mastakebob
Registered
Hi all. I got about 2 months of vacation coming up sometime between June '11 and November '11 and I figured I'd spend it diving in the South East Asia area. I've never been there and I heard the diving (and lifestyle and prices) are fantastic. I'm hoping that some of you experts on the area can give me some high level pointers on where to start looking. I'm sure that this question has been asked many many times before, but searching for such a personalized question is difficult. So, please, bear with me.
Details: I'll be traveling by myself (mid-20's male). I'm not looking for a hyper-touristy area, but I'm not looking for complete and utter isolation, either. I'm primarily looking to spend my time diving, drinking beer, and sight-seeing (in that priority). While I don't see professional diving in my future, I see no problem with getting my DM while I'm over there (especially if its an 'unlimited fundives for free for the duration of your DM course' type of deal). As for my diving preferences, my biggest is I prefer variety. If I had to choose, i'd probably say wreck-diving is my favorite, but I have no problem with looking at the pretty fishes on a shallow drift dive. I'm open to the idea of backpacking if it is cost effective and the best way to see the area. As for shore-activities, I am looking for a location with a solid bar/party scene. I only speak English but don't mind being in a foreign language speaking area.
I've found a few locations that seem to match what I'm looking for, but am sure I missed many possibilities...
For those of you who have been to Roatan, I enjoyed my time there even if I thought the diving was a bit repetitive.
Thanks in advance and thanks for reading all the way through this long post!
Details: I'll be traveling by myself (mid-20's male). I'm not looking for a hyper-touristy area, but I'm not looking for complete and utter isolation, either. I'm primarily looking to spend my time diving, drinking beer, and sight-seeing (in that priority). While I don't see professional diving in my future, I see no problem with getting my DM while I'm over there (especially if its an 'unlimited fundives for free for the duration of your DM course' type of deal). As for my diving preferences, my biggest is I prefer variety. If I had to choose, i'd probably say wreck-diving is my favorite, but I have no problem with looking at the pretty fishes on a shallow drift dive. I'm open to the idea of backpacking if it is cost effective and the best way to see the area. As for shore-activities, I am looking for a location with a solid bar/party scene. I only speak English but don't mind being in a foreign language speaking area.
I've found a few locations that seem to match what I'm looking for, but am sure I missed many possibilities...
For those of you who have been to Roatan, I enjoyed my time there even if I thought the diving was a bit repetitive.
Thanks in advance and thanks for reading all the way through this long post!