1 month off work in May/June, where to go??

[glocklt4]

I have a full month off next year - either May or June. At first we were going to go to Europe and tour around France, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, etc... but now that the wife is AOW certified, we both have the scuba bug big time after honeymooning in Taveuni, Fiji and getting in lots of diving.

So now we are looking to Australia for the great barrier reef. Going to Sydney of course to see it while we're so far over there, then head to Cairns as our access to diving (is there a better place to go?), and then on to Bali to continue diving and for some great scenery. Not sure that we would have time for anywhere else at this point.

Anyone have any advice for a trip like this? Trying to aim around $5-7k budget I think (excluding airfare - plenty of AA miles should get us around)

[Rhone Man]

Wow, so many options. Fiji has world class diving (as you probably know). So close to Truk Lagoon (relatively)... Also great diving in Thailand and the Phillipines. If I was that close to Vanuatu, I am not sure I could resist a trip to see the President Coolidge. Sorry, I just have sensory overload...

You are one lucky SOB. Have a blast!

[gypsyjim]

There are a couple of SB members, Thanksforallthefish, and Bowlofpetunias that post here from down under. Drop them a PM?

[glocklt4]

Wow, so many options. Fiji has world class diving (as you probably know). So close to Truk Lagoon (relatively)... Also great diving in Thailand and the Phillipines. If I was that close to Vanuatu, I am not sure I could resist a trip to see the President Coolidge. Sorry, I just have sensory overload...

You are one lucky SOB. Have a blast!

yes, it's very tempting to just stay in Taveuni again! We are young (late 20's) and have so many more places to explore though and would really like to check out more countries.

Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon looks pretty amazing. No idea how we would even get there though. We just got married recently so savings are pretty depleated. We are going to try as hard as we can to only take flights that we can get covered by miles (around 400k between us). I guess I'll have to look into codeshares that could get us to some places like these!

[glocklt4]

There are a couple of SB members, Thanksforallthefish, and Bowlofpetunias that post here from down under. Drop them a PM?

Thanks, I'll hit 'em up!

[glocklt4]

So somehow I just discovered that OneWorld award tickets with AA let you do as many stop overs as you want. They just charge you miles at a rate for the actual flown miles. I think that is going to come in extremely handy for planning this trip!

[Rhone Man]

So somehow I just discovered that OneWorld award tickets with AA let you do as many stop overs as you want. They just charge you miles at a rate for the actual flown miles. I think that is going to come in extremely handy for planning this trip!

Oneworld does have a very favourable mileage programme. You are pretty well set up in that part of the world with Cathay and Qantas.

[glocklt4]

Oneworld does have a very favourable mileage programme. You are pretty well set up in that part of the world with Cathay and Qantas.

Yep, especially with their business class service! Need to get to booking pretty soon before it fills up.

[kathydee]

$5-$7K total or each? $5K for a month for both, basically equals $80 a day.

This will go quickly if two people are diving non-stop. May-June is beautiful weather in Indonesia where your dollar will stretch much father than in Australia.

Bali Indonesia is fun and easy with diverse diving & a great top side scene, Northern Sulewesi also has beautiful diving - try Living Colors in Bunakan & then check out Lembeh for exotic critters. I think you'd be very happy with this trip - but might want to toss in a week at Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo.

It's nice to land in Singapore for a few days to shake off jet lag.

Philippines has great diving too, but weather at that time of year can be questionable. It's off season.

[glocklt4]

$5-$7K total or each? $5K for a month for both, basically equals $80 a day.

This will go quickly if two people are diving non-stop. May-June is beautiful weather in Indonesia where your dollar will stretch much father than in Australia.

Bali Indonesia is fun and easy with diverse diving & a great top side scene, Northern Sulewesi also has beautiful diving - try Living Colors in Bunakan & then check out Lembeh for exotic critters. I think you'd be very happy with this trip - but might want to toss in a week at Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo.

It's nice to land in Singapore for a few days to shake off jet lag.

Philippines has great diving too, but weather at that time of year can be questionable. It's off season.

