1 month off work in May/June, where to go??

[glocklt4]

I have a full month off next year - either May or June. At first we were going to go to Europe and tour around France, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, etc... but now that the wife is AOW certified, we both have the scuba bug big time after honeymooning in Taveuni, Fiji and getting in lots of diving.

So now we are looking to Australia for the great barrier reef. Going to Sydney of course to see it while we're so far over there, then head to Cairns as our access to diving (is there a better place to go?), and then on to Bali to continue diving and for some great scenery. Not sure that we would have time for anywhere else at this point.

Anyone have any advice for a trip like this? Trying to aim around $5-7k budget I think (excluding airfare - plenty of AA miles should get us around)

 

[Rhone Man]

Wow, so many options. Fiji has world class diving (as you probably know). So close to Truk Lagoon (relatively)... Also great diving in Thailand and the Phillipines. If I was that close to Vanuatu, I am not sure I could resist a trip to see the President Coolidge. Sorry, I just have sensory overload...

You are one lucky SOB. Have a blast!

 

[gypsyjim]

There are a couple of SB members, Thanksforallthefish, and Bowlofpetunias that post here from down under. Drop them a PM?

 

[glocklt4]

Wow, so many options. Fiji has world class diving (as you probably know). So close to Truk Lagoon (relatively)... Also great diving in Thailand and the Phillipines. If I was that close to Vanuatu, I am not sure I could resist a trip to see the President Coolidge. Sorry, I just have sensory overload...

You are one lucky SOB. Have a blast!

yes, it's very tempting to just stay in Taveuni again! We are young (late 20's) and have so many more places to explore though and would really like to check out more countries.

Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon looks pretty amazing. No idea how we would even get there though. We just got married recently so savings are pretty depleated. We are going to try as hard as we can to only take flights that we can get covered by miles (around 400k between us). I guess I'll have to look into codeshares that could get us to some places like these!

 

[glocklt4]

There are a couple of SB members, Thanksforallthefish, and Bowlofpetunias that post here from down under. Drop them a PM?

Thanks, I'll hit 'em up!

 

[glocklt4]

So somehow I just discovered that OneWorld award tickets with AA let you do as many stop overs as you want. They just charge you miles at a rate for the actual flown miles. I think that is going to come in extremely handy for planning this trip!

 

[Rhone Man]

So somehow I just discovered that OneWorld award tickets with AA let you do as many stop overs as you want. They just charge you miles at a rate for the actual flown miles. I think that is going to come in extremely handy for planning this trip!

Oneworld does have a very favourable mileage programme. You are pretty well set up in that part of the world with Cathay and Qantas.

 

[glocklt4]

Oneworld does have a very favourable mileage programme. You are pretty well set up in that part of the world with Cathay and Qantas.

Yep, especially with their business class service! Need to get to booking pretty soon before it fills up.

 

[kathydee]

$5-$7K total or each? $5K for a month for both, basically equals $80 a day.

This will go quickly if two people are diving non-stop. May-June is beautiful weather in Indonesia where your dollar will stretch much father than in Australia.

Bali Indonesia is fun and easy with diverse diving & a great top side scene, Northern Sulewesi also has beautiful diving - try Living Colors in Bunakan & then check out Lembeh for exotic critters. I think you'd be very happy with this trip - but might want to toss in a week at Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo.

It's nice to land in Singapore for a few days to shake off jet lag.

Philippines has great diving too, but weather at that time of year can be questionable. It's off season.

 

[glocklt4]

$5-$7K total or each? $5K for a month for both, basically equals $80 a day.

This will go quickly if two people are diving non-stop. May-June is beautiful weather in Indonesia where your dollar will stretch much father than in Australia.

Bali Indonesia is fun and easy with diverse diving & a great top side scene, Northern Sulewesi also has beautiful diving - try Living Colors in Bunakan & then check out Lembeh for exotic critters. I think you'd be very happy with this trip - but might want to toss in a week at Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo.

It's nice to land in Singapore for a few days to shake off jet lag.

Philippines has great diving too, but weather at that time of year can be questionable. It's off season.

Thanks for the reply. Aiming for $5-7k total - but yes, starting to realize that may be low. I am not certain that we will get in as much diving as you may be thinking though. Diving will be a huge part of the trip, but not primary purpose (i.e. 3-4 dives every day). If we did that much diving every day of the month I'm sure that would be a pretty penny, ha! Hotels in Indonesia appear to be good prices, Australia may not be. We are going to try to keep our food and hotel budgets down if we can though.