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

[kathydee]

Expect dives to be about $25-$35 each.

You can shore dive on the north side of bali in tulamben for $6 a tank - a few minute kick takes you to the SS Liberty. Farthest West shop in Tulamben is named Puri Madha - basic rooms are $6-$7 night - nicer bungalows are $22, you can often rent local boats for $10 each to get to sites farther away. It's an excellent base but bring your own equipment as their rental gear is questionable.

Stay at Kerti Inn for about $10 per night (basic room) in Padangbai Bali and dive with the shop which suits you best. Many shops there.

Look at diving with Living Color in Bunakan Sulewesi - great shop, but stay at their indonesian partners place next door Lorenzo II for $18 including food per night. Great evening snorkling.

Lembeh will cost more but places like Two Fish are affordable on that budget. You will want some days topside to dry out and travel, so realistically you wont be in the water every day. Consult the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum for budget travel tips & have fun
;-)!

You can do pretty well in the Philippines during off season too. Look into Apo Island and try to arrange a hut in the town, post in the PI regional SB forum more more recommendations but beware of solicitations.

Have fun and feel free to PM me ! Your budget may be ok if you spend most the cash on scuba. I found 3-4 days diving and 2 off works well when diving for that duration ;-).

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Hi There

If you want some help just rattle our cages and or post a thread in the aussie diving sectionn.

Dont know a lot about the GBR, but there are a number of people on SB that do.

We can probably help you out with some cheap diving in Sydney if you want, quite a lot of shore dives in and around Sydney, would not guarantee it but there is a pretty good chance we can find you a weedy sea dragon or two

 

[glocklt4]

Thanks guys - busy with work and family so I will try to get some PM's over to you over the weekend.

 

[glocklt4]

Ok, quick update. Here is what we've been able to get on a 5-day hold as of now. Will poll you guys for more info a bit later.

Hong Kong - 4 days
Singapore - 2.5-3 days (Can optionally remove this and do 5 in HK, 12 in Bali)
Bali - 10 days
Cairns - 8 days
Sydney - 4.5 days

150k miles for business class all the way.

 

[Sharka]

Hey I am just a nobody passing by – I don’t know much about Oz diving but I am originally from HK and have been to Singapore and Bali several times before so I can give you some perspective on the first half of your trip. I would suggest you cut out either HK or Singapore from your trip if you are going to Bali afterward. Allocate more days to your trip in Bali. Both HK and Singapore are ok interesting Asian cities, you can find some ok interesting attractions and good local food to occupy you a couple of days but that’s it, and lodging there is expensive. I would choose the city that’s more convenient for you based on your airline miles.

Bali is cheaper and has plenty of things to do (diving / hiking / cultural dances / beaches / surfing / cooking class / temples). Lodging there is very very cheap - if you do your research properly you will find comfortable rooms for $25 a day. You can even go to $10 a day if you do hostel style lodging or forgo A/C. Local warung style food is cheap cheap cheap ($1-3 USD for nasi campur). It’s a big island too so you’ll need at least 2 weeks to see it properly. As other suggested – Tulamben is a cheap (and good) diving spot to spend several days, afterward if you want to see some real sandy beaches you can head out to Kuta and Nusa Dua (much more touristy), or go to the North if you want to get away from it all. Finally head out to Ubud and soak up all the essence of Bali. Make sure you go to Ibu Oka for lunch! ($2 USD for babi guling combo – that was the best meal we’ve had on our honeymoon and I went to a lot of other restaurants that cost 10x more!) If you budget accordingly you may even be able to afford a spa treatment in Ubud (I swear the upper/mid-range hotel charges $60 for a 1 hour massage, so if you go to a locally run spa you can get $25 per massage)

If you want more good and cheap diving after Bali, I would head out to Lembeh/Bunaken. There are some local airlines that fly between Manado and Bali (return is around $150 pp). Lembeh/Bunaken has no topside attractions but diving is great (and cheap!). It really depends how much diving you want to do. It’s definitely cheaper to dive in Indonesia than Oz. (I love Oz too, but it’s just a much more expensive destination and you seem to be on a tight budget) Look for B&B or hostel style accommodation when you are staying in Cairns.

 

[glocklt4]

Thanks very much for the info! Unfortunately we are not able to cut HK out of the trip. The OneWorld Award we are doing requires us to go through there in order to get over towards Bali. Since we have never been and have been wanting to for quite a while, we figured we might as well stay for a few days to check it out en-route.

All of the Bali info is great! I've started doing some research on Tulamben and Lembeh, but i'll have to google some of the other places (and WORDS!) you've mentioned haha.

 

[asha]

Definitely spend a day or two diving in Sydney. We did on our way to the GBR and it turned out to be the most memorable aspect of our Australia trip.

 

[glocklt4]

Thanks, I didn't even know there was much diving around Sydney itself. It will be pretty chilly when we are there in June!

 

[asha]

We went in July of 09. I only had my 3mm and a 7/5 hood (hardly seemed worth bringing an extra suit for a day or two), and I lived... water temps were in the 60s F, if I remember correctly. Lots of really interesting, unique things to see.

 

[asha]

One other thought on the GBR: we did a relatively "inexpensive" liveaboard out of Cairns last July that stayed on the inner reef--frequently within day-trip range. The sites were nice enough, but crowded, and loaded with juvenile fish. If we had it to do over again (and the budget, obviously), we'd go to the outer reef instead in search of the bigger stuff. On a 5-7k budget for the month, this might not be feasible, but worth noting. Additionally, I believe GBR boats also leave out of Port Douglas.