Considering Temporary Relocation To Australia to access "neighboring" areas (Malaysia, Palau, Maldives, Fiji, etc)

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Scott 2000

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I'm currently living on the West Coast United States, but my kids will all be out of the house soon and I'll have an opportunity to relocate to another part of the world. I was thinking I might look into a temporary (a few years) move to Australia for a bit of an adventure and to explore the diving there and some other top diving destinations "nearby" (Malaysia, Palau, Maldives, Fiji, etc).

Thus far, I've mostly been diving in the western hemisphere, with the exception of a trip to New Zealand and Iceland.

For those that live in Australia or have dived in this part of the world, does this idea hold water? Is it much easier to access these spots from Australia than it is from the West Coast US? I'm assuming the diving in Australia is at least a step above that in California (more visibility, more to see)?

I know relocation is a significant move and everyone's situation is different, but I guess I'm trying to get as much info as I can from a diving opportunity perspective in order to inform my decision.

Other than Australia, any other suggested spots to relocate to for expanded diving opportunities?

Thanks for the input!
 
Not Australia, but I spent the last 2 years living in Japan outside Tokyo.
It was definitely easier to get to Maldives, about 12 hrs flying time(8hr redeye, 4 hr layover in Kuala Lumpur, 4 hrs).
Palau(went through Guam). About 6 hrs flying time, with a 2hr layover.
Fiji was about the same as coming from the US (9h vs 10.5h), due to the direct flight that they have from LAX.
Raja Ampat is painful to get to even from Tokyo and AUS. Connection times all drive it to a day+ of travel with extended layovers.

All 3 locations are on the top of my favorite diving locations list. 1. Maldives, 2. Palau, 3. Fiji. The rest of my diving has been in the Caribbean at Coz, Caymans, Turks and Caicos and Belize. Really put a damper on my spirits looking for locations in the Caribbean now that I am back in the US. I want to go to the Maldives again, but the 25+ hrs of travel time are hard to stomach.
 
Australia has great diving, unsurprisingly. But it's also massive, so these destinations are still a fair distance away. The cost of living is quite high too, perhaps it would make more sense to move to a more central south east Asian?
I'm assuming the diving in Australia is at least a step above that in California (more visibility, more to see)?

You're comparing apples to oranges here. Just the east coast of Australia is like 4-5 times the length of the coastline of California. You will get a range from tropical coral reef diving up north to fairly cold temperate kelp-dominated reef diving down south (similar to California I understand). Many spots will be world class, but there's also many spots that are ****, or that have challenging conditions (e.g. bad vis). You won't have a lack of options though, but the areas are not really comparable.
 

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