Jimmer
Contributor
Come up to Canada to dive some shipwrecks in Lake Erie. It's warm....in July....at the surface.
diving on a budget
- Thread starter rufous
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Brian,
I'm heading back to the Bahamas in March. projected cost, 5 days, 4 nights, around 500, flight plus hotel, and 3 days of 4-tank dives with Stuart's Cove. 420. In all, it's slightly less than a grand per person. Give it a thought.
If you're thinking about Malaysia, Pulau Redang (Redang Islands) is a good bet. Been there this summer. 20 over FANTASTIC dive sites. Lodging, food and diving is REAL cheap. From Kuala Lumpur, the bus fare to Merang Jetty, is about 50 Malaysian dollars (~15 USD). Paid 299 Malaysian (90 USD) for a 4 day, 3 night stay at a resort, 3 meals included, plus a free boat snorkelling trip with free rental gear. Also includes transport from the Jetty to and from Mainland Malaysia. 60 malaysian ( ~$16 USD) per dive, ALL EQUIPMENT RENTAL INCLUDED and i mean ALL masks, suits, everything! Give me a PM if you need more details!
I'm heading back to the Bahamas in March. projected cost, 5 days, 4 nights, around 500, flight plus hotel, and 3 days of 4-tank dives with Stuart's Cove. 420. In all, it's slightly less than a grand per person. Give it a thought.
If you're thinking about Malaysia, Pulau Redang (Redang Islands) is a good bet. Been there this summer. 20 over FANTASTIC dive sites. Lodging, food and diving is REAL cheap. From Kuala Lumpur, the bus fare to Merang Jetty, is about 50 Malaysian dollars (~15 USD). Paid 299 Malaysian (90 USD) for a 4 day, 3 night stay at a resort, 3 meals included, plus a free boat snorkelling trip with free rental gear. Also includes transport from the Jetty to and from Mainland Malaysia. 60 malaysian ( ~$16 USD) per dive, ALL EQUIPMENT RENTAL INCLUDED and i mean ALL masks, suits, everything! Give me a PM if you need more details!
Depending on the amount of vacation time the two of you get, it is quite possible to do dive travel on a budget. I'm a starving marine biologist and do it.
For example, I took a 70+ days backpacking and diving trip to SE Asia, Australia-NZ and the South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Tahiti) for $4,500 including all airfare, accommodations, meals, diving and gifts. Used hostels for accommodations in most areas (although oceanfront bungalows were cheap in places like Thailand, as low as $3/night).
For example, I took a 70+ days backpacking and diving trip to SE Asia, Australia-NZ and the South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Tahiti) for $4,500 including all airfare, accommodations, meals, diving and gifts. Used hostels for accommodations in most areas (although oceanfront bungalows were cheap in places like Thailand, as low as $3/night).
rufous:
I am more familliar with Malaysia than Thailand.
Malayisa the food is very cheap, you will struggle to spend $5 on a meal. Everything works in Malaysia, the mobile phone network even covers the islands (patchy). Busses and trains run on time, Driving outside the capital KL is easy as long as you don't mind driving on the UK side of the road. The people are very friendly, everyone speaks good English. Booze is the only thing that can be costly, $2 a bottle of beer, $10 for a bottle or wine, much less if you buy it in a supermarket.
Here are some sugestions
If you can manage a trip to Sipadan, world class diving, some of the best ever.
Unfortunatly not cheap these days. They have limited the number of divers allowed so you need a permit. For this reason I feel that you would need to book in advance if you wanted to dive there. Use google loads of resorts to choose from.
Perhentian ( http://www.pulauperhentian.com.my/perhentiankecil.php# )
This site shows you the resorts. Their prices are a bit high, I would normally expect to pay about Ringit 100 for a room with aircon, and a lot less for one with a fan.
An example is ABC Chalet Budget rooms are R40 or $11 per night. Now these are not posh rooms but as all you do is sleep in them so what.
Another option is Tioman, further south, ( http://www.myoutdoor.com/tiomanisland/index.htm )
Rooms are available in long houses for about R60 per night. Berjaya is a posh which was offering special deals last year at about R150 or $43 per night, and it is a posh resort.
