Bucket list?

[Searcaigh]

A very subjective question, and for me something that changes frequently, usually more stuff being added.

I managed to dive a couple of aircraft wrecks this year in Subic Bay but I still want to dive the AJ-2 Savage and the F4 Phantom, I would even go back and dive the Tabby and Skyraider again.

On my list of wreck destinations;

SS Yongala, QLD, Australia hopefully in November
HMS Hermes, Sri Lanka hopefully in 2017
HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, Malaysia
Scapa Flow, Scotland
Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Wrecks around Vanuatu
Wrecks in Port Philip Bay, Melbourne, Australia
Some wrecks in Florida should I return there.
And hundreds of other wrecks around the globe.

Non wreck dive locations

Did BHB in Florida this year so that one was struck off and I will dive it again if I have the opportunity
Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Tubbataha Reef in Philippines
Ningaloo, Australia

The problem is there are so many good places and I like to dive them again and again. Having been to Lembeh Straits three times already, I wouldn't hesitate to return again, the muck diving is incredible, but I am sure there are other places around the world that might match it, in particular around Indonesia.

 

[Marie13]

The Great Lakes are in my backyard (and I'm a Michigan native), so my goal is to dive all the GL, even Superior! I plan to do Thunder Bay/Alpena, MI/Lake Huron next summer

And I hope to get out on Lake Michigan before the end of this season (my OW dives are this weekend!) as there are a few shallow wrecks great for newbies.

I'd like to do Florida over the winter, but I'm a cold weather gal, so FL in the summer holds little appeal for me.

 

[TMHeimer]

Easy. 2 places on the Mexico Pacific side, Tobago, Jamaica and Antigua. These are the total places I found on the internet years ago where is is legal and there is a dive op that allows shell collecting. Oh yeah, certain parts of the GBR, if I ever have the money for that.
Forgot that Tortuga may be out. Forgot that I think that's where the shop closed for a while because the owner (?) was bitten by a shark while diving. Hmmm--see "Shark" threads.

 

[Wingy]

I try not to return to the same places to dive over and over.....but damn you Chicken Reef and Mayhem in Raja Ampat..here I go again for the third time although this time is a Banda sea trip. As chillyincanada put it..i travel to dive, im not a vacation dive. Im knocking off some of those subjective bucketlist destinations - I love the passes in French Polynesia, I love Milne Bay in PNG, I love Poor Knights in NZ, I grew with ningaloo as our family beach. As an Aussie, of course ive done the GBR and Ive done the Yongala. Its a deserving addition to lists I would say. I have just got back from the wrecks of Vanuatu..the Coolidge is one helluva dive, id recommend it even if you are not a wreck head, i consider myself sort of a critter topography type person. I found blue holes and caves to dive in remotest south pacific, that was awesome although incredibly unsafe. I love diving in geothermally active areas - show me a subsea volcano and im in it if i will fit. I am apparently doing Norway and/or Iceland in winter. Malta too which is a very recent development. I did Madagascar in cyclone season and loved it, as much as I love Bangka Island in N. Sulawesi in the wrong season. I loved Sipidan, The Similans, Burma banks and Merguiis years ago, i hope but fear that they are not the same.

Perhaps that is the reason I try not to visit a place more than once..and im still searching for that perfect dive. Ive had some awesome ones, but there has to be better ones doesnt there?

I want to do Cocos and Galapagos and Palau. Id like to do more of east Africa. I want to dive with Marine Iguanas, Otters and Penguins. As a destination, Madagascar is one place where ive felt that that is exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment in time. Ive only ever felt that at Rangiroa. I hope to return to both those places.

Im having a ball sending myself broke being a vacation diver ......you cant take it with you. Lists are subjective, make your own up as you go.

 

[Rapid Star]

In no order...
1. Wreck Diving in Lake Michigan
2. End of Feb 2017 Cayman Islands
3. Local diving: Pearl Lake, Gilboa Quarry
4. Summer of 2018 Socorro Mexico aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie
5. South Africa Sodwana Bay, Bass Lake, Cape Town
6. Florida - Keys and Crystal River
7. Georgia - Whale Sharks at the Georgia Aquarium
8. Belgium - Nemo 33
9. Germany - Lake Constance (Bodensee)

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Alright so here is how I view it. In order to enjoy diving do you really need to travel far? Yes but ...

Great Lakes are the most under-rated wreck diving destination. They should rank in the same league as "Truuk" and Bikini Atoll. True most of these are not war wrecks but the preservation is mind boggling. I plan to spend a lot of my life diving these so my primary "bucket list" is Great Lakes.

What other bucket list places can I go to without going very far? Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine is known for some great diving but does not get a lot of mention. Caves in Florida are on my bucket list. Channel Islands in California. Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri.

If these are not far enough or expensive enough to be classified as "bucket list" then I would add:

Socorro
Maldives
Fiji
Komodo
Raja Ampat
Philippines

etc etc

 

[Bratface]

Truk Lagoon

 

[Rocknrone]

uss oriskany

Bonne terre mine

 

[dirtfarmer]

Right now my list is short.
PNG especially a muck LOB in Milne Bay.

 

[Eric T Lewis]

I'd like to try the Arctic. Don't know if it's feasible. I see those incredible underwater shots of icebergs in crystal blue water, seals, and fish...it looks pretty cool (no pun intended.)

Problems:
Extreme cold can freeze up regulators.
I'd probably need a dry suit and a parka underneath.
I have heard that sea lions are extremely aggressive and dangerous.

All the same, that would be my bucket list dive.