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I can't compare places in the region because we've only been to the Maldives, twice. (In fact I found this thread because I'm poking around for info on Mozambique and Madagascar in deciding our next trip.) But I can answer your question about Maldives topside -- there is nothing to do. You read...

We had a bad experience in 2014 with a 4-airline trip to-and-from Bali to Sorong -- our bags were delayed on one carrier, which made it very difficult to get them because we transferred to another carrier. So last year we paid about $300 more, each, to fly Garuda. And our bags were delayed. On...

We're planning our next dive trip (last trip was Raja Ampat) and my wife is interested in New Caledonia. I can't find much info online, other than that the island had a bad coral bleaching episode in 2016. Has anyone been diving there more recently? How was it? (I have similar questions about...

Funscuba: I think if you have done those locations already, you should try Kimbe Bay. It's different enough from the others. Bring your macro camera lens and a magnifying glass. Re season: I'm not an expert on the area, sorry! But I did like MV Febrina better than land-based diving, so I think...

Bill: Everything depends on the weather. And as MA says above, the type of photography you're into, as PNG has beautiful possibilities. But to answer your question -- since writing this report we went back to Pelileu, and we have booked a return trip to Raja Ampat this winter. But a return trip...

My wife wants to visit the Seychelles for vacation next year. Her job is stressful and mine is not, so she gets to choose. She likes land-based diving and she also enjoys beachside relaxing, which makes the Seychelles appealing. We have been to a lot of great places for diving: Raja Ampat...

Hey Frenchies, sorry I'm late to this ... Have you thought about French Polynesia? We have been twice to Fakarava and Rangiroa and the diving is outstanding, 5-star, in both places. I say that as someone who has been diving in Maldives twice, Raja Ampat, PNG ... I've been around. Neither of...

I was in South Africa on a combined business/holiday trip and took two days to visit Sodwana Bay, staying at and diving with Coral Divers. It wasn't a dedicated dive trip and I only had time for three dives, but I thought my observations were worth sharing, because I would have liked to have...

We did the "classic itinerary," including Witu Island and Fathers Reef. The sites at Fathers Reef were the best diving of the trip, easily, and 10 days of that would have pushed my evaluation of the diving up a notch. It's still not a place for big fish, but the large schools of fish there were...

My wife and I went to Papua New Guinea for 10 days on the MV Febrina and a few extra days in Walindi and Loloata at the end of September/early October. I'm going to focus on the Febrina because that was why we went. FOOD: The good news first. The food is much better than you'd expect for a...

I ended up buying a skin and a 2 mm shorty wetsuit. I was surprised by how cheap this solution is: $40 for the skin, $50 for the 2 mm wetsuit. At those prices, why not? I haven't owned a wetsuit in years but if we keep going to warm-water places like this, since we're a once-a-year...

My wife and I are going to Papua New Guinea in October. We dove Raja Ampat last December and I dove in a Lycra skinsuit, borrowed, for the entire trip and it was great. Fabulous. Felt so free, and I was never cold. For PNG, we're buying suits (we usually rent everything but masks). My wife gets...

My wife and I are going to PNG in early October. We're on the MV Febrina liveaboard and have a few days at Walindi as well. Last December we dove Raja Ampat on Dewi Nusantara and I used just a skin, which was great. I wonder if that would be warm enough. Has anyone been diving Kimbe Bay in...

Glad to hear you picked Palau. We liked Fiji, we actually got married there and went back, but it wouldn't be one of the top dive destinations we've experienced. Those would be French Polynesia -- really the best, but expensive; Raja Ampat, Indonesia; and Palau is probably third. Fiji ranks for...

My wife and I are going to Raja Ampat in December on a 10-day liveaboard (Dewi Nusantara), and we have a week in Bali beforehand. We mainly want to do topside stuff in Bali because the liveaboard should be sufficient dive adventure. But we might want to take a day of diving just so we don't miss...

Just got back from 12 days in Fakarava, where the diving is as wonderful as ever. Lots of sharks, dozens on some dives, to the point where you don't consider them special on a dive anymore. We saw a few turtles, some leaf scorpion fish, a manta ray, a devil ray, barracuda, tuna, a beautiful pink...

Full board in Fakarava? I guess you have no choice in Tetamanu, you're at the other end of the island from where everything is. Great diving down there. My statement about medicines goes quadruple in Tetamanu. They're not even going to have aspirin unless you can buy one from a fellow...

Herbie: Supermarket prices are not as bad as you'd think in Rangiroa, not much higher than Germany. But the markets here are not refrigerated, so the stuff in boxes and cans looks pretty dusty. Still, if you plan to cook and have equipment to cook, you can do so here. Produce is limited but...

Just finished 3 very good two-dive days with the Six Passengers in Rangiroa. We've seen dolphins almost every dive. Today I saw a silvertip shark so close up that I saw a hook in its mouth. Spotted eagle rays, no mantas yet, but hopeful. Huge schools of jackfish. This morning I hung onto a rock...

It's just the Mosquito, doesn't seem to have a model number on it. I know it doesn't automatically set the no-fly to 24 hours because it flashes a shorter time briefly when I emerge from the water, but by the time the boat gets to shore it has hidden that data and I can't find any way to access...