Organized dive trips?

[b52michele]

Hi Everyone,

I would love to go on a dive vacation somewhere exotic and far away, but don't want to travel alone. Unfortunately for me, none of my local friends or family are on board with spending a vacation centered around diving.

Is there a forum on SB (or anywhere else) with regular, member-organized diving trips? I'd like to make some buddies in the dive community, locally or worldwide. I'm located in north NJ, if it matters.

Thanks for any advice you have!
Michele

 

[skynscuba]

Hi Michele,

Have you tried your local dive shops? Most shops organize at least a couple of tropical trips per year, as well as local ones. There are probably local dive clubs too. Any of these can be good places to meet new friends for dive and travel.

I'm assuming that you have been checking out your local SB dive forums: North Eastern United States - ScubaBoard

 

[b52michele]

Thanks Skynscuba. Yes my local dive shop is awesome and does trips, but I was just wondering if there are more options I could look through.... specifically looking for SE Asia this fall. maybe a liveaboard? still thinking...

 

[veach]

I went on a week long live-aboard out of Placencia, Belize one month ago. The catamaran had four berths, a two-member crew, the snorkeling and diving were great, the meals and all-inclusives were better than great, and there really is nothing to complain about other than the multiple-plane flights and airports getting there (from Portland, for me). If you can afford it, the live aboard is the best way to scuba. We (my partner and I) went with Tradewinds (tradewindscruiseclub.com) but there are many to choose from.

Good Luck.

 

[kimberlite]

hi Michelle! There are a lot of great dive sites here in the Philippines. You can try wreck diving in Coron Palawan. Let me know when you plan to go. Have a nice day.

 

[poseidon3]

Hi Michele, I'm also considering Thailand again in the fall. I dived the Adaman Islands a year ago on a live aboard. May go to Kao Toa and get my dive masters. How long are you looking to go for. I was there for a month last time and loved the paradisical islands and awesome reefs.

 

[Louie]

I think it may be fairly easy to organise your own trips if you're near an airport hub. I've booked most of my trips independently and found it works quite well.

If you're looking into liveaboarding in SE Asia, The Similans or Burma Banks are good options.

You might also get some ideas looking in Asian Diver Mag http://www.asiandiver.com/