low budget trip for certification - Destination?

[Reza Parsaee]

Hello all,
My wife and I had a dive in Bodrum, Turkey, in June 2010 and really enjoyed it. We've decided to get certified in our next vacation which will be Nov. 2011, preferably in east Asia, either Malaysia or Indonesia. Can anyone help us to find a good destination with reasonable prices and good diving sites? Actually we want to be generous on costs of the course, like getting private instructor for each of us, but we don't want to pay too much for accommodation.
Some deals in Malaysia (Mabul) are like 450USD per person for course, but their package includes a very expensive hotel (600USD per night for two), and there is no other option in Mabul, as it's a very tiny island. Another place in Malaysia can offer us a deal excluding accommodation (which is good), but the dive spot is much poorer than that of Mabul!
So I'm wondering whether I can find an ideal place with multiple choices of the package, good PADI center and good dive spot somewhere in Malaysia or Indonesia?
Thanks in advance,
Reza

[Doc Harry]

I strongly recommend that you get your scuba certification locally in Turkey (or somewhere else nearby) BEFORE your dive vacation in Nov 2011.

Dive instructors may be busy with the daily tasks of scuba diving with divers who are already certified. The instructors may not have a lot of time to spend with you.

If you get certified before your dive trip in Nov 2011, then you will be able to spend your vacation time scuba diving, not sitting around a hotel reading a scuba book.

[TMHeimer]

I agree. I advise every one to get certified locally before a vacation. If you have toe opportunity to do so.

[buddhasummer]

I strongly recommend that you get your scuba certification locally in Turkey (or somewhere else nearby) BEFORE your dive vacation in Nov 2011.

Dive instructors may be busy with the daily tasks of scuba diving with divers who are already certified. The instructors may not have a lot of time to spend with you.

If you get certified before your dive trip in Nov 2011, then you will be able to spend your vacation time scuba diving, not sitting around a hotel reading a scuba book.

Absolutely agree, time when on holiday is usually at a premium to spend/waste time reading/studying when you could be actually diving makes no sense to me. I too would get certified before you go then you can both enjoy a diving holiday. Not to mention often diving course at "exotic" locations are a bit factory orientated i.e. train as many as possible in the shortest amount of time, Im aware this is not always the case. Good luck.

[Doc Harry]

We actually made the mistake of going to the Bahamas to get scuba certified. The instructors were so busy taking divers out on the boat that it took them 8 days to get us open-water certified.