Scuba DivingTrip for the ....

[Sarah]

Quero,

I understand the best diving in Thailand is a live aboard to the Similians? What are land based dive resorts like?

[The Publisher]

If our members want it we can arrange an official ScubaMagazine.net Group trip but we typically need at least 10 confirmed.

The best deals to be had are the Philipines but we can probably arrange for something with advance notice in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Singapore, etc.

We'll be talking with some resorts in November at the DEMA show and see what we can plan out.

[acelockco]

Considering you would need that many members to go, I think a MUCH better idea would be a trip for anyone in the group instead of just the singles. It seems like eliminating a large part of the group would not be very nice to us married or other couples.

[lottie]

If our members want it we can arrange an official ScubaMagazine.net Group trip but we typically need at least 10 confirmed.

The best deals to be had are the Philipines but we can probably arrange for something with advance notice in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Singapore, etc.

We'll be talking with some resorts in November at the DEMA show and see what we can plan out.

That all sounds really good and the first offical SMN diver trip to the Phillipines (or around that part of the world anyway) would be good, especially if we can get some good deals(?) with some resorts.

Ace - I'm inclined to agree with you (this thread started off as a bit of fun), but if there are 10 people out there (well, 9 really if you count me off). I think this should be open to everyone.

[Quero]

1) Best time of year: from 1 November to 1 May. My pick--Feb/March/April

2) Best sites: accessible from liveaboards to the Similans. Typically 4d/4n. But we can also do land based and have daytrip diving. We can dive for four days on day boats (2, 3, or 4 dive days) and not do the same site twice. We don't have dedicated dive resorts at Phuket.

3) Numbers: we don't need 10, but if we have that many, we can get cheaper deals (half charters, for example). However, with any number we can go. All kinds of price ranges are available from super budget to super luxe. You get what you pay for, in relative terms, though. Cheaper means shared bathrooms, for example, and no Nitrox fills.

[PinayDiver]

Hi Lottie:
The poll isn't at the beginning of this thread?
My vote is obvious though -- and only because I'm already in the Philippines and curious about what the diving is like elsewhere
And plus Marcia offered her valuable organizational skills once we step off the tarmac (a big plus)
Having said that, Indonesia is on my wish list too (maybe we can plan for a quarterly trip )

1) Best time of year: from 1 November to 1 May. My pick--Feb/March/April

2) Best sites: accessible from liveaboards to the Similans. Typically 4d/4n. But we can also do land based and have daytrip diving. We can dive for four days on day boats (2, 3, or 4 dive days) and not do the same site twice. We don't have dedicated dive resorts at Phuket.

3) Numbers: we don't need 10, but if we have that many, we can get cheaper deals (half charters, for example). However, with any number we can go. All kinds of price ranges are available from super budget to super luxe. You get what you pay for, in relative terms, though. Cheaper means shared bathrooms, for example, and no Nitrox fills.

[yohanson]

Ace - I'm inclined to agree with you (this thread started off as a bit of fun), but if there are 10 people out there (well, 9 really if you count me off). I think this should be open to everyone.

You know I'm there!

[lottie]

Okay - so to recap...we have
Me (obviously!)
IceDragon,
Quero,
Ace,
Yohanson,

....anymore for anymore???

[BamaCaveDiver]

Organize a trip to Thailand that is cost effective and will allow cave diving (for those so certified) and I will become single (if that is a pre-req)

[The Publisher]

Yesterday I spent all day laying the groundwork for being able to invite others to a group dive trip so we have a sufficient number.

Last week I spoke with a large dive travel agency I had previously met with at a trade show and the magic # is 10 paid in full.

There are a handful of resorts awaiting me doing a review and doing some HD video productions of the resort and the diving.

Somewhere there was also a resort in Bonaire that wanted me out, but I hear Bonaire is all beach diving where you drag your equipment all over and I prefer to do resort diving with boats, as lugging around 70lbs of gear and a 40lb HD videocam system ranks right along with having a massive c02 hit on the rebreather or discovering posthumously there was carbon monoxide in the airfill.

As an option, if we did any of those resorts such as Davao, etc, I could do an HD video production where we are all in it, and it gets posted to about 41 video file sharing sites including YouTube, etc. and all attendees would get a CD.

The end of October/beginning of November we'll be in Florida to do an HD video production of Diving with the Manatees courtesy of Captain Mike of Sunshine River Tours and his ever lovely colleague Captain Doreen.

While in Florida we'll be covering the DEMA show and really putting our nose to the grinder with resorts and dive travel agencies and getting some fun trips together.