is it to travel from one beach to another one ~10 miles away? I want to snorkel/hike on my own schedule, but renting a car does not seem to be an option through Expedia. Finally, considering the significant effort in getting to Indonesia from SoCal, how would it compare to a more easily accessible location such as Guam or Palau for example? Thanks.
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Oct 29, 2016 05:55
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I'm currently staying in Indonesia on Gili Trawangan. Haven't been to Flores/Komodo but some of the people I've met say it was one of the most beautiful things they've seen in their lives. I'm no snorkeling expert but it seems like every place here advertises itself as the best snorkeling/diving/whatever so I think you would be fine no matter where you go. Today I went snorkeling at some random place just to practice freediving and saw a bunch of cool fish and turtles and poo poo, so I'm sure if you go to an area specifically for it you'll see even better stuff. To answer your non-Flores questions, you should definitely not drink tap water here. Bottled water is cheap and easy to find. And I've yet to get sick from eating the food in SEA for a couple months but YMMV. I also have not had any problems with theft, from hotels or on the street. Use common sense, don't get too hosed up, and don't carry more than you need. I'm not sure about cooking your own food. There are definitely markets here where you can buy whatever ingredients you need, but in 3 weeks I have yet to stay at a hotel that has a refrigerator, much less somewhere for you to cook. If you rent an apartment, it might be more feasible but can't give you advice there. I'm also not a vegetarian, but it seems possible to do, especially if you stay close to some hippie/yogi hangouts. If you want to do stuff on your own schedule, you can pretty easily rent a scooter/motorcycle for a couple dollars per day. You can also rent a bicycle for even less. Be aware that the roads in Indonesia are often lovely. Indonesia's also one of the least walkable places I've been, but perhaps this applies more to the cities than to the beaches. Small walkways, few crossings, etc. My final tip is if you are staying somewhere off the tourist track, be aware that the local region will most likely be very Muslim and it will be hard for you to get beer/alcohol, so plan in advance.
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Oct 29, 2016 10:01
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Thanks Pie. The difficulty in getting alcohol won't be an issue as I rarely drink. The lack of a refrigerator would be far more annoying because I would have to go out for each meal, and not knowing what's in my meal (and how it was prepared) would irritate me. Re: water. I'm assuming that bringing a water purifier along would give me some peace of mind?
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Oct 29, 2016 20:34
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Do not attempt to drink tap water. Even with a purifier. Just pay the < $1 to buy bottled water. Having the stomach flu cripple your trip because you wanted to save a few dollars is the worst possible idea. If it makes you feel better environmentally just buy the big gallon jugs and use your own bottle. As far as food you're probably going to need to buy perishables each day if you're hesitant to go to restaurants. I've never had a hotel room with any type of kitchenette in SEA. Some times you'll have a mini fridge in the nicer hotels, but that's the most I've seen personally. Fruits and vegetables will be in abundance along with legumes so you should be fine in that regard.
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Oct 29, 2016 20:56
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If tap water is not safe, are perishable foods safe? Can i use tap water to wash an apple for example? For that matter are restaurant/deli/street food safe?
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Oct 30, 2016 06:18
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Hey dude. Can I be super-presumptuous and assume that you haven't travelled outside the US before? Or at least to non-first world countries? Indonesia is a great and beautiful country, I've been there several times now and it's dear to my heart, but it's a massively third-world country in many ways and you're going to get a huge culture shock from going there. I haven't been to Flores or Komodo (though my wife has been to Komodo), but I can guarantee that you're going to be in a totally alien environment. Whether that's worth it or not is up to you. A few things to note: - Don't drink the tap water, seriously. Don't brush your teeth with it, and don't rinse your food with it. Use it for showering and washing your hands before drying thoroughly. Drink bottled water that's available at 7-11 for 20 cents a litre like everyone else (and yes, use the bottled water for brushing teeth too - it's annoying but you get used to it after a day or two). - Don't hire a car. Seriously. Do not do this. Indonesia drives on the left for starters, so you're dealing with that and being on the opposite side of the car to what you're used to. Road rules don't really exist, nobody stays within lanes, nobody uses mirrors or indicators, horns are used constantly to say "I'm here" rather than "gently caress you". There's no signs, no direction markers etc. And on a remote island like Flores you probably won't get great internet service either so you can't rely on Google Maps. - I would say maybe, maybe rent a scooter for a day when you're there if you're in a small town, and if you have experience at riding mopeds/bikes. And read up on your travel insurance documentation; will they cover you for bike