Asia travel with non-divers recommendations

[Scott Davis]

I'm planning my first dive trip to southeast asia. Originally this trip was supposed to be just my wife and I, who both love diving. Now it turns out we will have another couple joining us (the husband is considering getting certified, the wife will not) and one more single woman will be joing us (also non-diver). We are all in our early thirties, and due to work schedules this trip is planned for mid to late November and this portion of the trip would be in the neighborhood of 7-11 nights.

Because of the non-divers I have ruled out liveaboards. I've been reading up on the best places to dive including indo, malaysia, thailand, phillipines etc. Based on what I've read so far I'm leaning towards phillipines (where?) or phuket thailand. I do not want to sacrafice my diving experiance for topside activity, however I have to be fair to everyone. Sounds like daytrips are what we will be doing mostly to get to best dive sites. Please give me suggestions on the best mix of Diving, resort, nightlife, non-diver activity (in that order). Would love specific area or resort suggestions in both these areas...or any other suggestion if you prefer over philli / thailand

My last trip was fiji and diving was awesome...I'd love something that lived up to that.

Due to work schedules one other option existed. Turks and Caicos end of May.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!

 

[Quero]

Scott, you don't say when in the calendar year your trip to SE Asia would take place. That would make a huge difference, in my estimation, regarding recommended destinations. So let me focus on your top two destinations:

1) Phuket--the top diving area easily reachable from Phuket is the Similan Islands based out of Khao Lak (you fly into Phuket airport, but lodge further north). However, diving there as a daytripper is not ideal (ideal is getting on a diving liveaboard), and it's rather expensive; plus the town of Khao Lak is a rather sleepy place not known for shopping/nightlife activities, though there are very nice resorts, and there are other land-based activities not too far away such as jungle trekking. Additionally, the Similans National Park is closed to visitors between May 1 and Nov 1 every year, so if you're coming in summer, that's not even an option! Our daytrips out of Phuket itself are pleasant and run year round, but there's not enough variety to keep you busy with diving for 7-10 days, though there's plenty to do topside for the non-divers. One option, if you come between mid-November and mid-April would be to do some island hopping starting at Phuket and ending at Koh Lipe. There're diving and beach activities available along the way. IOW, you could spend a couple of days at Phuket, a couple more at Phi Phi, a couple more at Lanta, a couple more at Lipe.

2) Philippines--From California, your likely entry point would be Manila, and you'd probably want to stick close to there rather than waste what little time you've got getting around the PI--a time consuming exercise--when you'd rather be on the beach or underwater. That being said, your most likely destination would be Puerto Galera. But again, you have to be careful with seasons. Their typhoon season begins June-ish, and the last thing you'd want is to get your vacation blown (literally) out by a typhoon. In terms of combos of nightlife, diving, and resorts, I think PG is your main option. Most other areas in the PI that offer great diving are not very interesting to visit other than for diving, but if you're going in the summer months, perhaps consider Alona Beach in the Visayas. They don't typically have the same problem with typhoons, and the town is busy enough to keep non-divers happy.

3) You could also consider Bali. Spend a few days in a diving town like Tulamben, or go to the Gilis for a party atmosphere (but less thrilling dives); spend some time in Bali's party capital, Kuta Beach; and spend some time up in Ubud for culture and hiking.

 

[Scott Davis]

Scott, you don't say when in the calendar year your trip to SE Asia would take place. That would make a huge difference, in my estimation, regarding recommended destinations. So let me focus on your top two destinations:

It was kind of hidden in my original post...the trip is going to be mid to late November.

So of the three, in your opinion which has the potential for the best diving given no liveaboards? and then which of the three have best topside activities?

I was also recently looking at Sipidan thinking the rain forest and other activities of Borneo could appeal to the groups non-divers. However not sure what they would do during the portion of the trip at the dive locations as I'm not envisioning these are resorts catering to various activities.

I would love to dive Lempeh strait also but not sure I can sell the non-divers on this as again believe this area caters mostly to diving.

 

[Quero]

Oh yeah! I actually looked for it, but kept coming back to May. Must have been a mental block.

November is the "official" beginning of the dry season in both the Philippines and in Thailand (though nature doesn't always check the calendar).

For Thailand, November is not a great time for daytrips to the Similans since they're done by speedboat, and the weather can still be changeable with rough sea conditions throughout the month, though later is better than earlier. However, from mid-November onwards, the ferry connections for island hopping from Phuket down the Andaman coast are good, and there's really nice diving as well as lovely beach culture for non-divers so that nobody gets bored. That plan would require a lot of moving around, though, and you'd spend significant time in transfers. For a trip of 7-10 days it might be too much with a group of 5.

For the Philippines, I like the Visayas more than I like PG, so if it were me, I'd go to Bohol and stay at Alona Beach for the entire week. There are land-based eco tours, nice beaches, plenty of shopping and dining options, etc. for the non-divers, and lots of sweet diving of the muck variety as well as coral reefs for you divers with short boat rides out and back. As I've alluded to, at most other diving destinations in the PI there's not much going on for non-divers, so that's why I've recommended Alona over places like Malapascua or Anilao.

Forget Bali in November. And Sipadan will be a huge yawn for your non-divers. It's simply too far away from any land-based tourism to make it work. Lembeh is not nice for non-divers either.