need help finding a 'scuba city'; or: what developed city has best dive options?

[kvm]

Background: I convinced my company to let me take my laptop and go 100% remote. This means as long as I have an internet connection and power, I can do my day job.

This does not mean I can just live life like an endless vacation, as I need 8 hours or more a day to actually get my work done. However, I do plan on diving about 3 days a week. I need to have a stable home base to work out of.

Having said that, What do you guys think the best 'city' in asia (or even the world) would be to live in, with the best access to close dive sites? To narrow this down even more here are my criteria and some more about me:

-I'm a single male, 26, and while I consider myself social, don't consider myself to be the type who would go to every full/half-moon party. I do drink, and quite heavily, but only once or twice a week
-I only speak English, but would be willing to take the time to learn the local language
-I'm looking for a place that has decent cyber-infrastructure. high speed internet is a must
-I'm looking for a place that has good weather (bangkok is on my list of possible places, but the heat is oppressive). By good weather I mean it doesn't get cold ever
-Proximity to international airport. This is somewhat important.

So taking all of the above into account, which global city would serve as a great place to work, meet people, and dive 3 times a week?

 

[Centrals]

Sydney and Queensland in Australia.
Bali and Manado in Indonesia.
Cebu and Subic Bay in Philippines.

 

[Quero]

Phuket is not as hot as Bangkok, not on the Internet backbone, but fibre optic cables and high speed internet are available and the diving is great
Manado Indonesia not a big city, but outstanding diving and Internet is okay
Singapore has excellent internet infrastructure but forgettable diving for 2-3 times a week, though if you could go one week of every four, it's accessible by air to everywhere you'd want to dive.
Kuala Lumpur has good internet, but it's landlocked; similar ease of air travel to great diving
Bali has great diving, but Internet is unreliable
Manila/Cebu are close to outstanding diving, but the internet is spotty

I lived in Kuala Lumpur for 5 years and could have relocated anywhere (with a job flexibility something like yours). I chose Phuket for the airport, infrastructure, diving all in one package. There are place where the infrastructure is better, and places where the diving is better, but overall, it's hard to beat this island. I've been here 6 years now.

 

[kvm]

Sydney and Queensland in Australia.
Bali and Manado in Indonesia.
Cebu and Subic Bay in Philippines.

Centrals, thanks for your input, but if you could give more insight into why you like these places, that would be helpful. Specifically, what areas would be good to live in in each of these places, and how far are the dive sites from the city?

Phuket is not as hot as Bangkok, not on the Internet backbone, but fibre optic cables and high speed internet are available and the diving is great
Manado Indonesia not a big city, but outstanding diving and Internet is okay
Singapore has excellent internet infrastructure but forgettable diving for 2-3 times a week, though if you could go one week of every four, it's accessible by air to everywhere you'd want to dive.
Kuala Lumpur has good internet, but it's landlocked; similar ease of air travel to great diving
Bali has great diving, but Internet is unreliable
Manila/Cebu are close to outstanding diving, but the internet is spotty

I lived in Kuala Lumpur for 5 years and could have relocated anywhere (with a job flexibility something like yours). I chose Phuket for the airport, infrastructure, diving all in one package. There are place where the infrastructure is better, and places where the diving is better, but overall, it's hard to beat this island. I've been here 6 years now.

awesome post Quero! What part of phuket would you recommend, if im hoping to be close (a motorbike ride away) from dive operations?

 

[Quero]

Well, kvm, it's an island, so you are never more than a motorbike ride away from anything. Having said that, the dive pier is in the southeastern part of the island, so the southern half is more convenient to live in for divers than the northern half is. (For golfers the opposite is true.) I personally like the Rawai/Naiharn area, and in fact I live at the northern edge of Rawai, near Chalong, which is where the main dive boat harbor is located. So I'm about a 5-minute drive away from the boats.

 

[Centrals]

Cebu and Subic Bay are divable WHOLE year round. English is widely spoken here.
Cebu: Moalboal is 2hrs away by car, Bohol, Dumaguette, Siquijor and Malapascua are within reach from the city. Boracay, Coron, Davao and General Santos are a short flight away.
Subic is for wreck diving and staying at Angeles( an hr away by bus) and you probably never want to leave!
Manado: Great diving around Banga Island, Bunaken and Lembeh Strait. This is a Christian strong hold in the country so drinking is probably not a big issue.
Bali: Need no introduction for culture and social life. Diving is very good. Kuta and Sanu beaches are most developed and popular. Domestic flight to other diving destinations are easy.
Sydney and Queensland are relatively more expensive to stay and the diving probably not as good as other suggested places. Nevertheless, they have good infrastructures with very good telecommunication networks.

I could have included Manila because of its close proximity to Anilao, Puerto Galera and Subic but I hate its pollution, poverty and traffic. BTW, Ceub City is not that great either.

 

[kvm]

Quero, do you find the constant tourist population to be a problem? Everyone who I tell I'm considering a move to phuket, the first thing I hear is, "that place is overrun with tourists".

 

[Quero]

Quero, do you find the constant tourist population to be a problem? Everyone who I tell I'm considering a move to phuket, the first thing I hear is, "that place is overrun with tourists".

Parts of Phuket are highly developed. For example, I detest Patong and only go there when it's unavoidable. And I rarely go to Kata and Karon, which are also tourist towns. Most long-term expat residents live on the quiet east coast near where I live or in the northern part of the island. It's far from overrun with tourists in these areas. Keep in mind that Phuket is an island the physical size of Singapore but with only a tenth of the population. Even when the tourists are here, it's less packed with people than S'pore is. The issue is that if you go to a place that's not developed, you have no infrastructure to speak of. There are those places around, but they don't have easy air access, or there's no hospital, or you have to travel hours and hours to get to a government office to get a visa issue resolved. Phuket is a province all of its own, and everything is right here. Weighing all the factors, yeah, maybe it would be nice if Patong were a place I didn't mind so much going to, but in the balance, if most of the drunken revelry stays in Patong, the rest of the island is mainly free of it.

 

[Ze_Abron]

Have you considered anything outside of Asia? San Francisco or Monterey USA, Nice (France), Greek Islands, Egypt (Red Sea), Wilmington North Carolina? All these are super-developed with first class internet and great airport links. just some more options...

 

[Nudie Dreamer]

KVM: You could also try Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East of Malaysia. Hop on an plane and you're either in Layang-Layang, Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai or Lankayan. Couple of hours plane ride, you'll be in Thailand, Philippines and even Indonesia. KK (as its locally known) is a small city. While the city center builds up, its a stone throw away from Marine Park diving just some 20 minutes boat ride. Just over 2 hours drive you'll be on the crocker range, climbing SEA highest mountain.