advice4trip

[Baylee]

I have 4 weeks to dive next year. I want to dive in Asia. Which places would you suggest. I don't want to do liveaboards. Thanks

 

[outofofficebrb]

What kind of diving makes you happy? Pelagics? Macro with the weird and the wonderful? Coral/fish? Wreck?

What time of year?

If it's your first time to Asia to dive, I suggest going to Puerto Galera in the Philippines. They have a little of everything except for sharks. Dive with Asia Divers and stay at El Galleon with their full board plan. Coron or Subic Bay is good for wrecks. Bali in Indonesia is also a good spot. Komodo. Raja Ampat. All can be done without a liveaboard. In my opinion, skip Thailand. I've dived the Similans which is arguably the best in Thailand and outside of Richilieu Rock, everything else was pretty underwhelming but affordable. Best bang for your buck will be the Philippines.

 

[Luko]

One of the most important criteria will be the time of the year you expect to spend those 4 weeks. Then, yes, what are you looking for?
Another question : why no liveaboards? Is it a matter of budget?

 

[Baylee]

What kind of diving makes you happy? Pelagics? Macro with the weird and the wonderful? Coral/fish? Wreck?

What time of year?

If it's your first time to Asia to dive, I suggest going to Puerto Galera in the Philippines. They have a little of everything except for sharks. Dive with Asia Divers and stay at El Galleon with their full board plan. Coron or Subic Bay is good for wrecks. Bali in Indonesia is also a good spot. Komodo. Raja Ampat. All can be done without a liveaboard. In my opinion, skip Thailand. I've dived the Similans which is arguably the best in Thailand and outside of Richilieu Rock, everything else was pretty underwhelming but affordable. Best bang for your buck will be the Philippines.

Thanks for getting back to me. This will be my first time in Asia, I like all kinds of diving but probably prefer Pelagics, coral/fish and then wrecks. What is the best time of year to go?

I was also thinking of the Pacific (truk lagoon, etc, have you been there?

Thanks again

 

[Baylee]

One of the most important criteria will be the time of the year you expect to spend those 4 weeks. Then, yes, what are you looking for?
Another question : why no liveaboards? Is it a matter of budget?

Thanks for getting back to me. I can take off work whenever so what would the best time be? My friend gets seasick so that is why we are going to avoid the liveaboard. Budget is not an issue. I was also thinking of the Pacific (truk lagoon, ets. have you been there. Thanks again.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thanks for getting back to me. This will be my first time in Asia, I like all kinds of diving but probably prefer Pelagics, coral/fish and then wrecks. What is the best time of year to go?

I was also thinking of the Pacific (truk lagoon, etc, have you been there?

Thanks again

Tubbataha in Philippines would check all those boxes except wreck - there is a wreck but not a whole entire ship, just remnants of a boat. Mantas, whale sharks, tons of sharks, pristine coral. Liveaboard access only, late March to early June. Best time is mid April to early May....more expensive than PG. for ease of travel and value PG (Puerto Galera) is excellent. All but pelagics.....you can do both to get that though

 

[Damselfish]

My friend gets seasick so that is why we are going to avoid the liveaboard.

There will be places where the dayboats could cause seasickness, and liveaboards that are very smooth (due to style of boat or local conditions on their itinerary.)

There are lots of approaches to avoiding seasickness, has your friend been working on figuring out that aspect of it? Otherwise it can be very limiting for where you go. Different sorts of motion bother different people, different things work for different people

 

[Centrals]

There is no place on mother earth that can beat Truk for wreck diving.

Asia is quite BIG and as far as I am concern the best is in SE Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are the most well known. However, there is no way you can cover all these 4 countries in a month. Travelling is tedious and slow there.
Indonesia and/or Philippines is my suggestion.
A lot of travellers love Thailand with good reason but diving there is not as good as the others. And Malaysia has only Sipadan to offer.

Best time to travel? Jan to Apr.
A big LoB is a lot more steady than flimsy day boat!

Happy trip.

 

[kassj0peja]

I always like to recommend Boulder Island in Myanmar. No other divers and still wild.


The other one is Koh's Dach in Cambodia with Condor Reef and Shark Island but also great dive sites.

But I like not yet discovered destinations and there is hardly any information about these places online yet.

I posted some tripreports on this board.