Planning a 6 week diving trip to SE Asia

[Karan Varshnei]

Hey Guys!

My wife and I just got back from Bali with our fresh PADI Open Water licence and needless to say, we're hooked! We've dived before (a little in Malaysia) but those were just fun dived and were nothing great. The diving off Bali really opened my eyes and I'm hungry for more!

I'm now planning on taking a 6 week sabbatical from work and packing our bags and heading to SE Asia for a long diving trip. As I'll be on unpaid leave, I'd like to keep costs down (keep away from the heavily touristed areas) though I also want to do a few liveaboards.

Been thinking of this only for 2-3 days so this is what I have so far.. really need people who know the area to jump in please!

Start off in Phuket with a Similan Islands Liveaboard for 5 nights
Head over to Koh Tao and maybe do the Advanced Open Water + Rescue Diver + DiveMaster course (only 6 days)
Head back to Bali for a cpl days diving in surrounding areas. Nusa Pedina is pretty cool
Maybe a liveabord in Komodo for 3-4 days?
Head over to the Philippines - no clue where yet. Ideas?

Again, I'm as blue as they come but very very eager! Naturally I'd like to keep the dive sites shallow and not too technical so looking accordingly for areas.

All recommendations are helpful. Thanks guys!

Cheers,
Karan

 

[Bubble Junky]

I would get the AOW done before , or whilst on, the liveaboard from Phuket (or maybe from Khao Lak).

The AOW and Rescue might take 6 days, but the DM course takes much longer - best to allow at least a month for this.

After Phuket, have a look at Pulau Weh for some dives - much better diving than Koh Tao. From Pulau Weh, it's pretty easy to get domestic flights on to Bali...

 

[Rhone Man]

So many fantastic options. For the Philippines, I'd give earnest consideration to either going up to Malapascua (for the schooling hammerheads) or head down to Coron Bay (for wrecks).

Liveaboard in Komodo is a definite winner.

I wouldn't stress too much about cramming in additional courses. You can learn more by doing, and you'd hate to skip valuable diving by doing class work (also don't underestimate how tired you get with a heavy diving schedule). If you do persist with training, some nitrox training will definitely help you maximize your trip.

 

[Centrals]

The diving season on East and West coast of Thailand is different.
Liveaboard to Tubattaha Reefs in Philippines is the best in the country(mid Mar to June only).
Forget about Thailand, just concentrate on Indonesia and Philippines(Visayas area).

 

[DiveExploreIndonesia]

Hi Karan

Congratulations on completing your Open Water Course yeah!!! It's a fantastic feeling

Before you start paying for Liveaboards and going onto places where you might encounter some deeper and possibly more challenging dives I would highly reccommend you get some more dives in, I don't know much about Thailand but I would start there like you're suggesting, I hear it's great for beginners and a good place to get any courses out of the way and then you can enjoy the rest of your trip without having to do 'classroom' work like the other guys are saying.

You'll get more from your courses and enjoy the trip much more with a few more dives in, do your advanced which will include deep dive and navigation and you choose the other 3 dives, do some more diving, you can always do the Rescue at a later date and the Dive Master also, I did my rescue over 2 weeks and the Dive Master over 3 months and learnt so much and got a lot more for the money I spent (you should consider this especially for the DM)

As for diving around SEA in general, there are so many options especially for Indonesia. This also depends on the time of year you are planning your trip. Let me know what your dates are or get in touch and we can see if we can help plan part of your trip

 

[Karan Varshnei]

I would get the AOW done before , or whilst on, the liveaboard from Phuket (or maybe from Khao Lak).

After Phuket, have a look at Pulau Weh for some dives - much better diving than Koh Tao. From Pulau Weh, it's pretty easy to get domestic flights on to Bali...

Thanks mate! Ill try and do the AOW in Thailand first up (may even try and throw in a Nitrox course there)

So many fantastic options. For the Philippines, I'd give earnest consideration to either going up to Malapascua (for the schooling hammerheads) or head down to Coron Bay (for wrecks).

Liveaboard in Komodo is a definite winner.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Phils.. any clue what time of year is best there?
I heard Komodo is pretty much a winner year round..

Liveaboard to Tubattaha Reefs in Philippines is the best in the country(mid Mar to June only).
Forget about Thailand, just concentrate on Indonesia and Philippines(Visayas area).

That for the info about the Phils.. i'll look into it.
Ive heard in a few places (and now here too) that Thailand is good for beginner divers like me so I'm still keen to go there

Hi Karan

Congratulations on completing your Open Water Course yeah!!! It's a fantastic feeling

As for diving around SEA in general, there are so many options especially for Indonesia. This also depends on the time of year you are planning your trip. Let me know what your dates are or get in touch and we can see if we can help plan part of your trip

I'm thinking of going end of April/beginning May so I can just get in on the Similian Islands in Thailand and then go from there... not quire sure what else in SE Asia is good for diving at that time of the year.. apart from the Thai gulf and Komodo)

 

[Bubble Junky]

Thanks mate! Ill try and do the AOW in Thailand first up (may even try and throw in a Nitrox course there)

Ask the dive centres about a AOW/Nitrox combo course. Doing both together should be the cheapest way to earn both certs... Enjoy...

 

[DiveExploreIndonesia]

So....you have many options for Indonesia at this time of the year, Alor, Komodo, Bali, Lembeh, Manado, Maluku, pretty much anywhere really. When you're making a booking, just make sure you mention how many dives you have and any good dive operator should tell you if it's within your capabilities, this will ensure you fully enjoy your diving in an area that suits your abilities.

You should check what the currents are like in each place and what the moon phase is at that particular time etc. Don't worry too much about the choppy surface conditions as generally it's different under the surface. As for the temperature, at this time of the year you shouldn't really encounter any cold water, but most places will have extra gear if you need to layer up! The temperature is quite difficult to predict..for example, I was diving in Alor for 2 years and in the North of the Island we had 28 and the following day we had 23 in the south, this also is heavily effected by the phase of the moon!

Hope this helps a little and do let me know if you need any more help or advice.

Jennie:diver:

 

[Tippytoes12]

In April or May the season is ending in the west coast of Thailand. However the diving in the Philippines and Indonesia is far better and cheaper than Thailand. The weather there and the conditions will be approaching their best.

With your experience it's really important to just get a many dives as you can under your belt.Komodo has extremely strong currents , this would be better left for another trip.

In the Philippines Malapascua , Dumaguete , Maolboal and Bohol would all be suitable for novice divers.
In Indonesia , best left for the second pat of the trip, there is a very high chance of seeing many as at Nusa Penida just off Bali. The Gili Islands are fabulous for ambiance and beaches .

Have a great time.

 

[murexdive]

Greetings from North Sulawesi Karan,

Welcome to the wonderful world of diving, you are in good company. You've been given some great advice, learn by doing! Get in the water as often as possible, learn from experienced instructors your are comfortable with, watch good divers underwater and do what they do and talk to them about the sport they love.

If you want a taste of different types of diving, think of North Sulawesi. Manado has an international airport and offers easy access from Singapore and Jakarta. Bunaken Island is famous for it's spectacular wall dives, Bangka has wonderful hard & soft corals and Lembeh Strait is famous for "muck diving". All those crazy critters that you may have heard about can be found there. All these areas are reachable within hours of each other.

Wherever you journey takes you have a fabulous time.

Best fishes,