Any sense diving anywhere else?

[lamarpaulski]

Budget keeps you in SE Asia vicinity. If you’re in USA or Mexico anyways then Cozumel is very cool and not expensive but you’ll soon realize the variety of u/w life is far less than Indonesia.

What about Andaman Islands ?
Muck diving ?
Komodo ?
Sea snake island ?

I’d exhaust your ‘local’ options as they’re amongst the best in World. Then head to Central and South Pacific.

 

[Damselfish]

The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. We go to the Caribbean much more because it's close. I rarely understand why anyone in SE Asia or even Europe would spend the time and money to dive there. (Visit some places to see them and dive if if it's convenient maybe.)

(Undercurrent reviews designate "Caribbean" or "worldwide" scale. There's a reason for that.)

 

[Steve_C]

Generally with travel for me it is interestjng to see a different place. It does not have to be better than every place I have already been.

I enjoy looking at and learning about different species of fish and sea creatures. Those are different every where you go.

 

[Stoo]

If you haven't considered cold water diving, you're missing half the World. If I could only dive one place the rest of my life, it would be British Columbia, Canada.

Yup. Best diving in the world in my opinion. (Admittedly, I've not been everywhere). I'm heading off to Browning Pass for perhaps the 20th time in a couple of weeks, and can hardy wait.

Of course if one isn't accustomed to dry-suits and currents, diving there would require a fair investment in gear and training, so for one trip, it would be hard to justify.

My only complaint is the cost. I fly to BC from Ontario and by the time the costs are all in, I can go to the Caribbean for a lot less $$.

 

[stepfen]

I have the exact same dilemma right now. I have the chance to dive Red Sea (Zabarghad, Rocky island, Fury Shoa) at the end of October on LoB (the first one for me).
But sometime around Christmas I will be visiting Indonesia for few weeks with family and I can get 1 week or so off for diving.
I have dived only in Indonesia (2*Raja Ampat, once Bunaken and Ambon and few dives here and there all land based) and of course local dives here in Greece.
My dilemma is this, does it worth spending these 2000euros (in total that's how much the trip to Red Sea will cost me) to dive Red Sea and go on low budget to Indonesia, or should I keep the money for something better in Indonesia?
For me fortunately I go practically every year to Indo (wife is from Jakarta), but it is always around Christmas time so most of the nice diving places (Komodo, Alor etc) are out of season. Raja Ampat and Ambon being exceptions and I don't mind diving them again any time.

 

[mi000ke]

What are your diving goals? Is it to visit/dive lots of different places, or to experience different diving conditions (e.g., cold water diving, or different marine life) or to maximize your time underwater given a particular budget or logistics constraints? I dove a number of places around the world before settling here on GC for half the year, and while we had some great diving elsewhere, my goal now is just to be able to get underwater whenever and as often I like (and to do it in warm, high visibility water). I rarely dive anywhere else now, and am happy even to dive the same sites over and over. Being in SEA, you are certainly not compromising on the quality of the diving. Now if I were limited to Massachusetts (my other home - where you couldn't pay me to dive in our much colder, murkier water) I'd be traveling all over the place, like I used to.

 

[Dogbowl]

Me? I was led to believe Indo is the best diving. Is it? I can’t conclude yet because I’ve not gone to enough other places to be able to say, “I’ve been almost everywhere diving now and yup, Indo’s the best.” I don’t want to be told this. I want to experience this for myself. I might have a different opinion than others, and often do.

So far in my limited experience, Indo is the fishiest, and most abundant healthy coral I’ve seen. But for the torturous travel there, I did really enjoy that trip.

 

[outofofficebrb]

It really depends what you consider great diving and what makes you happy. For me, it’s warm water, colors/coral, density and variety of coral and fish, decent visibility. Cold water diving is a hard stop unless it’s Galapagos and I know that’s only marginally cold for some, which I still haven’t been too.

I’ve been diving in the United States (Channel Islands, Carmel, Monterey, Lake Tahoe), Thailand (Similans, Ko Phi Phi), New Zealand (Poor Knights), Australia (Coral Sea/Osprey Reef, outer Great Barrier Reef), Mexico (Cozumel, cenotes), Bahamas (Bimini, Freeport), Egypt (Red Sea Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone, Zabargad, Rocky, St. John’s, Fury Shoal, Hurghada, Marsa Alam), Singapore (Hantu!), Indonesia (Komodo, Raja Ampat, Lembeh), Hawaii (Oahu), Costa Rica (Papagayo Bay, Cat Islands, Bat Islands all out of Guanacaste), French Polynesia (Moorea and Tahiti), and the Philippines (Puerto Galera, Coron, El Nudo, Tubbataha).

Indonesia is still my absolute favorite. I’ve returned to Raja Ampat 2X and will return a 3rd time in the spring. I will also return to Komodo for a 2nd time next month. There is a reason....I’m an addict. It is THAT good. I haven’t found anything else quite like it. Closest is Philippines followed by the Red Sea. I’m off to do a Banda Sea crossing next month and will also add Ambon to my list at the end of this month. I hate to say it, but I don’t even bother with the Caribbean. The airfare is as much or more than to get to SE Asia and the diving is far inferior, in addition to all costs being a lot more once you arrive (food, transportation, lodging, diving).

As for “world class diving” at $18 per tank in SE Asia including equipment...I have not found that to be the case yet, at least not with a reputable operator for boat dives. Maybe I haven’t looked or gone to the right places.

Here are recent photos from my latest trip to Raja Ampat. Amazon Photos

 

[chillyinCanada]

I haven't been getting $18 dives in Indo either. Perhaps OP can tell us where to find them!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

A few reasons to dive cold water...