Thanks for the reply. Aiming for $5-7k total - but yes, starting to realize that may be low. I am not certain that we will get in as much diving as you may be thinking though. Diving will be a huge part of the trip, but not primary purpose (i.e. 3-4 dives every day). If we did that much diving every day of the month I'm sure that would be a pretty penny, ha! Hotels in Indonesia appear to be good prices, Australia may not be. We are going to try to keep our food and hotel budgets down if we can though.

[kathydee]

Expect dives to be about $25-$35 each.

You can shore dive on the north side of bali in tulamben for $6 a tank - a few minute kick takes you to the SS Liberty. Farthest West shop in Tulamben is named Puri Madha - basic rooms are $6-$7 night - nicer bungalows are $22, you can often rent local boats for $10 each to get to sites farther away. It's an excellent base but bring your own equipment as their rental gear is questionable.

Stay at Kerti Inn for about $10 per night (basic room) in Padangbai Bali and dive with the shop which suits you best. Many shops there.

Look at diving with Living Color in Bunakan Sulewesi - great shop, but stay at their indonesian partners place next door Lorenzo II for $18 including food per night. Great evening snorkling.

Lembeh will cost more but places like Two Fish are affordable on that budget. You will want some days topside to dry out and travel, so realistically you wont be in the water every day. Consult the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum for budget travel tips & have fun
;-)!

You can do pretty well in the Philippines during off season too. Look into Apo Island and try to arrange a hut in the town, post in the PI regional SB forum more more recommendations but beware of solicitations.

Have fun and feel free to PM me :)! Your budget may be ok if you spend most the cash on scuba. I found 3-4 days diving and 2 off works well when diving for that duration ;-).

[thanksforallthefish]

Hi There

If you want some help just rattle our cages and or post a thread in the aussie diving sectionn.

Dont know a lot about the GBR, but there are a number of people on SB that do.

We can probably help you out with some cheap diving in Sydney if you want, quite a lot of shore dives in and around Sydney, would not guarantee it but there is a pretty good chance we can find you a weedy sea dragon or two :)

[glocklt4]

Thanks guys - busy with work and family so I will try to get some PM's over to you over the weekend.

[glocklt4]

Ok, quick update. Here is what we've been able to get on a 5-day hold as of now. Will poll you guys for more info a bit later.

Hong Kong - 4 days
Singapore - 2.5-3 days (Can optionally remove this and do 5 in HK, 12 in Bali)
Bali - 10 days
Cairns - 8 days
Sydney - 4.5 days

150k miles for business class all the way.

[Sharka]

Hey I am just a nobody passing by – I don’t know much about Oz diving but I am originally from HK and have been to Singapore and Bali several times before so I can give you some perspective on the first half of your trip. I would suggest you cut out either HK or Singapore from your trip if you are going to Bali afterward. Allocate more days to your trip in Bali. Both HK and Singapore are ok interesting Asian cities, you can find some ok interesting attractions and good local food to occupy you a couple of days but that’s it, and lodging there is expensive. I would choose the city that’s more convenient for you based on your airline miles.

Bali is cheaper and has plenty of things to do (diving / hiking / cultural dances / beaches / surfing / cooking class / temples). Lodging there is very very cheap - if you do your research properly you will find comfortable rooms for $25 a day. You can even go to $10 a day if you do hostel style lodging or forgo A/C. Local warung style food is cheap cheap cheap ($1-3 USD for nasi campur). It’s a big island too so you’ll need at least 2 weeks to see it properly. As other suggested – Tulamben is a cheap (and good) diving spot to spend several days, afterward if you want to see some real sandy beaches you can head out to Kuta and Nusa Dua (much more touristy), or go to the North if you want to get away from it all. Finally head out to Ubud and soak up all the essence of Bali. Make sure you go to Ibu Oka for lunch! ($2 USD for babi guling combo – that was the best meal we’ve had on our honeymoon and I went to a lot of other restaurants that cost 10x more!) If you budget accordingly you may even be able to afford a spa treatment in Ubud (I swear the upper/mid-range hotel charges $60 for a 1 hour massage, so if you go to a locally run spa you can get $25 per massage)

