If you had two weeks anywhere in the world where would you go!? SELL ME

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If I had two weeks off and if money were no object, I'd visit the Galapagos Islands. That would be absolutely epic.

Two weeks on a budget and wanting to maximize time in the water and minimize time spent transiting from one place to the next...I'd go down to Bonaire.
 
If I had two weeks off and if money were no object, I'd visit the Galapagos Islands. That would be absolutely epic.

Two weeks on a budget and wanting to maximize time in the water and minimize time spent transiting from one place to the next...I'd go down to Bonaire.
I agree with that. If money were no object, the Galapagos.

As far as I know, Galapagos are only accessible by livaboard. I don't know what boats run down there, so I couldn't make a recommendation.

As it is, I make due watching documentaries made by others.
 
I would be doing a liveaboard in Indonesia or the Philippines. Or maybe the Solomon islands where I haven’t made it yet. Really I’d want 3 weeks, as travel (and jet lag) eat up more time than you might expect. Many places you will have another flight, ferry, and/or land transfer to get to your final destination and an overnight (or 2) might be needed along the way, it often involves more than that that first long flight.

At 40 dives, there are spots you don’t want to tackle yet. Indonesia is a big place and some areas will be more suitable than others. Like I don’t think Komodo would be a great choice yet. (Nor cocos or galapagos for that matter.)

Since you are talking April, Tubataha (liveaboard) is worth considering. There are currents and you can go deep if you want, but at least when we were there it was not difficult diving and a group of new divers on our boat did pretty well. Lots of sharks and mantas and fish, and maybe whale sharks.

Atlantis PG is indeed very well run with a good dive op and food, but I personally wasn’t that crazy about it and wouldn’t return. I found the rooms uncomfortable and hated the congested dump of an area it was in. And if you’re looking for big stuff its not your place. Great macro, but not about big stuff. You might see some on a day trip to Verde island. Or not.

The classic Palau & Yap combo might work for you, if you’re ready for the currents of Palau.

Try to keep down expectations of seeing everything (or anything) on your bucket list to avoid disappointment. Wild animals don’t always perform. If you go someplace good you’ll see good stuff.
 
We'll be combining a trip to Sabang Beach in the Philippines with a liveaboard to Apo Reef and Coron (wreck diving WWII Japanese ships). We're taking three weeks to get some extra diving in, but you could do it in two.
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am itching to go to Cocos and Galapagos but given the perspective I think it is a good idea to wait until I have more dives under my belt. And I had no idea that the pyramids weren't near the dive sites but that makes sense now.
I do have a dive buddy (my bf) and he wants to avoid Egypt because he thinks it's still too unsafe although I am not worried about that issue.
I was just recommended Kapalai Island in Borneo Malaysia.

And to Doc, no this isn't a final dive and there isn't an unlimited budget. If that were the case I wouldn't be asking, I would just fly around the world in a private jet and dive every dive site. I was simply trying to find out where people had their best dives and would always recommend. If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks in April where would you go back to? That's all that I am asking. I find that personal recommendations are much better and thorough than a google search.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I am hearing a lot about the Philippines so I will have to look into that further!
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am itching to go to Cocos and Galapagos but given the perspective I think it is a good idea to wait until I have more dives under my belt. And I had no idea that the pyramids weren't near the dive sites but that makes sense now.
I do have a dive buddy (my bf) and he wants to avoid Egypt because he thinks it's still too unsafe although I am not worried about that issue.
I was just recommended Kapalai Island in Borneo Malaysia.

And to Doc, no this isn't a final dive and there isn't an unlimited budget. If that were the case I wouldn't be asking, I would just fly around the world in a private jet and dive every dive site. I was simply trying to find out where people had their best dives and would always recommend. If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks in April where would you go back to? That's all that I am asking. I find that personal recommendations are much better and thorough than a google search.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I am hearing a lot about the Philippines so I will have to look into that further!

I hope that you find a great destination, let us know what you decide. One of the reasons that I mentioned Egypt is because it would be somewhat easy to get there from New York; be sure to figure in lots of travel time (and jet lag!) into a far away destination. It may take a day or two to get there (and back) and it might be a different calendar day when you arrive and you will likely be beat when you do.

I'm not saying don't do it, just plan it into your trip and allow time for travel and fatigue. You won't be flying direct for half a day, jumping off the plane, breezing though I&C, and then heading out to the reef, like you can at some of the nearer, less exotic destinations.

Also, after you make your plans be sure to buy travel insurance and DAN dive insurance. A trip like that is a major expenditure of both time and money and you will want to have some options if things don't work out exactly as planned. I don't mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but right now I am thinking of all the recent hurricane and typhoon activity in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Pacific. Although you will be traveling in April so I don't think that will be a problem.

But keep in mind that in some parts of the world the high season for vacation travel extends into at least mid-April, and Easter Sunday will be April 21, 2019 - so that may be a popular holiday travel week in the US and some foreign locations.

If you could push the date to early May you might find cheaper, less crowded options, but again that really depends on the destination you pick. For example, the Philippines are a Christian country so Easter may be a popular time for local travelers but Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, so Easter travel may not be a significant factor there.

Have fun!
 
Egypt liveaboard is nothing to worry about, heading back to Hurghada again tomorrow morning for second trip is year, going south this time Its all very chill, perhaps avoid Kairo City of you look too flash .
 
I'm not going to sell you but here's 2 to google..

Socorros
Wakatobi
 
I agree with that. If money were no object, the Galapagos....are only accessible by livaboard.
That could be relevant to the OP.

We are fed that misinformation very convincingly by the travel industry via dive mags. They make a continuous but skewed argument for LOB bias.

There are excellent land-based alternatives that offer the trip at up to 50% cost than the LOB option. We've done many LOBs there over the years, and I'm now following in the path of most European visitors...staying in Puerto Ayorra and doing the best of the day dive ops. There's a bunch of advantages, but that's another thread, and very counter-commonly accepted belief.

There are way more expensive places to dive by starting in the US. Topping the list would be Maldives and Seychelles if you were looking at the ones with currently "relatively easy" travelling access. Expedition grade destinations? Sky is the limit.
 
That could be relevant to the OP.

We are fed that misinformation very convincingly by the travel industry via dive mags. They make a continuous but skewed argument for LOB bias.

There are excellent land-based alternatives that offer the trip at up to 50% cost than the LOB option. We've done many LOBs there over the years, and I'm now following in the path of most European visitors...staying in Puerto Ayorra and doing the best of the day dive ops. There's a bunch of advantages, but that's another thread, and very counter-commonly accepted belief.

There are way more expensive places to dive by starting in the US. Topping the list would be Maldives and Seychelles if you were looking at the ones with currently "relatively easy" travelling access. Expedition grade destinations? Sky is the limit.
Really? That's great news! That might put a Galapagos trip into the realm of real possibilities for me.
 

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