Hi All,
My dive buddy and I are trying to plan a diving trip to Asia in June/July and are looking for advice on where to stay, where to dive, and how to get there.
We will be leaving from NYC, and have about 2 weeks to travel.
Looking for great diving on a budget!
Have looked into Koh Tao, Palawan, Pulau Weh, Sipadan, and even Yap and Palau in Micronesia.
With all these options, we are finding it hard to narrow it down to a place where we can really enjoy our surroundings on a budget and get in some amazing diving durring our stay.
Would love some advice... are open to any and all reccomendations 😊
Thanks!
Kristen and Markus
Reply to this Id suggest Thailand or Indo or Malaysia unless your budget is very healthy..Sipidan is expensive, Mabul slightly cheaper but still expensive, there is the backpackers uncle chan who service the area but your budget accom options stop about there.
Micronesia is always going to be expensive - Palau is off the scale expensive.
Koh Tao and Palawan (which is a pain to get to but worth it) are your cheaper options..Koh Tao will have a bigger selection of budget accom and other things to do than dive.
Have you thought of Bunaken national park and Lembeh in North Sulawesi? IMO much more diversity of marine life and corals than in thai waters.
Cheap as chips and healthy reefs and walls at Bunaken (there are some homestays even the midrange dive resorts will top out at around $40AUD which includes your accom and meals but there are cheaper homestays). Given that you have two weeks from NYC you dont want to try and get somewhere that has three days travel time. Remember out of your two weeks to deduct your no dive days so you want somewhere fairly easy to access. Manado (jump off point for Lembeh and Bunaken) has direct flights from Singapore and is also easily accessible in a day from KL or Denpassar or Jakarta. There is also some pretty decent diving off manado mainland and backpacker range accomodation is easily found there too.
Hope this helps...if you can tell us what else you would like to do - ie are you nightclub people or chill on the beach people? - im sure we can help you with a lot more suggestions - and welcome to travelblog :-)
Reply to this Hi,
Beside Yap, I've dived all the palces you mention.
Main question, is what do you call "on a budget".....as diving in Asia is way cheaper than diving in the Caribean if you are from NYC.
Ko Tao is for sure not the best...
If you want a lot of dives...for not a huge price...look at liveaboards to Tubattaha from Puerto Princessa....but the last trips are end of May, or really early June...July is not the greatest time.
Pulau Weh should be ok for visibility around that time...I was there just two weeks ago.
Pulau...is and will remain Pulau...dive there twice, liveaboard which are truly expensive...and land base...which is expensive (look at 140usd for 2 dives). But it's Palau...and flying there is not cheap too.
Sipadan....is still in my top ten for sure...
You could also think of places like Perenthians in Malaysia, as well as Pulau Tenggol....but also a live aboard to the Similans.....or diving Gili Tragawan next to Bali...Bali is actually at perfect time in July, and you could see the Mola Mola.
Well, I won't quote any of my blogs, but you'll find blogs on all the above.
Happy diving...my next bubbles are in 9 days....with the sharks...
Reply to this Thank you for your suggestions so far... they've been very helpful. So we have ruled out micronesia based on cost.
We will be traveling for a little over 2 weeks and we're hoping to split the time up between two relatively close spots.
We are thinking that Ko Tao may be a good first stop to get a bunch of dives in and have a good time in the evenings as well. We know it's heavily dived these days, but is it still worth a visit??
We are thinking about spending the second half in Pulau Weh via Phuket > Kuala Lumpur > Banda Aceh on Air Asia. we know there is not much else to do there but the diving seems to have serious potential and we wouldn't mind some quiet evenings after Ko Tao. It seems like we could split the time and have 5-6 days of diving at each place and experience natural beauty as well as get in a little bit of fun and nightlife.
Another consideration is to spend the second week in Bali. You can fly cheaply out of Phuket. Bali vs. Pulau Weh???
We considered the Bunaken area, but we aren't flying thru Singapore and the cost is much higher when going thru Hong Kong or Tokyo. it really looks amazing. It would be great to spend the second week there, but it would take 3 flights to get there from Ko Tao area.
Again, open to any suggestions you may have!
Thanks again so much...
Reply to this Pulau Weh or Bali....that's a good call!
Pulau Weh will be very very "calm"....think about it, not easy to find a restaurant, not easy to find a beer...nice diving though.
But Bali if you have around a week, you could do 3 days diving out of Bali...if in July, you have a chance to see Mola Mola and Mantas...both pretty amazing. Than I would move to Gili Trawangan for 3-4 days....very relax place, but nice choice of party and food....plus the water is way more impressive than Pulau Weh...and it is the best dry season to dive it. In the Gilis, you spek fun drift dives and a lot of Turtles.
Have you think of switching Ko Tao for Perenthians...Ko Tao is way over dived.
Reply to this From Bali bunaken and lembeh are a $110 Lion Air flight so if you do end up spending time in Bali I wouldnt pass up the opportunity to dive here..fantastic diving.
Lembongan island off bali is also nice diving as is Crystal Bay and Manta Point at Penida..worth getting up early for the manta point dive. Have seen a Mola Mola at Crystal bay. 40 minute ride on scoot ferry from mainland bali with some reasonable cheap accomodation and a bit of a happy chilled vibe about the island..nice place to stay.
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