Where to dive in November
Raja Ampat is my November pick for coral, mantas and schools of baitfish. Choose the Banda Sea or Alor if you want to try for hammerheads, with no guarantee of sightings. Wakatobi suits a trip focused on coral and small marine life.
Raja Ampat
Coral, mantas and reefs full of fish. The best time to dive here is November — February.
Read the Raja Ampat guide →4 destinations for November
Listed in overall rank order.
Raja Ampat
Coral, mantas and reefs full of fish.
Raja Ampat has anthias above soft coral, baitfish under jetties, wobbegongs beneath ledges and mantas at cleaning stations. A Solitude Adventurer cruise director recommended November for the anchovy schools. It is a good month to consider if you want to see the reefs busy with feeding fish.
- Best months
- November — February
- Go for
- Diverse coral reefs · Mantas · Wobbegongs
Banda Sea
Remote Indonesian reefs and a chance of hammerheads.
Banda Sea crossing trips visit volcanic islands, sea-snake reefs and offshore pinnacles. Schools of hammerheads are the main draw, but sightings vary. Choose an itinerary whose reefs interest you too, so the trip does not depend on finding sharks.
- Best months
- October — November
- Go for
- Hammerheads · Volcanic seamounts · Sea snakes
Alor
Coral walls and cold-water visitors.
Cold upwelling in the Pantar Strait can bring hammerheads, with occasional thresher or mola sightings. None is reliable enough to build the whole trip around. The walls and small marine life are good reasons to go even when the bigger animals stay deep.
- Best months
- October — November
- Go for
- Hammerheads · Threshers · Mola
Wakatobi
Long dives on coral-covered walls.
Wakatobi suits divers who want to spend time on the reef, looking at coral and small marine life. Sharks and large pelagics are less common here. Its lower position reflects this list’s preference for big animals, rather than poor reef diving.
- Best months
- April — May · October — November
- Go for
- Coral walls · Turtles · Macro life