weekend of diving from Singapore

[scarke]

Hope someone can help us. Hubby is going to be in Singapore again for two weeks in August, and is looking for some diving for the weekend in the middle of his stay.

He is an advanced open water PADI certified diver. At the moment he is looking at flight to Bali (350sterling ret) which would bring him Fri night and back Sunday night.

Are there any suggestions of other places he could go to by ferry or plane ? Obviously if he flies, he can only dive on Saturday. Or are there any companies that do organized weekends of diving, like transportation by bus etc and weekend of diving ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[gavstang]

Its pretty pointless in my opinion to spend all that money flying to Bali to dive 1 day and then come back. Since your hubby will be in Singapore, do get in touch with a local dive center in Singapore to see about doing a weekend dive at Tioman Island. Its a popular dive trip over the weekend for many Singaporeans and is cheap and doesnt involve extensive travelling. Here is a website which gives good information on how to get to Tioman. Tioman Dive Centre ~ How you get to Tioman from Singapore

Remember, google is your buddy. Hope your husband finds a dive!

 

[hellhole]

Agree as above.

But why can't meet in Bali ? So u can dive 2 day instead

 

[Zippsy]

There are several dozen shops in Singapore and just about every one of them offers weekend trips to Tioman or Aur/Dayang in Malaysia or the Anambas islands / Seven Skies wreck in Indonesia. Thise trips happen between about March through October. Leave on a Friday night, come back on a Sunday night after 6 dives (3+1 on Saturday and 2 Sunday morning). You should budget between about S$350 to S$800 including dives, tanks, weights, transport, accomodation and food. The wide range in prices is because the budget trips usually equate to long bus rides, late night transfers to the island, quad share in basic huts, small boat commutes to dive sites, decent Asian food, etc. These trips are quite good value considering what is included. The higest end trips are liveaboards that leave directly from Singapore so the holiday starts at 6:00pm Friday night. As soon as you are on board, you can watch a movie, have a massage, have a beer and watch the sunset, etc. The cabins at that price are spacious, en-suite, twin share side-by-side or a queen sized bed. The food is excellent and plentiful Asian and western. From the minute you end your dive until you gear up for the next, you get to relax.

IMHO, the main diference between the two extremes of budget is how you feel Monday morning, ie, whether you feel like you just had a holiday or you feel like you need one. My opinion though should be considered with the additional information that I work on the White Manta, which I believe most people would agree is the best (and most expensive) LOB option out of Singapore.

 

[gee13]

@ scarke - 350 GBP for return flight sing-den?? What airline is this?

 

[gavstang]

My opinion though should be considered with the additional information that I work on the White Manta, which I believe most people would agree is the best (and most expensive) LOB option out of Singapore.[/QUOTE]

Good info! Im saving up for a trip with you guys one of these days!

 

[racerx_]

+1 for tioman although the vis lately has been horrible. Maybe it'll clear up by then. If he's doing Bali I'd suggest tulamben where he can do four or five dives on sat and fly back Sunday. As mentioned above it depends how peaceful u want the trip to be haha.


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[gavstang]

+1 for tioman although the vis lately has been horrible. Maybe it'll clear up by then. If he's doing Bali I'd suggest tulamben where he can do four or five dives on sat and fly back Sunday. As mentioned above it depends how peaceful u want the trip to be haha.


Ditto on the poor viz at Tioman. Some friends just came back last weekend and said viz was terrible.

 

[Zippsy]

The LOB's have noticed the bad viz at Tioman the past few weeks. It often happens in July or August for a fewe weeks in a row. We're going to Aur again this weekend instead. Viz was very good there last weekend.

 

[Dave1w]

There are a couple more, cheaper liveaboards going out of Singapore at pretty good prices compared to the overland option, which I hate. Look up Friendly Waters, their boat The Ark, also MV Seaborne, not sure who you can book this through, maybe GS-Diving, also DiveRace.

Mind, White Manta's prices aren't that much more to be honest, so worth a look.