suggestions for early Jan diving

[hmoffatt]

I'm looking for a suggestion for diving in South East Asia in the week or two after Christmas. We'll be travelling from Europe back to home in Australia and want to stop and dive, and also enjoy some other activities (culture, national parks etc).

We both have 120+ dives and have dived between us at Komodo, Galapagos, the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo etc so our standards are reasonably high. We like to see sharks and other big creatures. We like liveaboards (but we're a bit prone to seasickness).

We were considering Thailand because it's well connected to Australia and Europe, and it's a good time of year with regard to weather, but it seems between the crowds and the conditions it may not be the best choice, even with a few day liveaboard in the Similans. (Correct me if I'm wrong here.)

What else should we consider? Maldives? Where else?

 

[Tippytoes12]

In theory it’s the rainy season in Indonesia , but we have been to Bali , Raja Ampat and Lembeh in this period and only once has the weather been bad. The Philippines is likely to be better , recommend the Visayas in general and Southern Leyte in particular. These islands are very easily accessible by a very good ferry network from Cebu. This is a far easier airport to use than Manila , although this is fine too. It’s whakeshark season in Southern Leyte then and they seem to be having a great season with them this year. We have stayed twice in Southern Leyte Divers , a German / Filipino owned and run. IMVHO thé diving in the Philippines is was better than Thailand. Indonesia is the best of all.

Hope this helps a bit !

 

[outofofficebrb]

Raja Ampat, Indonesia should be good then.

 

[hmoffatt]

Thanks for the ideas. Thinking about it some more, we'd prefer to stop somewhere further north to break up our trip from Europe to Australia more. Raja Ampat looks cool but it's not too far from Australia so we can go there another time.

Thailand would be ideal except I read that the diving isn't the best. What else should I look at?

 

[Centrals]

Logistically speaking Thailand suits you best.
Diving might not be that good when compare with Indonesia and Philippines but Thailand do offer lot of top side attractions, culture and sight seeing etc, to distract you.