Best Pacific warm water destination suggestions

[Parbon]

Hello! This is my first post on ScubaBoard. We want to dive the Pacific for the first time, prefer warm water and would be going in the winter months. We will be traveling from the U.S. any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Cthippo]

Welcome to the board.

As for warm water, all I can say is "Not here!"

 

[Fibonacci]

Welcome to Scuba Board!
There's plenty of warm water destinations in the Pacific... but in order to offer useful suggestions we are going to need a few more details:
Length of stay... travel to some of the more remote sites will eat into your holiday significantly
Level of experience... air, nitrox, rebreather etc
What you want to see... WWII wrecks, big fish, sharks, soft or hard corals, muck diving etc
Land based or LOB vessel?
Level of creature comforts expected... Four star ensuite with crisp white sheets and AC or in a woven mat hut with fan and no hot water?

 

[Parbon]

We are both rescue certified, haven’t done nitric but plan to soon…we want to make the most of the trip and not spend 3 days traveling. We aren’t big wreck or muck fans, but can really appreciate creatures big and small… live aboard or land based is fine, not high maintenance but would like to avoid bugs and have ac to sleep… any suggestions?

 

[Fibonacci]

For the 'trip of a lifetime' I'd recommend diving PNG at Walindi Resort and/or their liveaboard MV Oceania if budget allows (the alternative MV Febrina is cheaper but getting a bit tired now... ex-prawn trawler origins starting to show vs the purpose designed MV Oceania)
Varied diving incl huge fan corals, shoaling barracuda and the iconic Zero fighter... I've been To Walindi twice and aboard MV Febrina from there to Rabaul and can highly recommend it.

Walindi Plantation Resort - Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea

Walindi Plantation Resort, a boutique family owned Dive Resort on the shores of Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea (PNG) offering world-class Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Tours and Birdwatching.

walindiresort.com

Walindi Plantation Resort - Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea

The dive liveaboards, MV FeBrina and MV Oceania, offer a variety of itineraries throughout the year to dive the best of what is on offer in Papua New Guinea.

walindiresort.com

From Australia I'd say Mike Ball Expeditions for Far North Queensland (FNQ) outer reefs and big fish like Potato Cod from MV Spoilsport.
I've not dived with them yet but two friends have recently and highly recommend them.

Leading the way in the Australian dive industry since 1969

Cairns liveaboard scuba diving expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef, Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea aboard world-class liveaboard 'Spoilsport' with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions from Cairns, Australia.

www.mikeball.com

 

[kinoons]

I’ve dove around Maui and lanai several times. I haven’t dove the big island or Oahu, but there is easily two-three weeks worth of diving around the islands.

Several awesome dive sites can be reached from the shore to help keep the cost down quite a bit. The shop I just used on Maui, Maui Divers, charged $60 for a ten tank rental card. Weights were $5 a day.

I’ve also dove a little off of Tahiti and Bore Bora. Tahiti was a little meh, Bora Bora I did enjoy quite a bit more.

 

[rmorgan]

Fibonacci‘s right about PNG in my view, but it is assuredly three days of travel, not including the day you lose to the international dateline (awe left home Sunday afternoon, left LAX for Sydney late that evening, got to Australia Tuesday, flew to PNG Wednesday, got stuck for a night and got to Walindi Thursday morning.). One of the easiest places to get to from the US, with daily 10-11 hour nonstops from LAX and SFO, is Fiji. Our winter is their summer, so visibility may be down a bit, but the trade is warmer water. If you are liveaboard-curious, the NAI’A is outstanding; VoliVoli Resort is also very good.

 

[LFMarm]

Truck Lagoon, Palau, Bikini