- Healthy vibrant reefs with lots of color and life. Lots of biodiversity a plus.
- Water temps in the high 70s or above. She gets cold fairly easily.
- Liveaboard preferred, but shore-based is fine. She's a 2 or maybe 3 tank per day diver, but enjoys being on boats so would be fine staying on deck while others dive another tank or two.
- Mild to moderate expected conditions. She's ok with drift diving if the current isn't super strong, or if we have a DM just for us. She wouldn't enjoy trying to get back on a boat if there were a lot of surface chop, nor would she enjoy much surge.
- She prefers shallow to deep, both for more light and color but she feels more comfortable at 40' than 90' and that helps her enjoy the dive more.
- Bigger stuff great, but not necessary. Too many sharks is actually a negative, as it puts her on edge. A few here and there is great, though.
- Not too much tolerance for political instability
- Hoping to have reasonable travel and flight connections from Toronto, Canada, but I understand that may need to be sacrificed
Her diving experience to date has all been Caribbean, so we'd like to go somewhere else. She's really enjoyed Cozumel (with some reservations about the current) and Bonaire (loved it). From the research I've done so far, it seems like there are a lot of possibilities in Asia. Raja Ampat keeps coming up (though the travel seems daunting), as do some places in the Philippines (and there's a direct flight from Toronto to Manila). Any suggestions for destinations/boats I should investigate?
The first line said it all - healthy vibrant reefs with lots of color and life would be the Coral Triangle in Asia. Indonesia is the hot spot, Philippines being right behind it. Water is steadily warm, at least 80F+ with occasional thermoclines. Most of my dives have been in the 82-86F range. In case you're interested in Coral Triangle photos, look here...These were from Raja Ampat but Komodo is not that far behind it:
Amazon Photos
Anywhere else will pale in comparison, especially (in my opinion) the Caribbean and Hawaii. If not for the tolerance about political instability, I would have suggested Red Sea as that is what I would say is right behind the Philippines as it would have been really memorable to tour the archaeological sites. For a liveaboard, I think Komodo would be a great fit. I did my first liveaboard there at the strong urge and recommendation of fellow Scubaboard members there when I had about the same dive count (maybe slightly less) than your wife and it was the best decision I ever made and I still give credit to all the amazing people here for it. There are currents there, but dependent on when you dive the particular site relative to tides. The key is getting a very good dive shop or liveaboard who is experienced. You can even hire your own guide, if you so desire.
Raja Ampat is great, but as you say, it is a lot of extra travel. I also found the currents on dives way stronger than in Komodo - meaning, a lot of reef hook use, whereas when I dived Komodo I didn't really need one. You can go via Singapore or Jakarta pretty easily, but it is still an extra trek.
I suggest doing a liveaboard from Bali to Komodo if you want the full 10 days on a liveaboard, though I think maybe doing a 7 day liveaboard in just Komodo would be ideal as I have heard from a few people that the diving between Bali and Komodo was really underwhelming. You can also do it land based, but they are long days on slow boats and honestly, for a 0 ending birthday, it's probably better and more convenient to do a liveaboard. You can fly via Bali on the way in and out. (It's a little more than a 1 hour flight from Bali to the launch point for Komodo.) You can spend some time topside in Bali and explore, she can spa (very inexpensive!), or just bum on a beach, or all 3!
If Philippines, I suggest a liveaboard to Tubbataha that's about 6-7 days - late March to early June is the short season which coincides around the time you want to go to. It is supposed to be/arguably the best diving in the Philippines. It is incredibly pristine. There are quite a few sharks, but they are smaller reef sharks. They're not interested in you, but there are also whale sharks that swim by naturally and lots of big fish and pristine reef out there. Actual diving was not challenging but there are a lot of walls as it is an atoll. Jessie Beazley was stunning and a bit reminiscent of Raja Ampat without the density. If you hit it around end of April or early May, that is probably the best time as you won't get any weather outliers. There is a 12-14 hour crossing in open water so if you pick a larger boat, it will help. There is not really any open water in Komodo so if your wife gets seasick that's something to keep in mind..Nothing major that Dramamine can't prevent.
You can spend the rest of the time bumming in a beach area of your choice afterwards but do know that travel in the Philippines is not as easy in Indonesia, in my experience.
If any of the above options sound good, let me know and I can suggest some boats or land based ops.
