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6 years ago I completed local SCUBA certification course (Reno, NV) but never went diving anywhere. In a few weeks I will get re-certified and plan to go on my first diving vacation. I have always wanted to go somewhere tropical and do some diving where there is an abundance of great underwater wildlife and scenery along with warmer waters (january?). any ideas or recommendations (with somewhat budget intentions, lol)? hope to be gone for a month or longer. thanks.
I would recommend Fiji, try taking the 'Big Yellow Cat' up into the Yasawa islands.
OR, how about Australia ? The Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef, Cage diving with Great Whites in the South. January is the middle of summer, just join the backpacker trail, you could easily go a month and barely scratch the surface of Oz's dive opportunities.
What about the Caribbean? The weather in January is normally good.
Try somewhere like Cozumel as there are some good places there if you are on a budget.
Have a look at Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica as well.
St Lucia isn't bad either ;)
HTH
PHILIPPINES!
The air ticket will be the most expensive part of your trip, and not all that expensive from Las Vegas. You have Philippine airlines offering flights ou of Las Vegas. You can dive Puerto Galera. PG is a 2 hour buss ride south of Manilla, and a 45 min boat ride. PG is a great site, rec;wreck;tech deep; nature;drift; you can find it all. Look up www.actiondivers.com they can help arrange transport to and accomodations. or you can look up Puerto Galera for a general site with links to other shops. My wife and I were there in 2005, she took her classroom locally and endorsed for her OW dive s in PG.
Good for beginners and expierenced divers. You can also go to Dumagete; Cebu; many places!!! I always say WARNING:DIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES IS THE MOST ADDICTIVE FORM OF DIVING!!!
You can get rooms as low as $22 a night. We met someone who was taking her divemaster training and renting a hut for $180 a month. I have seen offerings for a 1 BR house for ~~ $230 a month in Panglao Is. in Bohol, also great diving!
Look in the Philippines paridise divers forum for more info.
YOU CAN'T GO WRONG IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jontay
Well, as far as budget is concerned the biggest thing is going to be getting there. If you are in the US (Nevada), then you could go to Hawaii (but everything there is very expensive), you could go to Mexico or you could go to Florida and/or the Keys. Of course you could also leave the country like many have suggested, but that is going to involve a lot more cost, especially for a long vacation as you mentioned. I don't know the passport/visa requirements for a stay of that duration.
What I usually do is look for a deal on the flight and then plan my vacation around that. It seems like a strange way of doing things, but I was able to get a ticket to Florida for $69 one way and $1 for the return flight! I could not pass up that deal, so I am going on the 28th.
H20Dragon, you didn't think we'd let you get away without a full trip report in the Philippines Paradise Divers Section, did you?!
As I type this I am sitting in the computer room at El Galleon Resort in LaLaguna.....just arrived yesterday.....
I think this post is lost. I don't think the original poster has even been logged on since his first and only posting.
:D :D :D ENVY!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by The Publisher
Thanks for the responses. There is some great info for me to look at.
Hello acelockco, I have actually signed on quite a few times since my last post to check replies. I was just waiting for a few responses to roll in. I appreciate your responses though. I've also traveled the way you do, "book a flight somewhere and then figure out what to do". In fact, I will probably end up doing it this way. Have fun in Florida.
I may be leaning towards the Philippenes or Thailand. I have always wanted to check out Thailand (everyone says there is so much to do and very affordable) although lately the Philippenes is coming highly recommended.
Hey h2odragon1. thanks for the info. I looked at ActionDivers.com and sent them an e-mail but have not heard back yet. Sounds like you really liked it. Please feel free to mention anything you think would be useful to me.
As far as Philippenes go (to anyone here that may know):
- once I am there, is it realistic to find some kind of bunaglow(?), hotel, house sharing, etc. that would be 'on the cheap' yet safe, not too far from the diving, etc.?
- is there plenty of sites and things to see when not diving?
Originally, I was thinking of bumming around in the Carribean. The airplane ticket is definetely more afforable to go there. However, since I am between jobs and have some flexibility, I thought maybe to take advantage of this time and head to the S.Pacific/Asia area while I have extra time. Some folks have mentioned that the water (S.Pacific) would probably be warmer and an abundunce of marine life too. Plus, I could save the Caribbean for when I don't have as much time off. Does any of this sound like a good idea (lol)?
Thanks for the info on the Carribean, lottie. I read some of your posts and it looks like you love to dive and love the Carribean too. I am sure I will talk to you in the future.
Sorry for such a long message but I am trying to make a somewhat educated decision and weigh all of the info. I am close to booking a flight somewhere and finally going tropical and I am really, really 'stoked'. I am trying to hit the gym pretty hard (joned just recently) and hopefully shed a couple of pounds and gain a little more strength and stamina to enjoy one of these paradises. Thanks to all the replies and please feel free to offer anything else.
Thanks again!!!!!!
Jontay - welcome to the forums.
If you are veering more towards the philippines, there are quite a few people on here that are located in that part of the world and i'm sure they will give you more than enough good advice and information on where to go and best places to stay.
have fun
Glad to see I was wrong and you are still, we all love active members. Don't worry about being so long winded, we all enjoy reading what others post no matter how long.
Ace
By the way, going to the gym is always an excellent way to prepare for diving. It is only going to help you.
Puerto Galera, or more properly Sabang has all sorts of really inexpensive rooms/apartments just a hundred feet from the beach. You can get your airfills anywhere and do beach dives if you want, just make sure you have a SMB due to the bangka traffic.
Jontay;
when we were i Puerto glaera, a girl from AU. was recting a beach house on Big LaLagun beach for $180 US a month. that was two years ago. If price are up, it's because of the exchange rate. 55P/$1 then now 43P/$1.
PG has the most varied diving, as I said earlier, ask the Publisher if he is having a good time, he's there now.
Jontay, and Publisher, there are many more places to go in the Philippines. Dumagete,is great; Bohol, Pnaglao Is.,wouldd be another great site. My wife and I are going to Cebu next Feb.
You can't go wrong going to the Philippines!!
Thanks to everyone for your replies. It was a lot of help.
I have checked out quite a few airfares and the best I have found was $950-$975 for roundtrip (Reno-Manila) if I go mid-Jan. thru mid-Feb. Does this sound like reasonable airfare? I thought it seemed pretty good.
I think I will just book a flight to Manila and then head to Puerto Galera and start there. I assume I can re-certify there at PG? Maybe meet a few folks, get some ideas, and then check out some other islands/dive locations after that.
Thanks for all of the responses and please feel free to offer any suggestions that you all may have. Believe me, I am open to any thoughts, lol.
By the way (for "The Publisher"), I know this sounds like I am an idiot, but what is a SMB? and it's relation to bangka traffic? Sorry, but I am not familiar with all of the acronyms yet, lol.
Thanks also to "h2odragon1" for your input. I'll probably PM you to get some specifics unless everyone would rather have it here on this open forum for their own benefit/information.
Thanks again to everyone for all of their replies.
SMB is the national drink, haha. That's San Miguel Beer, a pale pilsen. There's also San Miguel dark beer (Cerveza Negra), extra strong beer (Red Horse), light lager (San Mig Light), and plenty more.Quote:
Originally Posted by jontay
As for its relation to banca traffic, maybe for you to chill while waiting? Either that, or for bribing lol
Submersable
Marker
Bouy
:)