What dive city would you live in for 6 months?

[dladowitz]

Hi,
My girlfriend and I have decided to take six months and go live in a scuba diving city somewhere in the world. We are from California and I've been diving in the chilly waters of Monterey for 3 yrs. (+ one trip to Key West, FL and one to Kona, HI).

I don't know a lot about dive cities around the world.
Here are our needs and desires in order of importance

1. Ability to work for money or work remotely for my present employeer
We'll have about $6000 saved up when we leave, but I don't think that will be nearly enough for 6 months. I work in IT systems administration and computer help desk.
If I have a phone line (for calling the US) and internet access I can work remotely for US companies and make $2000-$3000 a month. In Key West phone and internet access are cheap and it would work. It looks like it gets more expensive the more remote I get. Using a serivice like Vonage or Skype would work with decent internet speeds.

My dream would be to find work in dive shops or on day trip boats if it would pay local rent. I'm planning on getting the Divemaster and Instructor certifications over the 6 months we are there. (Currently I'm a Padi MasterDiver and SSI Stress and Rescue)

2. A lot of great diving. Not just 2-3 weeks worth

3. A cool interesting city to for Americans to live in.
My girlfriend is less adventurous than I am. She wouldn't be happy living in a hut on the beach with straw for a bed. A hut on the beach with a cieling fan, kitchen and bathroom would be ok though.

So far I've bee researching Belize, Costa Rica, Key West and Maui.

thanks for all the help
David

 

[Doc]

Key West is not known for diving, great or otherwise.

Belize? Does your research show reliable high speed access from the cays? You don't want to live in Belize City because the commute to the diving would be a drag. The city is no prize, either.

Maui? I am sure the little Princess would be comfortable there. How's her trust fund holding up?

Which leaves us with Costa Rica. I would go now before all us retired Americans buy the place.

You will not "find work" while still working on your certifications. If you have a DM, that would be nice, but your post is confusing in that specific.

If you skipped the shack on the beach idea and grabbed a tiny apartment with a dumpster view, Cayman would work.

Go and do it- while you still can. Don't look back with regret.

 

[DeputyDan]

I agree - go do it. BUT - there are lots of work visa, etc. rules O/S of the US.

You need to do alot of homework if you plan to work of foreign soil (besides the tele-commute)!

 

[robint]

interesting proposition! I would think about a couple of places...

1. Bonaire (internet and phone service seem to be pretty good and diving is beyond amazing).
2. Puerto Rico (I have heard that the diving industry there is growing and should have all modern conveniences, internet, etc)
3. Playa del Carmen (probably the least expensive place to live, decent diving in ocean but also some cenote diving, modern but still rustic, I would bet internet is good there with all the new resorts recently built)

robin

 

[dashark]

It sounds like staying within the U.S. is a more vialble option for you if you can work remotely.
I would do Kona in that case, no question.....Lots to do diving and otherwise.

 

[NWDCGUY]

How about Guam? That's a puddle jumper from some of the best diving on the planet - Palau, Fiji, Truk. It's full of US Military so everyone speaks english. With your skillset you'd probably find fulltime employment easily. In addition it's a US territory.

Or Singapore? They speak english there, it's a modern city and it's a puddle jumper from Bali, Indonesia - Thailand, Malaysia etc.

 

[DeputyDan]

How about Guam? That's a puddle jumper from some of the best diving on the planet - Palau, Fiji, Truk. It's full of US Military so everyone speaks english. With your skillset you'd probably find fulltime employment easily. In addition it's a US territory.

Or Singapore? They speak english there, it's a modern city and it's a puddle jumper from Bali, Indonesia - Thailand, Malaysia etc.

I must agree that Guam should be on the list!

 

[muddiver]

Your wife would go buggy on Guam. Personnally I like the safety and U.S. employment protections of working/living on the Hawaiian islands.

Did you think about the Florida Keys? Or Puerto Rico?

 

[Hank49]

Or Singapore? They speak english there, it's a modern city and it's a puddle jumper from Bali, Indonesia - Thailand, Malaysia etc.

I think the term "puddle jumper" needs to be defined here. Bali is about 2-3 hours on a 737 from Sing. Bangkok, Thailand..1 1/2?. Even Kota Kinabalu (on the way to Sipadan) is about 3 hours from Sing. But hey...KK is a nice city too with some good diving close by.. Puddle jumpers?...I think more along the lines of a Cessna 12 seater like we have here. used for 20 minute flights.
But Kuantan, Malaysia, about a 4 hour drive north of Sing is a nice city. You're within a few hours of Tioman, Redang, Perhentian...I liked the diving there. Plus, it's cheap to live there. When I was there in 97-98 you could get a good meal for about US$2. Good internet connections, good roads, great food...

 

[Otter]

What about Palau? Just a boat ride from great diving, when I was there in 2003 there were several internet cafe's with reasonable speed..hopefully its improved. Its a US protectorate....and did I mention there is great diving?