I am a single female backpacking in Asia from February to August and would love to go diving in East Timor some time between June and August. Will I be safe as I keep? Can anyone recommend a good dive school with email?I assume my only way to enter is flying from Bali?
diving east timor
Why in God%26#39;s name would you want to visit East Timor as a tourist? Especially as a single female? I go there occasionally for work, and would STRONGLY advise against traveling there. The diving there, I have heard, is decent but nothing spectacular. There are so many other places in Asia that are worth a visit and are SAFE. If you want great diving, consider the Philippines.
No, you will not be safe in East Timor, certainly not as a single female with no knowledge of the country! When I was there last year my hotel got attacked by a large group of refugees when I was sitting in the front lobby. One of the scariest experiences of my life. Mass violence can flare up on the streets of East Timor at any time, anywhere. DON%26#39;T GO.
diving east timor
You can stay at Dili Beach Hotel (scruffy), which is directly next door to the Dive Timor dive school.
You will be as safe as anywhere, subject to normal common sense stuff. At moment you see lone women UN workers jogging in the evening.
There an english couple who run ';freeflow'; which is just up the road from the esplanada, which is prob best hotel here.
There is a backpacking place in central dili.
Regards Peter Gregory ... www.tourism.tl
I%26#39;m sorry Peter, but I strongly disagree with your post, and I think it%26#39;s irresponsible for you to claim that East Timor is ';as safe as anywhere.'; The Australian government currently has a travel advisory against unnecessary travel to East Timor, which states in part:
We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to East Timor at this time because of the fragile security situation and the risk of violent civil unrest. The situation could deteriorate without warning. There have been continuing incidents of gang-related violence, robbery, arson and vandalism in Dili. Australians and other foreigners have been caught up in incidents of armed robbery and assault. Some gangs in Dili have attacked cars with potentially lethal stones and darts fired from slingshots, particularly during the early evening and at night. You should exercise caution if using taxis. You should also avoid armed irregular groups, including martial arts groups, both in Dili and the districts.
For full text, please see:
smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/鈥ast_Timor
Peter, I understand you work for the Tourism Authority, but you know as well as I that East Timor is much too unstable to be a viable tourist destination at this time.
You must appreciate that times change. The way that people here behave is more of a useful guide than ';cover my arse'; comments from officials in Australia who may even have political motives for what they say.
I see UN people out on mountain bikes in isolated areas late in the afternoon. I see the PM holding a meeting which anyone can walk into and using public transport to move around sometimes. Yes there have been incidents but these are rare and such things occur in all countries.
I can go to areas here which i know will cause incident, but those people do not look for trouble, and I am not provoking them.
I was in a car 10 months ago which was approached by a mob, but that was then this is now. Things have moved on and things are progressing.
There are lots of hotels being built which I think shows where this is going.
Been reading both post. As far as national security is concerned, it is safe now, ever since the election of a new President and Prime Minister is finished last August or Sept, if my memories serve me right. The last i was there was in Sept.
Yank i do agree to some of your comments, but may i ask how many times have you visited Timor? Once? I%26#39;ve been there 6 times last year. Im going there either 1st week of Mar or April.
yes i do agree the Australian govertment advised people from going there but mainly to the Aussies due to political reasons which i prefer not to comment. i totally agree with Peter%26#39;s remarks on the Australian motives or whatever it is and other. comments.
at this stage, it is not as dangerous as what you commented. Things changed so is the Timoreste to some extend. Incident like that do occur anywhere anytime. Despite of all the turmoil and crisis that i personlly experience, Dili town is safe, lots of UN keepers patrols that area and other parts too.
LondonJuicer, decide yourself, personally Timor is an attractive undevelope country beside the ugly parts and scence which you have read at this post, given them some time, they will be next Bali.
Hi
I%26#39;m going in the same conditions to east timor next month (March) maybe we can exchange some ideas, i%26#39;m also investigating.I will fly to Jacarta, and trying to find the best flight to dili.
Get in contact ans good luck
P.s. what%26#39;s the size of your bagage?
I%26#39;m also going to australia
Hi
I%26#39;m going in the same conditions to east timor next month (March) maybe we can exchange some ideas, i%26#39;m also investigating.I will fly to Jacarta, and trying to find the best flight to dili.
Get in contact ans good luck
P.s. what%26#39;s the size of your bagage?
I%26#39;m also going to australia
To KayLiew:
I have been to Dili about 5 times in the last year, and have a lot of friends involved in security down there. Interesting that your post about how ';safe'; Dili is appeared two days before the shooting of the President and attempted assassination of the Prime Minister. Shoot-outs in the street: doesn%26#39;t sound safe to me.
As I said before, Timor is not ready for tourism YET. Yes, in 10 years or so it may be the next Bali, but not with the current political instability. I agree it is a beautiful country, but there are a lot of other beautiful countries where LondonJuicer can dive without compromising safety.
Hi I am a white female been living in Dili for many years, I have the best and the worst, and right now security is as good as it has ever been.
You can fly to Dili from Bali or take the bus from Kupang in west timor (a lot cheaper)
The diving here is amazing and rated as some of the best in the world!!!
The are afew cheap Hotels around, Venture Hotel, Tropical Hotel and a few nice guest houses.
Freeflow is a great place to learn diving check there web site
Come on over and have fun you won%26#39;t be disappointed
Hi LondonJuicer.
I%26#39;ve only just found this site but I can state that yank-in-sing hasn%26#39;t got a clue. My reply may be a bit biased as I run a dive company in Dili. It%26#39;s the FreeFlow. The diving here is fabulous. For the past three weeks I have dived every day, at least twice each day and on the week days ALL of my clients were tourists, including single females. Checkout swangodive at Lonely Planet ThornTree forum. Myself and my wife have lived here for 8 years now and would never consider leaving. The place is as safe for tourists as most places (Baghdad excepted) as Peter stated. Just use normal common sense. There are parts of New York and Washington I would never go to but I would%26#39;nt advise you not to visit the %26#39;states because of that.
You can email me at freeflowdiving@gmail.com and I%26#39;ll give you some more info. and some pics too.
regards
A fatpomintimor
