Hello all,

I'm looking to do trip to SEA over the American thanksgiving holiday. From looking at the seasonal climate patterns, for most areas in SEA it's the transition from the rainy to dry season. From percipitation graphs it looks like, on average, there is still quite a bit of rainfall in November.

I've only been to Thailand once, so I don't have a lot of experience with SEA. I'm trying to get an idea if it's a bad time to travel, or which areas in SEA are more favourable during November. Does it rain non-stop all day, or just for a period then clear up?

My constraints are:

• I'm experienced, I do almost all of my diving in the PNW of Canada and am comfortable with almost anything

• My partner is a new diver, and wouldn't want anything with strong currents, so places like Komodo are out

• We've got a decent budget so anything but the really high end resorts would potentially be okay

• Have about 14-18 days of travel

What I've been looking at right now is the Visayas region in PH, doing Malapascua, Bohol, Moalboal, Dauin (not necessarily all of them), and potentially flying to El Nido and doing more surface side activities for a few days there before flying home.

I'm okay with muck diving, but I think my partner would perfer more reefs, I think she would be okay with some muck diving, just not entirely focused on finding macro critters and would rather see larger reefs.

Pros for Visayas:

• Direct or one layover flights from the west coast of NA

• surface side activites to do with my partner who wants to do things other than diving

Cons:

• Potentially going during the rainy season and having awful weather the whole trip

• ???

Other areas I've been looking at are doing Bali and then Raja Ampat which is supposed to be in the dry season, but getting to RA and back seems like it could be a lot of time spent traveling.

Do people have any recommendations for other areas in PH, SEA, or if it's a bad idea going during this period?

There's all sorts of options available. Things to consider include that November is in Typhoon season, which could impact the Philippines. The seasons are quite variable throughout SE Asia depending upon how the Monsoon winds impact the area. In Thailand the wind is just switching to the NE Monsoon and it's starting the dry season for the main part of Thailand and beginning the wet season for the islands further south in the gulf of Thailand for example.

In Indonesia, you've looked at Raja Ampat but there's quite the journey from NA. You could get to Lembeh Strait on Sulawaesi through a connection from Singapore on Scoot. Looks like a direct Vancouver - Singapore flight is available so that's a plus no transit in the US is probably a bonus. The diving there is always calm and not too much in the way of current. November through April with the change in winds you start to be able to access the reefs on the south side of Lembeh Island which have nice visibility and good conditions for diving around then. For example Divers lodge Lembeh goes out to sites on the south side:

Divers Lodge Lembeh

Diving in Lembeh Strait With Divers Lodge

At Divers Lodge Lembeh, we specialize in diving in the Lembeh Strait, an area known worldwide for macro photography and muck diving.

I stayed there a few years back and enjoyed the diving- though be aware some of the sites have a lot of plastic pollution and there's a lot of stuff dumped in the water as it is right by quite a large city. Alternatively you could muck dive there and transfer to Banka or Bunaken on Sulawesi for reef dives. Some sites can have currents there.

Another option might be PNG , though access is not the easiest. I dived Walindi last year and it features sea mounts in very deep water, currents not usually an issue. November is a good time there. Access via Sydney or Brisbane with a 3-4 hour flight to Port Moresby and a domestic connection to Hastings on New Britain. See:

https://indopacificimages.com/papua-new-guinea/guide-to-diving-papua-new-guinea/guide-to-diving-new-britain/the-complete-guide-to-diving-kimbe-bay/

That site has an outline of the diving and logistics you really should be qualified for 30m and Nitrox helps with bottom times on the sea mounts. You could dive in Sydney as well on the way through if you came that way - good spot for Weedy Sea dragons. Water temperature about 18-20 that time of year , but subject to swell being low enough..

Any questions - let me know.

Like Chris Ross mentioned, flying into Manado on SQ/TR (AC/DL/UA/AA all fly from west coast direct to SIN) suits your requirement of flights quite well. Only thing is some flights arrive in the evening and thus require overnight before connection. TR SIN-MDC departs 9 am. I would probably pick Banka or Bunaken instead of Lembeh (you can do daytrips to Lembeh from there).

Going to Raja is bit more tricky, but can be done if planned right. Flights to SOQ depart CGK midnight-2am, so arriving with onestop from westcoast around 8-11pm is actually no less time than going to MDC with one stop. Still might be a bit rough with flights. In November the season is just starting in Raja.

Plenty of options from westcoast (YVR/SEA/SFO/LAX) to CGK with stops in TYO/HKG/TPE being most popular.

Bali is similar but you can get onestop from west coast via most Asian cities.

Maybe Mabul/Sipadan might be an option also? Flights very similar like to Raja, but instead of Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur. Not too much other things to do than diving tho.

Fiji maybe?

Or as a bonus, Okinawa. Clear water, nice diving and easy flights through Tokyo.

52 minutes ago, Sokrates said:

Like Chris Ross mentioned, flying into Manado on SQ/TR (AC/DL/UA/AA all fly from west coast direct to SIN) suits your requirement of flights quite well. Only thing is some flights arrive in the evening and thus require overnight before connection. TR SIN-MDC departs 9 am. I would probably pick Banka or Bunaken instead of Lembeh (you can do daytrips to Lembeh from there).

Going to Raja is bit more tricky, but can be done if planned right. Flights to SOQ depart CGK midnight-2am, so arriving with onestop from westcoast around 8-11pm is actually no less time than going to MDC with one stop. Still might be a bit rough with flights. In November the season is just starting in Raja.

Plenty of options from westcoast (YVR/SEA/SFO/LAX) to CGK with stops in TYO/HKG/TPE being most popular.

Bali is similar but you can get onestop from west coast via most Asian cities.

Maybe Mabul/Sipadan might be an option also? Flights very similar like to Raja, but instead of Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur. Not too much other things to do than diving tho.