crashes, even if they aren't your fault? I'm sure I could ride a moped, but I haven't because my travel insurance won't cover anything that goes wrong. And trust me, you don't want to have a $30,000 bill for getting airlifted to Australia because some yokel on a tractor pulled out in front of you without looking. - If you do rent, do it from a shop in town (there will be plenty around in tourist areas), haggle hard, and take loads of photos of the vehicle before you leave. It's a super common scam in third-world countries for the rental guy to insist that pre-existing damage was caused by you, and if you have no proof otherwise you don't have much recourse but to pay up. - Eating. Indonesian food is great! But as for cooking yourself, forget it. No hotel room is going to have a kitchen, the most you're going to get is a kettle so you can make instant noodles. So your "picky eating" habits are going to need to change, unfortunately. Locals shop at produce markets and 7-11; supermarkets as you know them don't exist over here. You probably won't find fruit like apples either, it'll only be local produce ie tropical fruit. If you're buying at the local marketplace, stick to fruits where you don't eat the skin (eg mango, banana, pineapple, durian) - Basic dishes like nasi goreng (fried rice) and mee goreng (fried noodles) can easily be made vegetarian, though if you're ultra-strict and refuse to eat fish sauce that might be difficult? idk. Just be aware that most waiters and stuff will have limited if any English, so if you try and order the nasi goreng with no carrots but extra tofu and some peanuts on the side, they'll smile and say yes and you'll just get the standard nasi goreng anyway. Gado-gado is a pretty nice dish that's definitely vegetarian, it's steamed or stir-fried vegetables with a thick peanut sauce. There are plenty of vegetarian travel bloggers out there, and I'd guess a lot of them have been to Indonesia, so maybe do some research there. - Safety. Indonesia is generally fine outside of some areas, but it's still a third world country and that means you're extremely rich compared to them (no matter how rich you may or may not feel!). Read up on common travel scams and how to avoid them (the answer is usually just thinking "is this too good to be true? what's the catch?"). Overall though I've found Indonesians to be very friendly and helpful. The biggest scammers are taxi drivers, so bargain hard and just walk away if you don't want to pay their price. You'll probably encounter pushy touts as well trying to sell selfie sticks and crap jewellery or fake Ray-Bans. Smile and say no thanks, don't look at their merchandise because that'll only encourage them. - Indonesia is also the world's largest Muslim country, so bear that in mind as well. It doesn't cause problems, just be respectful of their religion. Avoid going to Indonesia during Ramadan (check google, the date varies every year), and bear in mind that Friday is their holy day when many things are closed. That said, Flores is actually mostly Catholic  Read up here as well and click through the links if you haven't: http://wikitravel.org/en/Flores_(Indonesia) Other places you could consider as well: - Philippines: El Nido/Coron for snorkelling. I've been here this week and it's just magical. Come in November-April during the dry season, everything shuts down between May and October due to monsoons. Plus side: very American culture so English proficiency is pretty good. Downside: still no cars to rent, not as cheap as Indonesia. - Gili Trawangan: Like Pie Colony mentioned upthread, there's some beautiful snorkelling off here. It's easy to get to (just a 90 minute boat ride from Bali), but there isn't much to do aside from snorkelling and lying on the beach (and drinking if you're a backpacker). No hiking here, though if you wanted to do a lap of the island it's probably a 2 hour walk. - Fiji: I can recommend a place called Octopus Island Resort that has awesome snorkelling directly off the beach. There's also a great hike to the peak of the island. Again for you though, you're in a resort so you're stuck eating whatever's on the menu for that day. No supermarkets etc, and not really any way of leaving the resort. You can swim with manta rays though, which is incredible! I think Fiji Airways fly direct from LAX? - Koh Tao in Thailand: great snorkelling, pretty touristy, lots of Western food. It's a bit rustic though, when we were there earlier this year electricity was only available every second day. Overall in Asia - forget about cooking your own food, it's just not realistic unless you're staying long-term and in a proper apartment. And renting a car isn't realistic either. Scooters and mopeds are readily available for hire almost everywhere, but be careful and if you're not able to ride one in the States, consider learning before you go for travel insurance reasons.
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Nov 12, 2016 15:19
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webmeister posted:Hey dude. Can I be super-presumptuous and assume that you The second part is technically correct. I grew up in Europe, traveled extensively between Germany and Hungary + west Europe. I did spend my first six years in communist Hungary and East Germany, but I don't remember those days too well. Thanks for the effort post. Reading through it, I admit that the risks/troubles (water, transportation) outweigh the rewards. I would probably be fine with the food as I am not a strict vegetarian, I just don't want to eat a whole cow for dinner with monkey brain for dessert. I'm now eyeing Australia or Guam. The Philippines/Fiji are on my list for another year. I'm still waiting on input from my travel buddy (who is more wary than I am) before I can commit to something.
