What are some good Pacific combo trips?

[Damselfish]

So I really want to get to the Pacific finally, someplace like Fiji, Tahiti, Palau, Australia, PNG, Yap. I think I'd like to go for 2+ weeks split between 2 different places, maybe a liveaboard one week and something land-based the other. I'm looking for suggestions on good combo trips where there is not too much travel in between places, or where at least it works out somewhat conveniently without a fortune in airfare. For instance, I know Aggressor gives discounts if you do back-to-back Palau/Truk charters, so presumably the flights and transfers work out pretty well, but this doesn't sound appealing because neither of us is into wrecks and Truk isn't high on our list. (An occasional wreck is fine but not a whole week of it. )

We like nice liveaboards & resorts. My photographer husband would prefer not to have currents all the time but from everything I read I suspect that's too limiting. I'm partial to big critters and scenery. We both like interesting critters so a week of muck diving would be cool with either of us.

(And what time of year would be best for said trips?)

 

[caymaniac]

We did a 2 1/2week Australia with liveaboard out of Port Douglas then on to Hawaii for ten days. I would not suggest Hawaii as a world class dive site like the Coral Sea, but we did have fun. My next choice if I can travel that far again, would be PNG + liveaboard.
We also have looked at the Yap Palau combo, or Yap and Big Blue Explorer.
The "Nai" in Fiji looks good. Maybe your combo could be a ldestination with land + liveaboard, that way you could really get a feel for the diving plus the cultural thing.
Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

 

[cdiver2]

We did a week at Walindi in PNG then a four day liveaboard from Oz to the coral sea.
All booked by diversity in OZ. Had a blast Walindi was the best.

 

[frankzeg]

Combinations that we have done and can comment on:

Palau/ Yap/ Chuuk
If it were up to me I would DEFINITELY do Chuuk and pick one of the others. We went in January/February and had decent conditions. The trade winds will be up but not too bad- apparently they help the conditions in the Chuuk lagoon. We have heard that visibility in Chuuk can totally suck in August. If you want to see the mantas in Yap you must give yourself more than just acouple days- they can be hard to find sometimes.

Australian end of Coral Sea/Australian Far North Queensland diving
We had a mediocre trip out in the coral sea- due entirely to badly damaged coral. The north end of the GBR is still OK - near Lizard Island was great. The farther south the more damage from agricultural runoff from the cane and pineapple fields. The Yongala is a GREAT wreck farther south.

 

[frankzeg]

I wanted to add that my wife hated wrecks before going to Chuuk. its not the metal - its the concentration of life on the wrecks that is so amazing. You can do the entire trip without every bothering to penetrate one wreck. We saw more life there than in Palau- which was badly damaged by the '98 El Nino. Big downside though: Chuuk landside has very little to recommend itself- it is downright dangerous to walk there at night.
z

 

[tangfish]

call Continental Airlines and ask them about the "circle micronesia" package. $1650 roundrip, all one ways so no backtracking for 4 stops included in and around Micronesia, plus 50 bucks per extra stop thereafter. 10 day minimum so you should be fine.

 

[colio]

I *have* to recommend a liveaboard to the Coral Sea & particularly the Osprey Reef & Steve's Bommie. These reefs are about 350Km's off the coast of North Queensland (you will need to get to Cairns which is the launching point). Viz average was 50m with some huge critters including a heap of sharks & potato cod. We went with Spirit of Freedom (www.spiritoffreedom.com.au) which was particularly good but other luxury liveaboards that do the Coral Sea are www.mikeball.com & www.undersea.com.au - the latter one is a very interesting liveaboard as these guys do research during the liveaboard so you get to see them either tagging minke whales or something like that. A good reference site to visit is www.diversionoz.com.au which has a stack of information about Australia/Pacific Islands diving.

We've also visited Fiji which is a 6-8 hour trip from Australia. If you go there I'd recommend staying on the main island & diving the Coral Coast with a trip to Bega Lagoon. Awesome!

Have fun!

 

[diver_paula]

call Continental Airlines and ask them about the "circle micronesia" package. $1650 roundrip, all one ways so no backtracking for 4 stops included in and around Micronesia, plus 50 bucks per extra stop thereafter. 10 day minimum so you should be fine.

Good suggestion. I've been to Micronesia twice. The first time we did Kosrae (3 days), Pohnpei (3 days), Truk (1 week). The second time we did Yap (4 days), Truk (1 week).

Kosae was very nice and not as touristy. Pohnpei was great! Good diving, good sightseeing (Nan Mandol - ancient city on the water), and the housing was great. The Village - individual grass 'huts' with all the amenities.

Yap is definitely something to consider given you said you like large critters. The manta rays make the stop totally worth it. The rest of the diving was nice. & there are few land tours to choose from.

Paula

 

[IslandHopper]

If you're watching your budget, Yap, Palau, Chuuk or Pohnepei are all accessible from Guam by a less-than-2-hour flight. And Guam itself makes a very good dive vacation (unless you really want to be someplace quiet and get away from McDonnalds and such). On Guam, you could make 4 dives a day for a week and never go to the same site twice. ... Lots of boat diving and shore diving as well.

 

[CA Diver]

Diving in Guam is also fairly inexpensive as compared to other dive locations. For more info on different locations try this link to Micronesian Divers Association.

http://www.mdaguam.com/

The travel section gives info on a number of Islands in Micronesia