Place to live, and dive in SE Asia?

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scubadivingtom

Registered
Messages
63
Reaction score
15
Location
Dallas , TX
# of dives
200 - 499
I will be retiring in the next 6 months.
I am looking for a place to live that has good topside, and diving. Yes, I do need a bit of western food at times.lol If all I have is diving 24/7 I think I would get bored in time, considering I am 55, and single.
My budget is about $4000 USD per month.
Thanks
 
Singapore
Not a diving destination but plenty of cheap flights available to anywhere in SE Asia for diving. Unfortunately the cost of living is the highest around the area.
Johor Bahru across the other side of the causeway should provide much lower cost of living.
KL is another option. Air Asia, not my favourite airline, covers nearly everywhere around the area.
 
I have been to Singapore. It is a super city, but I really don't want the big city life.
Thanks
 
The Philippines is easy choice for me with this question. Great diving, plenty of other expats and options for home comforts, English is common, and 4k a month will be enough to live very comfortable unless you choose right in Manila (which you said you don't want cities, so). I liked Bali too, but don't know as much about it.

I live in Saigon, your budget would be enough to live very comfortable here also, and there's a growing expat community and we don't have the storms, volcanoes and earthquakes of the others. But diving is limited, and flying to the Phils and Thailand and Indo are not as cheap as some other places. Many expats choose Thailand, too, but again I don't know a ton about living there.
 
Another vote for Philippines for the aforementioned reasons; cost of living, widespread use of English, cost of living, Filipino culture (which I find wonderful), diving, and climate.

I am living here in southern Metro Manila now and enjoy it, but looking forward to the slower pace of somewhere provincial, like Dumagete or south Cebu Island.
 
I will be retiring in the next 6 months.
I am looking for a place to live that has good topside, and diving. Yes, I do need a bit of western food at times.lol If all I have is diving 24/7 I think I would get bored in time, considering I am 55, and single.
My budget is about $4000 USD per month.
Thanks
Have you spent time in SE Asia? Maybe go take a look before deciding.
Western food? Unless you live in a heavy tourist area, which will be more expensive for sure, don’t expect a thick, juicy steak or cheeseburger.
Language can be an issue in Thailand and Indonesia.
English works in the Philippines and most of Malaysia.
I lived in Iloilo, Philippines for 10 years, Boracay for a year, Kuantan, Malaysia for a year and a half and Phuket, Thailand for a year.

My personal preference? Indonesia. East. Seram, or “Scary Island”. Practically uninhabited, just north of Ambon.
I don’t think you can own land there but I saw a lot of fish free diving there and beautiful coral. Healthy.
 
I have been to Thailand 2 times, and loved it. That was 14 years ago, and now I hear the diving is not what it was 14 years ago. Way to many divers is what I am hearing.
I am really thinking about looking at Dumagete/ Dauin, Philippines.
I don't know anything about Indonesia, but I do plan to visit.
I will live out off a suitcase until I figure it out.
Thanks
 

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