If you want more good and cheap diving after Bali, I would head out to Lembeh/Bunaken. There are some local airlines that fly between Manado and Bali (return is around $150 pp). Lembeh/Bunaken has no topside attractions but diving is great (and cheap!). It really depends how much diving you want to do. It’s definitely cheaper to dive in Indonesia than Oz. (I love Oz too, but it’s just a much more expensive destination and you seem to be on a tight budget) Look for B&B or hostel style accommodation when you are staying in Cairns.

[glocklt4]

Thanks very much for the info! Unfortunately we are not able to cut HK out of the trip. The OneWorld Award we are doing requires us to go through there in order to get over towards Bali. Since we have never been and have been wanting to for quite a while, we figured we might as well stay for a few days to check it out en-route.

All of the Bali info is great! I've started doing some research on Tulamben and Lembeh, but i'll have to google some of the other places (and WORDS!) you've mentioned haha.

[asha]

Definitely spend a day or two diving in Sydney. We did on our way to the GBR and it turned out to be the most memorable aspect of our Australia trip.

[glocklt4]

Thanks, I didn't even know there was much diving around Sydney itself. It will be pretty chilly when we are there in June!

[asha]

We went in July of 09. I only had my 3mm and a 7/5 hood (hardly seemed worth bringing an extra suit for a day or two), and I lived... water temps were in the 60s F, if I remember correctly. Lots of really interesting, unique things to see.

[asha]

One other thought on the GBR: we did a relatively "inexpensive" liveaboard out of Cairns last July that stayed on the inner reef--frequently within day-trip range. The sites were nice enough, but crowded, and loaded with juvenile fish. If we had it to do over again (and the budget, obviously), we'd go to the outer reef instead in search of the bigger stuff. On a 5-7k budget for the month, this might not be feasible, but worth noting. Additionally, I believe GBR boats also leave out of Port Douglas.

[glocklt4]

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll definitely do more research. We are only in Sydney for about 4 days, so if we do not get around to it, we will definitely be back there and to other parts of Australia again relatively soon I'm sure.

[glocklt4]

One other thought on the GBR: we did a relatively "inexpensive" liveaboard out of Cairns last July that stayed on the inner reef--frequently within day-trip range. The sites were nice enough, but crowded, and loaded with juvenile fish. If we had it to do over again (and the budget, obviously), we'd go to the outer reef instead in search of the bigger stuff. On a 5-7k budget for the month, this might not be feasible, but worth noting. Additionally, I believe GBR boats also leave out of Port Douglas.

Good to know. Yeah, we are having a bit of sticker shock on the liveaboards for GBR from what I've found so far. I'll make sure that we stick to the outter reef area. Sounds like we are going to end up extending our budget possibly...

[OnTheSpot]

Just had to put in my two cents worth about liveaboards to Ribbon Reefs and Cod Hole as well as Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea.....

Diving in Australia at Osprey Reef, you will marvel at the sheer size of the gorgonian fans and catch sight of marine life such as green and loggerhead turtles, both of which are listed as being conservation dependent. Chances of encountering a manta ray or an eagle ray are good, as these are regularly seen in the area thanks to the reef acting as a huge magnet, drawing in vast amounts of marine life from the surrounding blue.

Also seen at Osprey Reef are some of the big-ones such as whale sharks, beaked whales, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, sailfish and marlin. You may be lucky enough to have these visiting whilst you are enjoying your Great Barrier Reef diving, but regardless, you will still get to enjoy the huge schools of barracuda and tuna.

Plus, not to be missed is the resident shark population whose large numbers ensure that these adrenalin-filled wall dives will be among your highlights whilst scuba diving Australia.

Join Spoilsport or Spirit of Freedom and do the four night trip to include Osprey Reef (or the seven night trip if you sell the farm). June and July offer perfect conditons - minke whales on the Ribbon Reefs.

You are flying business class so why not dive first class?