I dived with B & J's last november when I went to Tioman, very friendly, more than happy to help out. If you email them they may be able to recommend a place to stay on your budget.
I know Thailand is cheaper than Malaysia but I have yet to visit it.
Loads of people here have so if you look up trip reports you will find some.
I would say that the Fort Lauderdale area, avoiding the spring break time, is a great place to dive... there are lots of low cost places to stay, great diving (including shore diving) and lots of great people to dive with. And surprizingly nice reefs.
Just spoke to her who must be obeyed.
If you are traveling around and need somewhere to stay then you a safe bet is the SERI hotel chain.
They are government sponsored hotels, good value at about R120 or $30 per night. They are very clean, safe, good food (no bacon), and the no bacon may gives you the clue, they are also dry so bring your own drinks.
I think they are used as training hotels. The one in Mersing has a great pool, 5 minutes from the centre of town, 5 minutes from the port.
If you are traveling around and need somewhere to stay then you a safe bet is the SERI hotel chain.
They are government sponsored hotels, good value at about R120 or $30 per night. They are very clean, safe, good food (no bacon), and the no bacon may gives you the clue, they are also dry so bring your own drinks.
I think they are used as training hotels. The one in Mersing has a great pool, 5 minutes from the centre of town, 5 minutes from the port.
Utila has got to be the cheapest. You can get a room with A/C for $25/night including breakfast (cheaper places are definately available). It's $200 for 10 dives. Food is about $5/meal and pretty good depending on where you go. If you can get a cheap flight there I'd say it's your best option.
lil_wings
Registered
Puerto Rico isn't bad. The airfare is pretty cheap to get into San Juan, and you can rent a compact for about a 100 bucks for the long weekend. There are guest houses and B&B types places all over the island, leaving you a bit more cash to spend on diving. I did a PR long weekend trip for about 500 bucks total (and that was pretty last minute).
The best thing is scower the bargain airfare websites and compare them against each other, and register for the airline 'deal' email notifications.
The best thing is scower the bargain airfare websites and compare them against each other, and register for the airline 'deal' email notifications.
I would have to put in another vote for the Keys. When I used to live in Chicago, that was my go-to budget location. I try to do one big/expensive trip each year, but try to make several budget trips throughout the year to Florida. In my experience, airfare can be found for under $150 per person if you can be flexible (i.e. - travel on a mon) and the diving can be reasonable ($65-75 per trip [1 trip = 2 tank dive] including weights/tanks if you do multi-trips). Obviously, since you don't have gear you'll have to pay a little more for rentals. If you stay at a chain hotel it will be pricey (over $200 per night in high season), but there are plenty of local places for under $100 per night.
I am currently planning a weekend trip to the keys in Feb (high season) and including airfare, car rental, diving (3 trips of 2 tank dives), and lodging (3 nights) I'm at about $450 per person. That's really not too bad. Add $100-200 (depending on how you eat) for food and misc stuff and it's a fairly affordable trip.
Some tips I can share. If you can try to use points for flights/hotels, use priceline to get cheap hotel/rental cars (my car was $15 per day..hehe), and stay at the local hotel/motels. Oh ya, there's also some great restaurants in the keys also. Good luck.
I am currently planning a weekend trip to the keys in Feb (high season) and including airfare, car rental, diving (3 trips of 2 tank dives), and lodging (3 nights) I'm at about $450 per person. That's really not too bad. Add $100-200 (depending on how you eat) for food and misc stuff and it's a fairly affordable trip.
Some tips I can share. If you can try to use points for flights/hotels, use priceline to get cheap hotel/rental cars (my car was $15 per day..hehe), and stay at the local hotel/motels. Oh ya, there's also some great restaurants in the keys also. Good luck.
I don't know about you all but those long flights keep me from going to the South Seas and Hawaii. I can take about two and a half hours on an airplane and that's about it. That limits me to the Keys and some of the Carib islands. I fly to Honduras frequently on Continental which takes you to Houston and then SAP. Two short flights. If there was some way I could knock myself out for the long flights I might try the Hawaii deals since they don't look that expensive and I understand the the diving is great. But flying from Ohio and the jet lag involved would screw me up big time. I just can't sleep on an airplane unless I've got all of the seats. Wish they'd come up with a sleeper plane like the old Pullman rail cars.
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