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Nov 19, 2016 23:36
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Komodo is not that great for snorkeling, actually. It's a scuba diving mecca, but all the good spots are several hours' boat ride from Labuan Bajo (the town on Flores). In fact, most people recommend doing a liveaboard boat trip for diving (which is what I did) because the "commute" time to and from the town eats up so much of your day. There's also actually not much to eat in Labuan Bajo. I would not go there unless you are diving (in which case it's amazing). Other places in Indonesia would be great, though, and the country is great for vegetarians. But honestly I might recommend Thailand if you haven't done much traveling. Yeah, it's "babby's first Southeast Asia trip," but I am well-traveled and I really loved it. Super safe, awesome food, great hiking + snorkeling if that's what you want to do. You can rent a scooter (which many tourists do), but I found driving a rental car to be easy and safe, especially outside of Bangkok. Fiji is also great. I can vouch for amazing snorkeling/diving on the islands of Vanua Levu, Taveuni, and Kadavu. Not a ton of hiking, but some. Queensland, AUS would also be nice, but obviously more expensive. I did a 1-month road trip there and had a blast camping, hiking, and scuba diving. Oakland Martini fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Nov 22, 2016 |
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Nov 22, 2016 15:48
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Oakland Martini posted:Komodo is not that great for snorkeling, actually. It's a scuba diving mecca, but all the good spots are several hours' boat ride from Labuan Bajo (the town on Flores). In fact, most people recommend doing a liveaboard boat trip for diving (which is what I did) because the "commute" time to and from the town eats up so much of your day. There's also actually not much to eat in Labuan Bajo. I would not go there unless you are diving (in which case it's amazing). Other places in Indonesia would be great, though, and the country is great for vegetarians. I strongly thought about a liveaboard boat trip, and I will most likely try such a trip when I am completely free from my brother's stricter travel standards. I actually am scuba certified, so a scuba trip is very much an option, but I am skittish about having a laid back dive master who makes shortcuts when it comes to safety. Thanks for the other recommendations. They are now on my list and I'll see if I can develop them into a future trip. I did not realize that Thailand was easier to travel in than Indonesia.
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Nov 24, 2016 05:33
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In my experience (15ish years of diving, easily 20 liveaboard trips) the crew on liveaboards are a much higher quality than your average day boat crew. As the trip progresses they figure out who needs/wants more chaperoning and who wants to go off and be left with their buddy. Also they're super strict on safety and deco times because of the number of dives you're doing each day and generally limited access to decompression chambers if something bad were to happen. Finally they bend over backwards to satisfy dietary restrictions because of the premium price you're paying for the trip, so don't be scared of doing one! Liveaboards are great!
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Nov 25, 2016 02:16
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Whip Slagcheek posted:In my experience (15ish years of diving, easily 20 liveaboard trips) the crew on liveaboards are a much higher quality than your average day boat crew. As the trip progresses they figure out who needs/wants more chaperoning and who wants to go off and be left with their buddy. Also they're super strict on safety and deco times because of the number of dives you're doing each day and generally limited access to decompression chambers if something bad were to happen. Thanks, I really needed to read that. I'll try to do one during my next solo trip - probably in 2018 - unless my brother and I cannot agree on a destination for 2017. In that case mission 'Liveaboard 2017' is a go!
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Nov 26, 2016 00:23
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I believe you said you're in Europe, but the Caribbean is a good starting point for getting into liveaboards especially if you're just a leisure diver. Not much in the way of currents, predictable weather, affordable prices, etc. I don't want to derail your thread much more with this, but if you have questions about liveaboards or dive trips in general, reach out to me and I can fill you in as best I can or point you in the right direction.
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Nov 26, 2016 05:05
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Whip Slagcheek posted:I believe you said you're in Europe, but the Caribbean is a good starting point for getting into liveaboards especially if you're just a leisure diver. Not much in the way of currents, predictable weather, affordable prices, etc. Europe is where I grew up, I currently live in SoCal. Still, the Caribbean are on my radar, especially Belize. I'll PM you in the future.
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Nov 26, 2016 06:53
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theHUNGERian posted:The second part is technically correct. I grew up in Europe, traveled extensively between Germany and Hungary + west Europe. I did spend my first six years in communist Hungary and East Germany, but I don't remember those days too well. I live on Guam and have been to Palau many times, so feel free to ask questions about those if you want specifics.
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Dec 14, 2016 05:04
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