Booked Impulse Flights To Syd, Now What Do I Do?

[Kksmama]

I saw an incredible fare sale, and couldn't resist booking flights for my family of 4 (our teens are AOW divers, not yet nitrox certified but we live in Florida and could get it done). We love travel in general, and wouldn't have to dive to have a good time - but it is hard to imagine visiting the country of the Great Barrier Reef and not diving. Of course now I've looked at a map and realize that Cairns is far from Sydney. But New Zealand is relatively close.
So here are my questions/thoughts and I'd be very grateful for any guidance:
I could see flying to Cairns and doing a budget liveaboard, something costing less than $800 per person would be a splurge but doable. I could also see flying to New Zealand and renting a camper and shore diving. I would love to see the Minke whales, but my preliminary google searches indicate it would be too expensive.
We only have ten days from arrival in Sydney July 20 to departure on July 30. So this could be, but doesn't have to be, a diving vacation as I'm sure we could fill our time with other activities. When we went to Hawaii years ago, we spent 3 weeks there but only four days diving - but one of them was with Manta Rays, and that remains the best memory of the trip.

 

[WetPup]

I'd say going to Cairns is worth the expense. It's less than a 3 hour flight north from Sydney, and flying domestically in Australia is far cheaper than driving over long distances (fuel here isn't cheap like it is in the US). Your biggest struggle may be finding liveaboard availability at that time of year though - during minke whale season the boats book out pretty quickly for obvious reasons. You'd be best off getting onto it immediately if that's your choice - 4 spots at this late stage might be asking a bit much, but you never know.

Can't comment on NZ, but just a reminder that July is our winter in the southern hemisphere, temps are cold. And NZ will be significantly colder than Cairns (July is ski/snowboard season in NZ, not dive season ), and will likely require you to don drysuits. Cairns will still be doable in a 3-5mm.

 

[Wingy]

Poor Knights in NZ is definitely worth the dive, but I dont think your budget will stretch to hiring a van and driving around shore diving as I found NZ even more expensive than Aus as far as fuel and accommodation goes. Id agree with WetPups suggestion of looking for a LOB. Water temps in NZ even in January are a lot colder than Aus so If you go that route id suggest a 7mm at the very minimum. Cant comment on shore diving in NZ. If you cant find a LOB out of Cairns there is always the option of heading to Ayr and diving the Yongala which is still not cheap but worthwhile.

 

[Nettie-NZ]

There are some good dive options in NZ and getting from Sydney to Auckland can be cheap if you book ahead and stay away from NZ/Australian holiday dates. (I haven't check your dates, but it's easy to Google and also check School Holiday dates for both countries)

Definitely worth considering a liveaboard for the Poor Knights (it's a better option than day trips IMHO) - I've used both Ocean Blue and Yukon Dive - both are great and have smaller groups. But I have to admit NZ isn't a cheap option overall - nor is Australia.

July in NZ will be cold - probably in the range of 14-16 Deg C (about 60 Deg F I think) for the Poor Knights. The diving at that time is excellent, with great vis, but it's definitely drysuit temperatures. We are most definitely subtropical and July is the middle of our winter.

Cairns or Port Douglas are good - I can't comment too much as I've only dived there once and I thought it was quite expensive for one day.

Another option is to fly north to Bali. Very cheap once you are there with a good range of dive operators. Most are run by expats with a range of local and expat staff. Some good and varied diving there too ranging from drift dives with Manta Rays (I don't think it's Mola Mola season unfortunately) around Nusa Penida to the Liberty wreck and macro diving at Tulumben as well as a lot of other places.

Flights to Bali can be cheap from Australia - don't rule out the budget airlines. I've had some excellent flights on Air Asia and Jet Star isn't too bad either so long as you understand what you do and don't get for the price.

Anyway I hope that helps and gives you some more options

 

[Kksmama]

Thank you all so much for the replies! Not sure that my bargain tickets are actually going to go through, Virgin Australia reserves the right to cancel mistake fares and this was likely a mistake ($424 round trip from LAX). Easy come, easy go. But now I can better plan/time a proper vacation to your area. I wear 5mm in Florida springs which are 22 degrees - diving in water colder than that isn't something I'm likely to do. If my tickets for this time do go through, I'm liking the Bali idea. Thank you!

 

[clownfishsydney]

More than enough to do in Sydney to keep someone occupied for 10 days, including diving. Many unique things to see as well.

 

[Kksmama]

Thank you clowfishsydney. We would enjoy seeing a bit of Sydney, but a friend who has traveled there on business scared me off with stories of $47 hotel breakfasts. For an adventurous family with teens, what are the must dos? For city exploration my frame of reference includes New York, London, and Rome, each of which were doable for us in 3-5 days though I would have loved to have more time.

I've dismissed Bali for now, if this is to be a dive trip it will be in Cairns. But as of today I'm leaning toward a campervan rental in New Zealand because ....glow worms! And we'd enjoy learning about Maori culture. Edited to add: Oh dear - just read a bit about campervans in winter and I don't think that will suit us at all. I don't need sunshine and beaches, I get those in Florida.....but short days aren't my idea of fun at all.

As we get closer it is possible that our 20 and 23 year old "kids" will insist on tagging along, so booking something that can accommodate a party of six is probably a good idea. My bargain airfare may not have been such a bargain after all!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Fly up to Cairns. Do some diving. Rent a car and drive north to the national parks for rainforests and natural beauty.

 

[Nettie-NZ]

O.k some non dive options for winter in NZ:
Glow worms and caves - Waitomo. Another option glow worm kayak trip - The Boatshed :: Glowworm Trips
Hot pools - Rotorua. One of my favourites is Waikite Valley Welcome to Waikite Valley Thermal Pools Springs n Spa, Thermal Pools Rotorua, Thermal Hot Pools Rotorua, Hot Pools Rotorua Area (great to warm up in after visiting Wai-o-tapu Geothermal area ( Home - Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland | Rotorua, NZ) which is close by or if you go to the South Island - Hamner Springs The Pools | Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa
A fairly unique experience is White Island - day visits to an active volcano. http://www.whiteisland.co.nz

Plenty more options too - these are just a few.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thank you all so much for the replies! Not sure that my bargain tickets are actually going to go through, Virgin Australia reserves the right to cancel mistake fares and this was likely a mistake ($424 round trip from LAX). Easy come, easy go. But now I can better plan/time a proper vacation to your area. I wear 5mm in Florida springs which are 22 degrees - diving in water colder than that isn't something I'm likely to do. If my tickets for this time do go through, I'm liking the Bali idea. Thank you!

Is the ticket still valid? Just start booking non-refundable arrangements. They'll have to reimburse you and make you whole again since you had a reason to believe that the ticket was issued and valid and if you book enough, they might just let you keep it .

There were a lot of sales from the west coast to Australia and New Zealand in April. I got San Francisco to Sydney for $580 (non-mistake fare). I did book an error fare to SE Asia (Bali) but that was almost a month ago and it's still valid. Can't wait!

With the time that you described in NZ, campervan time will be pretty limited. You'll have to commit yourself to just north or south (I recommend south) island and even then having to pick highlights of the highlights. It takes a lot longer to drive around down there than is advertised on Google Maps. We just came back from a campervan trip in late March so let me know if you have any Q's!