South Pacific advice/recommendations

I want to dive in the south pacific in July 2009. Open to suggestion/recommendation;

Price is an issue. Would like to keep the diving/lodging around $3000/person

Here are some places on my "hot list", but please make other suggestions.
Chuuk
Fiji
Palau
PNG
Yap

I hope this is not a once in a lifetime trip, but I am treating in that way as my "dive buddy" is my son and he is normally at sea about 10 months/year.

We are both photographers, so somewhere with good unlimited shore diving would not disappoint us as we can dive the same reef 10 times and always find something new.

So for instance are there such places in Chuuk where we could get boat dives to some of the wrecks, but shore dive the afternoons where we are staying?

Previous experience has been mostly the Carribean and a short trip to Baja last year. So the South Pacific is all new to us.

We are also planning on a few days before and after for topside viewing and hopefully meeting some locals.

Brad

ived dived Yap and really enjoyed it but we went specifically for mantas and i wouldnt go all that way again unless i did Truk or Palau as well. oh, and no shore diving in Yap

i think you are going to finid unlimited shore diving as a tough ask

may i suggest PNG, the Solomans, Nuie or Vanuatu... still the south pacific but you will also get more bang for your buck

cheers

Have you considered destinations in Indonesia and the Philippines? There are many great dive destinations that have great diving with a combination of boat and shore diving. Most resorts have a house reef where you can dive to your hearts content in between boat dives. There is outstanding diving in the northeast of Bali around Tulamben which is all shore diving as well.

Palau - big walls, fast currents and big fish. Few wreak and manta dives as well.
Chuuk - fantastic wreaks that are slowly becoming coral reefs. Probably my favourite dive location.

No shore dives in either. I would pick Chuuk over Palau: the walls at Palau got a bit repetitive after 10 days there.

If you love poking over the same patch of ground to find unusual critters and are into photography then I would also suggest lembeh in indonesia. Not a scenic place (mud/sand) but fantastic macro. Several resorts there may have ok house reefs (do a search here – the resorts have been discussed recently).

Cheers,
Rohan.

Where did you end up going?

Check out this website. Guam Dive Videos, Video Production, and Travel
Lots of videos of the region. Might give you some ideas. I'm the producer and travel there all the time. There is almost no shore diving anywhere in Micronesia.

Also, this website has some very, very good trip prices: Guam & Micronesia Pacific Scuba Diving.

Good luck.