Combined diving and beach holiday - Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand?

[ClemGrant]

Hello,

My wife and I are doing some traveling later this year and will be in south-east Asia from about November to February 2014. At present, our plan is to go to northern Thailand, then on through northern Laos to northern Vietnam and then southwards to Ho Chi Minh.

We then want to end our travels with a relaxed beach holiday and some diving. We are lucky to have Sodwana Bay and Umkomaas near my hometown of Durban and aren't in search of any particular marine life but we enjoy diving and would like to see what SE Asia has to offer. We aren't that interested in muck diving, we have our PADI Advanced certificates but only about 60 dives between us.

We are reading up on places to dive but it seems there are a million! We are now thinking Philippines or Indonesia. I would appreciate any suggestions of places to go where we can do a few dives a day for about a week, then lie on the beach, maybe do some hiking, paddling, exploring jungles etc nearby.

Thanks in advance!

Grant and Clem

 

[Wingy]

If you are interested in somewhere to chill out from HCMC (you will need chill out time after Ho Chi Minh City) there are direct flights to Singapore where you could grab a direct flight to Manado and dive Bunaken Island in Indonesia - hiking and jungles also possible in N. Sulawesi. I havent any experience in the Phillipines (on the list) but your trip route sounds great - im sure there will be lots of options posted for you to think about.

 

[acmccown]

Bali... Lots of great diving, plenty of other stuff too. Phuket, Thailand is not bad. Both places have some good shops, message me and I will tell you who I like in either place. Both have nice beaches, depending where you go as we'll as plentiful dive operators. English is pretty well spoken as well as many European languages.

 

[dreifish]

Closest places to HCMC at with nice beaches, good weather and good diving at that time of year would be the west coast of Thailand or the Philippines.

Bali is in wet season starting in December - March if I'm not mistaken, and the beaches aren't the greatest to begin with. North Sulawesi in Indonesia and Borneo (either Malaysian or Indonesian) might be alright that time of year, but I'm not familiar with any great beaches in close proximity to good diving there.

For west coast of Thailand, I'd look into Koh Lipe if you want a less touristed area with nice beaches, a tropical island feel and shorter boat trips to the dive sites. Also check out Ao Nang beach and Koh Lanta, perhaps.

Philippines, my personal favorite is Malapascua island (great beach, not crowded, great diving). I also liked Alona beach in Bohol, which is a little easier to reach, but has more tourists.

 

[gekodivebali]

Koh Lipe is very nice for beach atmosphere and island life. Don't expect the diving to blow your mind though, except at Hin Daeng and Hin Muang dive sites.
Bali is indeed in "rain season" this time of year. That doesn't necessarily mean tons of rain like you would have in India or Thailand during moonsoon. This season we did not have a single day when it rained all day long in Padang Bai. Not many places where you can have great dive and enjoy nice white sand beaches. Padang Bai and Lembongan would be the exceptions. Lots of things to do on mainland Bali (rafting, jungle, treks, cultural visits) and not too spoilt with tourism during these months.
Bunaken and North Sulawesi in general can have a fair amount of rain at this time. Siladen has some nice beaches.

 

[Bubble Junky]

November to Feb is a great time to hit the west coast of Thailand. Thailand has something for everyone and is great above and below the surface. My favourite spot is Koh Lanta... Bali is another good option...

 

[wannadive64]

The Visayas region in the Philippines has some great diving and beaches, especially on the islands of Cebu, Negros, Bohol and Leyte. If you want somewhere really relaxed and non-touristic check out Padre Burgos in Southern Leyte, where you can also snorkel with whale sharks at that time of year (Nov - May).