Recommend me some dive sites

I was wondering if someone could give me some recommendations on where to dive. The total trip time would be about 2 weeks so multiple destinations are possible. I'm looking for diversity of sites, cheapness, and a location that is in between singapore and san francisco (travel wise)

If you haven't dived Maui, it seems to fit into the profile you outlined. You have a variety of accomodations to choose from - pay as much or little as you want to. It's some of the best shore diving there is, so you don't HAVE to go on a boat. But, there are places to go by boat that you just can't get to from shore ... like Molokini and Lanai. Try Maui Dive Shop for gear rentals, and, if you feel you can spring for a boat, try Ed Robinson's for Maui boat diving and Extended Horizons for a run over to Lanai. I don't think you'll find any great discounts available with either of the boat operations, but it never hurts to ask. Go get wet!!
Eric. :tree: :tree:

Aloha Burner,
My two cents worth to you about Hawaii diving is as follows:shades:
Should I go to Hawaii to Scuba Dive? The answer is yes and no.
I have lived and dived on Maui for the past ten years. My choice of Maui as a permanent residence after retiring included several factors, not just scuba diving.
Over the years I dove in Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel, Fiji, and Palau. That gives me some dive experiences in both the Caribbean and the Pacific to compare Hawaii with. I consider all those other locations to be “world class” dive locations. While I consider the scuba diving in some parts of Hawaii to be good, I do not consider it to be “world class”.
Therefore, in my opinion, if one takes a trip solely for diving then I would not choose Hawaii. If one takes a trip for any number of other reasons and wants to include some scuba diving, then Hawaii is a good choice.

Gilligan once bubbled...
Hawaii,
I do not consider it to be “world class”.
Therefore, in my opinion, if one takes a trip solely for diving then I would not choose Hawaii. If one takes a trip for any number of other reasons and wants to include some scuba diving, then Hawaii is a good choice.

Click to expand...

I totally agree with this statement, we've never dove the Pacific before until recently, although we've been to the Red Sea and the Indian off of South Africa, I would not consider calling Hawaii a world class dive area. Australia (from which we have recently returned) has alot more to offer in way of marine life, the Coral Sea was world class. Diving Hawaii after the Coral Sea and the GBR made Hawaii look pretty denuded of marine life.
Some people may feel Hawaii is awesome and it does have some good diving like the outside of Molokini Crater, but, where's the fish? I think there is a problem in Hawaii, they are allowing fish to be taken off the reef for resale in aquarium retail stores, and this is not helping Hawaii at all.

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

Caymaniac I am no marine biologist but you have made a very "akamai" (smart) observation about Hawaii as respects a problem with fish taken for aquariums. While there are surely other reasons for their demise nevertheless there are approximately one million fish a year collected statewide for aquarium purposes. I asked one of the collectors here if the mortality rate of these fish in the longrun was in the 50% range. He looked at me and said, "more like 100% or why would I be constantly collecting . People buy em, they die, and they buy em again." Sorry for the rant but you struck a cord as I have seen the demise in reef fish in only the ten years I have lived here.
:shades:

Sadly, there are a lot of problems in tropical marine waters all over the world with aquarium trade collecting practices. At least Hawaii does not, as far as I know, have the same problem with cyanide collecting as other parts of the world do. In addition to destroying sections of the reef, the fatality rate for fish collected using this method - those that survived the initial poisoning - was indeed 100%. A slow, torturous death. Many marine aquarists have banded together to try and stamp out the trade - certainly no responsible aquarist wants to see such a vicious, inhumane means of collecting.

Unfortunately, unlike with many freshwater fishes, comparatively few marine species are bred in captivity. There are a handful, such as some types of anenomefish, but by and large they are wild caught. There is a certain deplorable attitude among some irresponsible individuals to treat these fish as 'disposable.' One of the worst examples I can think of is Moorish Idols. These fish simply do not survive in captivity. Not even major public aquariums can keep them successfully. And yet I'm sickened to walk into aquarium shops and see them for sale, knowing that each and every one of them is going to die a painful death as their dietary needs are not fully understood. Again, responsible aquarium shops refuse to sell them. Others treat them as being as disposable as cut flowers in a florist.

Not to change the subject since the collecting practices of reef fish is something that would make an excellent thread on its own, but I'd like to comment on dive sites...

Australia was mentioned a few posts ago, and I'd like to second the fact that this was an incredible experience for me. Back in '99 I spend a few days (although I could have spend the entire trip here!) on Heron Island, located on the Great Barrier Reef near the southern-most point of the actual marine park. The diving was incredible!

In fact, the entire island was incredible! You get there either by helicoptor or catamaran from Gladstone. When we were there, it was $300 AU/night, but it's all-inclusive except for alcohol. The dive boats were never overcrowded and always inexpensive, and we saw tons of marine life: nurse sharks, blacktip reef sharks, a huuuuuge manta ray, butterflies, anemones, sea turtles, etc...

Depending on the time of year you go, you can also witness sea turtles nesting/hatching (without lights of course!), whales migrating just off-shore, and I forget what else. It's a very natural setting, and you can learn a lot by joining in on reef walks, snorkeling from shore, fishing - the boat takes you just outside the actual park, so you can legally catch dinner. I caught quite a few different species including something called a rock fish, I believe. That must have been the ugliest thing I've ever seen! I did catch a coral trout that I took back to the island and had prepared for us for dinner that night. That was yummy!!

Some day when I take my husband to Australia, I will definitely look into going back to Heron Island.

Thanks for the replies. I want to avoid Hawaii as I just got back from there. Australia sounds like it might be pretty nice, although its quite a long flight. Any other suggestions?

Or do you want the shortest trip between Singapore and SF?

I did a trip on a round-the-world ticket a couple of years ago out of Europe: London-Singapore-Australia-Vanuatu-Fiji-North America.

On this, I did a liveaboard out of Cairns, then onto Vanuatu to do the Coolidge and to dive Kadavu in Fiji.

I am based in Cairns now and I can tell you a liveaboard out north and further out is the only way to dive here. They're plentiful and price-wise, reasonable. Vanuatu was incredible and dives and accom weren't too expensive. You can get around relatively cheap in Fiji (cheaper than Hawaii anyways).

So it really depends on budget and routing of your ticket. Have fun searching!!

Lou

Budget isn't a huge concern. (I mean as long as its reasonable. I would expect it to be around the same price as Hawaii or cheaper)
The person I'm meeting is currently in Singapore so it would be nice if the place was somewhere in the middle. I definitely want to have a good weeks worth of diving that has some variety, I would hate to get somewhere and always dive the same airplane wreck or something like that.
Maybe a week in one location and 3 or 4 days in another location would be ideal.
Maybe a week in Australia and a few days in Fiji?