Dive Trip Locations, Recommendations Please, Experienced Divers

[tracydr]

There's a Livaboard around the Pemba Island archipelago which I a well off the beaten trail great for macro, very healthy, untouched reef, except for a few reefs damaged by dynamite fishing. I went there shortly after my divorce and had a wonderful time. It's mainly drift diving, some crazy currents but mostly relaxed drift diving. Lots lo octopi,rays,eels and the huge nudibranch-Spanish dancers, which are amazing to see free swimming at night. I believe they are the largest nudibranchs in the world and they swim together in pairs which is amazing to see.

 

[jake11]

Another vote for Bali and Komodo! You will have a great mix of both macro and big stuff!!!! Very easy to combine LOB and land based. In fact, almost every time we have been to Indonesia it has been a LOB and land based combination!! Have fun!!!

 

[Dive Wananavu Fiji]

Bula Pwogger,
September to December is a great time to visit many areas in the S.Pac, especially Fiji. Our tradewinds start to die down around this time which means nicer ocean conditions for scuba diving and we are still out of the "rainy season." Our rainy season is really afternoon thundershowers with nice blue bird days. Fiji is a great area to be able to visit a variety of diving without too many puddle jumping flights. From the main island Viti Levu you can board three liveaboards (Nai'a, Island Dancer and now Siren), then dive around the main island with areas like the Bligh Water (where we dive), Beqa Lagoon for the shark dive. We will often have divers split their holiday between Wananavu (us) and Beqa Lagoon Resort to see their famous sharks. We have also worked with guests staying aboard the Nai'a to arrange a transfer on the Nai'a's last night which is usually spent outside our resort. This makes it easy to avoid the transfer from Nadi back to the Sun Coast.

There are also some great diving if you want to fly to other islands like Kadavu, or Taveuni. But you can spend more than a week diving around the main island with little to no hassle other than boarding a private transfer. Good luck with your wedding plans and please let us know if you have any questions about us or Fiji.

Cheers,
Chris, Vicky and the Dive Wananavu Team

 

[Kevrumbo]

Looking for something outside the box.

Newly engaged Divemasters planning a honeymoon and we have a time frame of say September to December 2014 in mind.

We have never been to the South Pacific, Southeast Asia part of the world so that's probably what we're looking for.
Welcome all suggestions though as we can really go anywhere with proper planning.

The priorities, I guess would be something off the beaten path and split time between liveaboard and dive resort.
Liveaboard maybe 4-5 nights and then dive resort with maybe a hut over the water.

Thanks in advance. Outside the box!

Peace

Using USA Territory of Guam as your hub, island hop across tropical Micronesia/Oceania/Australia/SE Asia.

Easy "Beginner Itinerary" to start: The incredible walls, corals, schooling big fish/pelagics/sharks & drift dives of Palau, then Guam hub, and finally to the beautifully soft coral adorned Truk Lagoon WWII Wrecks in Chuuk. No currency exchange needed -all use US dollars. Flights are easy to book online with United Airlines out of mainland Pacific Gateways such as San Francisco/Los Angeles -or even Denver to Tokyo whenever they get that Dreamliner 787 fixed. Whatever is left in the travel budget, add a couple days stopover in Oahu/Pearl Harbor/Honolulu-Waikiki Beach on the way back to the mainland to gradually "re-acclimatize" back to hectic urban life. . .

Palau Visitors Authority - About Palau
Federated States of Micronesia - Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae
Guam travel guide - Wikitravel

Spa stuff for the newlywed Bride in Palau:
http://www.palauppr.com/spa-en.html

http://www.samstours.com/
Ocean Hunter I & III - Palau's most luxurious liveaboards
http://www.dive-truklagoon.com/
Scuba Diving Truk Lagoon Aboard Odyssey. The best way to explore Truk Lagoon in Micronesia​

 

[pwogger]

WOW!
Thank you all, really. We will (and already have started) explore every suggestion.

 

[kentrobin]

I've been diving for nearly 25 years and have been all through Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central America, South Pacific and Micronesia. The best places IMHO are: Indonesia, PNG and Palau. I am not a liveaboard fan, but all of these places have both liveaboard and land based options. In Indonesia I have been to Wakatobi, Siladen and Gangga. Of the three, I liked Wakatobi the best (although the others were good) - my next trip to Indonesia though will be to Raja Ampat. In PNG we went to Tawali (Milne Bay) and Walindi Plantation (Kimbe Bay) both were great. Both Indonesia and PNG have reef or muck diving and both are interesting cultural experiences as well. In Palau we dove with Sam's Tour's and stayed at the Palau Pacific. Dives are typically wall dives with current. Fiji is good (better than the Caribbean) but these three places are better.

 

[pwogger]

Keep 'em coming.
We appreciate the suggestions and promise are following up on each and every one!
I think a Palau/Yap combo or Fiji are currently at the top of the list but Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines are still very much on the short list.
We're also welcoming suggestions for operators so if there's one out there that may not show up on a google search, we'd love to hear about it.

 

[jake11]

We also LOVED Palau! Great choice!!!

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Some nice suggestions. Red Sea is a good choice, and relatively safe despite the turmoil in Egypt. Raj Amphat is nice with both liveaboard and great land options from Sarong. For the time you are looking at South Africa is great if you like sharks. You can Start in Cape Town doing cage diving at Gansbaai (also a ton of whales at that time) Move up to Protea banks and Aliwal Shoal, and even include a few days of Game Safaris. Two weeks land inclusive of diving accom and safaris will set you back less than $3000pp. Flights are reasonable from Washington. You could also choose to include Tofo beach.

---------- Post added October 29th, 2013 at 10:54 AM ----------

 

[hutchinson12]

I recently did a trip this August to Fiji & Tonga which I would highly recommend. We started with a week in Tonga swimming with the Humpback Whales. (Seasonal, July - October) This was snorkelling but you get so close to these amazing mammals and there calves which was an unforgettable experience. There is also diving available which was ok but did not compare to Fiji although hearing the Whales singing whilst diving was very magical. We took the short flight to Fiji and had a few days in Taveuni. This is the most beautiful diving I have ever done in terms of colour and corals. The rainbow reef is so stunning and the amount of fish is unbelievable. The Great White Wall is a fantastic divesite. I would highly recommend 'Nakia resort and Dive' We then went on to do the shark dive in Pacific harbour. I would recommend Beqa adventure divers if you do this. There are many places I wish to visit but this is one trip I would repeat and extend my stay in Taveuni. I would also recommend doing a Liveaboard in Komodo, Maldives or Palau.....all fantastic diving. You wouldn't be disappointed.