Fiji maybe?

Or as a bonus, Okinawa. Clear water, nice diving and easy flights through Tokyo.

The changeover is relatively easy in Singapore and there is a transit hotel inside security - kind of beats staying up to meet the 2:00 am flight out of Jakarta and trying to sleep on the 3-4 hour plane flight to Sorong. You could even spend a day or two in Singapore shopping and trying out the local food. Very easy to get around there.

10 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

The changeover is relatively easy in Singapore and there is a transit hotel inside security - kind of beats staying up to meet the 2:00 am flight out of Jakarta and trying to sleep on the 3-4 hour plane flight to Sorong. You could even spend a day or two in Singapore shopping and trying out the local food. Very easy to get around there.

Yes, there is the option of course to stay overnight at the airport. Or do few days in Singapore, always a great choice. Also good place to buy gear now ;)

Im just trying to see how to optimise the time spent somewhere else than diving. 14-18 days isnt that long if making stopovers.

Specially if wanting to fly from YVR or SEA, even those direct to SIN are 16-17h flights (YVR has block time of 16h40min and SEA 17h) and then add 4h to MDC. With a 12-16h layover its already almost 2 days of travelling.

Edited Thursday at 06:39 AM4 days by Sokrates

@Chris Ross Thanks for the suggestion for the Sulawesi region of Indonesia. Ill do some research on that area and see how it compares to PH.

On 4/16/2025 at 10:06 PM, Sokrates said:

Maybe Mabul/Sipadan might be an option also? Flights very similar like to Raja, but instead of Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur. Not too much other things to do than diving tho.

Fiji maybe?

Or as a bonus, Okinawa. Clear water, nice diving and easy flights through Tokyo.

I haven't done much research on Sipadan, I've only done some research on the permiting system, but it worries me that I could be staying at a hotel there and not get a permit and wasting days not diving. Do you have experience with the system and how readily available the permits are if you're staying at a dive hotel?

Is Fiji okay to do in november? I'm reading that it says november is the start of the tropical cyclone season for that region.

Okinawa would be a nice one though. Japan is great, and Ill have to look more into that.

For things to do for a less intense diver, Bali is probably a great choice. Diving all over the island is great and you can set up a pretty nice dive Safari that will pick you up and deliver you to dive sites all over. Dive with the Tribe in Bali (started by Mike Veitch, a Canadian) is awesome.

Bill

7 hours ago, rafiqd said:

@Chris Ross Thanks for the suggestion for the Sulawesi region of Indonesia. Ill do some research on that area and see how it compares to PH.

I haven't done much research on Sipadan, I've only done some research on the permiting system, but it worries me that I could be staying at a hotel there and not get a permit and wasting days not diving. Do you have experience with the system and how readily available the permits are if you're staying at a dive hotel?

Is Fiji okay to do in november? I'm reading that it says november is the start of the tropical cyclone season for that region.

Okinawa would be a nice one though. Japan is great, and Ill have to look more into that.

No problem. On the topic of cyclones they are more likely at the end of the season than the beginning as water temperatures are lower then. The Water could still be cool in Fiji in November, though Thanksgiving is closer to December, cyclones south of the Equator are rarer then, but not unknown. Heard good things about Okinawa, however they do have a maximum age limit for diving, a potential issue for me, perhaps not for you. When I visited Lembeh it was second week of November and rain had just started, but it didn't impact us at all. Being close to the Equator you just have the wet and dry seasons and cyclones are not an issue.

Late November should be ok for Okinawa (it normally gets rough, with northern winds blowing in December), but even with island hopping, 14-18 days of travel is too long for the area I think (unless you're planning on combining this with non-diving land travel).
November is a shoulder month, it should also be just the start of rainy season in many places in Indonesia, including Bali, which can affect diving but could still be ok, however northern Indonesia should be a safe bet.

On 4/17/2025 at 5:34 AM, rafiqd said:

I'm looking to do trip to SEA over the American thanksgiving holiday. From looking at the seasonal climate patterns, for most areas in SEA it's the transition from the rainy to dry season. From percipitation graphs it looks like, on average, there is still quite a bit of rainfall in November.

A lot of the indonesian archipelago is diveable early november, actually October to mid november is probably the best season for diving some parts of Indonesia.

• Nusa Tenggara islands of Komodo and Alor should be great at this time of year (that's even the blue whale season for Alor).

• Bali for flat seas and North Sulawesi should also good until mid november before the turn of the season

I know that seen from far away Komodo seems like the big bad currents spot.

After 5 trips to Komodo either resort or liveaboard diving I can testify there are lot of kind of people diving Komodo, some of them very inexperimented, Komodo is not currents everywhere, many divers get certified there : I've been on a liveboard where some of the divers where just out of their OW certification. So if you mention that you don't want currents, the guides will make sure not to bring you on currenty spots. Funnily enough, you seem attracted to Raja Ampat whereas I find that are more tricky currents in Raja Ampat than in Komodo.

IMO the most spectacular sample you could get of diving SEA In 14 to 18 days, would be to spend a week to 10 days in Bali for diving and sightseeing plus a another week either staying in Alor or a short liveaboard in Komodo. With the combination of Both Bali (Tulamben) and Komodo or Alor you'd get some of the best reef and muck dives in Indonesia.

North sulawesi is alos an option however and even though I find Sahaung on Bangka one of the most beautiful coral spots, don't expect to find corals/fish schools/big fish like you would have in Komodo, Alor or even Bali.

As for the Visayas and generally the Phils, august to november is not the best season to travel since you would have chances to hit a typhoon or rainstorms which are not uncommon at that time of the year. (I even bumped into a typhoon alert until late december, that is why I tend to favor Feb to May for diving the Phils).

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Luko