Where to get the cheapest open water diving certification.

Hey Pierre - sorry my mistake - the $15K figure was AUD which is basically on parity with USD at the moment for TWO PEOPLE sorry not PER Person - this is what happens when you post late at night after chaotic day with teenagers.

I was very very lucky in that my trip to PNG was paid for by very wealthy friends who bought one of the boats they dived on complete with all staff as their own private boat - sister ship to MV Chertan. Just looked at Chertans website they are charging US $285 per night so I was basing my figures on how long I spent there (honestly spending just one week in PNG would be a crime) so 15 days plus airfairs to PNG (another 3K from where I live in Perth although this will come down to about $1000 each if you went from the east coast of Aus) and flights within PNG as there is no way of getting around other than via plane.

You have no option but to spend at least the night you get to PNG and the night you leave Port Moresby due to no flight decom time and accomodation in Moresby is ludicrously expensive. Most of Moresby hotels are usually packed by mining expats so hotel room rates are around $300 - $700 USD per person. In the thread on PNG I found the accomodation listing by the PNG tourism department as listing budget accomodation at around $110 per night. The other problem is where you can go in Moresby to eat....unfortunately due to security issues everyone eats at either the Yacht club (I paid $85 for sandwiches for 6 people for lunch!) or the even more expensive chinese restaurant in the main street.

So yes, 15K per couple - using your figures at 5k for the liveaboard its still 10K per couple plus the getting to and from PNG so it adds up.

You definitely have to fill that dream one day, its worth saving for. You wont ever regret spending the $$$ to do it.

And i promise not to post late at night after chaotic days :-)

Reply to this