Asia trip November to early december

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

bracko

Contributor
Messages
746
Reaction score
70
Location
sydney, Australia
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello :)

I need some help! my girlfriend and I live on other side of the planet, so coordination is hard for holidays. She can take leave from roughly the 1st of November (leaving Europe) to the 10th of December (landing in Europe), less roughly, but a day or 2 may be OK.

my dates are flexible. I work in Japan, so direct flights from Japan are preferred as my work hate me taking leave... Japanese work/life balance doesn't exist, let alone work/dive balance!

I have emailed a few liveaboards and all are full for roughly those dates (emails still coming in...).

Raja Ampat is where we want to get to, but it's looking quite hard. we're opening up to lots of different areas. either her or I have dived the following and expect a similar level of diving.... Palau, Truk, Komodo, Red Sea (Dahab), GBR (I'm Australian)... I think that's it.

on the list is the Philippians, Indo, potentially Micronesia... in order of preference due to accessibility. if there are other AAA dive areas that are possible then please suggest :)

any ideas/help would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Why not take a look at North Sulawesi - in that time frame you can do Lembeh, Bangka and Bunaken easily reached for both of you from Singapore > Manado. If RA is what you really want you could always do Misool land based.
 
As Wingy says, both of you fly into Singapore then on to Manado (no flights on Sunday and I think Thursday).

Alternatively both of you fly into Manila, no more flights and vary your diving between Puerto Galera, Anilao and Subic Bay for great variety of sites.
 
Philippines is a good option. You can also have a look at Coron- Batangas region. The diving there is great! WWII wrecks, healthy coral, great macro as well as some seriously big fish and pelagic. Cheers!
 
You don't say how long you have available or your budget. I am assuming 2 weeks (3 weekends) on your part and a good budget including flights
Depending on the budget Sipadan might be an option for 1 week and a second week on one of the islands near by Lankayan, Layang Layang, etc. see 10 best dive locations in Malaysia | FAQ | Wonderful Malaysia
All are easy to reach from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur so none of your precious time will be lost.
One big advantage of goung through Singapore is that you don't need to align your flights exactly. Your girlfriend can arrive early, or leave after you and spend a couple of days shopping in Singapore. Great shopping, very safe, good underground and taxi's, loads of choice. Worth spend a day there yourself to unwind. If you have frequent flyer miles look to book Rafles, fabulous, I don't have enough superlatives to describe that hotel.

Maybe look at Bali, you could dive a number of sites along the north coast, work your way round to Tulamben and then down to the Islands, include some land based activities along the way. From there if time and budget allows spend a week in Lembeh area before coming back.

If you are feeling adventurous maybe include a trip to Pulau We in Aceh, not well known but good if not great diving.

Oh boy am I getting envious.
 
Indeed, my apologies!

Trip is 10ish days. Budget is reasonably open, but we're not the type of people to stay at the newest 5star when there are beautiful beach huts down the road. We've both been on liveaboards before so we understand the value against the upfront cost.

Great suggestions. I'll have a chat with the lovely Frau and report back. Many thanks to everyone that has replied :)
 
I'd go for Palau ! Amazing diving, especially the big stuff, but the macro is great too. Not too bad to reach from Japan. I think you'd need to fly via Manila or Taiwan tho'. Check out Unique Dive Expeditions...
 
November offers a lot of flexibility in South-East Asian dive places. Raja Ampat is a leading candidate of course, but Philippines (Borocay, Coron Bay, Apo Reef etc), Thailand (the Phuket neighbourhood, preferably in the latter part of November or early December), Wakatobi etc are places worth considering. IMO, it might be a trifle early for West Pacific destinations like Truk Lagoon or Palau if you are looking for ideal diving conditions; January-February would be more like it for those.

If the Indian Ocean is within consideration for your trip, Maldives are an ideal place to go.
 
Raja Ampat is where we want to get to, but it's looking quite hard. we're opening up to lots of different areas. either her or I have dived the following and expect a similar level of diving.... Palau, Truk, Komodo, Red Sea (Dahab), GBR (I'm Australian)... I think that's it.

on the list is the Philippians, Indo, potentially Micronesia... in order of preference due to accessibility. if there are other AAA dive areas that are possible then please suggest :)

any ideas/help would be appreciated.

if you have limited time the Phillipines is a good choice, as Searcaigh says Peurto Galera, Anilao, and Subic as easily accessed without more flights/time. In Indonesia similar is Bali with Nusa Penida/Lembongan, Tulamben offering easy quick access with no more internal flights.
If you are going for the whole month than you can easily venture wide and far. The Philippines are a great value for extended trips, and on land Indonesia can be done for a decent budget, or do Raja Ampat from land, there might be openings. I do early November trips annually and there always seems to be fewer crowds and easier bookings before the holidays set in.

Raja Ampat liveaboards book up far in advance, so I know how you feel. ( I just booked a trip for Nov 2015)
 
Bubble junkie, the quickest way from Japan is through Guam.

All, as of this morning we've decided to head to the GBR, which is a second time for me but up to osprey reef instead of the 3 day trip I've already done. Reason being that we're going to Sydney as well for family. Unfortunately not my first choice but it fits well and I haven't seen my family in a while.

Thanks for the advice, I've bookmarked this thread as we will be travelling Asia again in 2015 especially if I keep working in Japan.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom