Question Dream Dive Trip in Feb, 2wks- where to?

[kagejumper]

'm working on booking a big 2025 dive trip, and need some advice/ recommendations!!!
Slowly knocking places off my bucket list- Galapagos last year, Palau this year. Not sure where to go next-? Raja Ampat is def on the list, but I think that will be 2026, so I have more time to book.
I have 2wks to work with, February 2025, coming from California. I love liveaboards, mostly for the numbers of dives, and I'm very open to land based, so long as I can do 3-4 dives per day.

Considering Fiji, Sipadan, Tahiti, or ?!? Mostly considering options in the Pacific, SE Asia, or Americas, to minimize travel time.

Komodo is my current favorite place I've been. Not overly interested in wrecks (not opposed), I love a bit of current, and long dives.

Not ready to go back to Philippines, GBR, or Thailand. Probably not Indonesia if I'm going there next year.

Where would you recommend? Who would you dive with?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Maldives?

 

[kagejumper]

Maldives?

Voice of experience? Over Fiji or Sipadan? Any specific recs there?
There are so many options!!!

 

[chillyinCanada]

Voice of experience? Over Fiji or Sipadan? Any specific recs there?
There are so many options!!!

I can't compare it to Fiji but I did Sipidan many years ago.

Maldives delivers and the boats are large and comfortable. Diving from the dhonis is blissful. The water is generally very clear. Fish everywhere and there are a number of supercharged dives due to current.

I've been 4 times.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Norway. Go north and dive with Orcas.

 

[Tim@DiveAdvice]

I'd say Indonesia definitely has enough to offer apart from Raja to take another swing at it. It's so huge and so good price/quality that you cannot really see it as one tick off the destination list. Banda Sea, Borneo, Bangka, Lembeh.. If you really enjoyed Komodo, I can tell you there is lots of similar areas in Indo that aren't frequented that much and affordable. Send me a DM if you'd like some help in configuring your trip. Cheers

 

[SteveM54]

I'm looking at getting to Tobago just past Trinidad. It's land based only as no liveaboards are available there right now. Once you fly in you travel 2.5 hours by road to hotels so I'm trying to go for two weeks.

 

[Doc]

I'm looking at getting to Tobago….. Once you fly in you travel 2.5 hours by road to ….

Been many, many times.

You’re referring to a zone called Speyside.

It is not in the same class as other prior suggestions in thread.

A lot to recommend it solidly as a “top 5” Caribbean destination, but.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm looking at getting to Tobago just past Trinidad. It's land based only as no liveaboards are available there right now. Once you fly in you travel 2.5 hours by road to hotels so I'm trying to go for two weeks.

I've been there. Which hotel did you pick?

I agree with Doc.

 

[kagejumper]

Norway. Go north and dive with Orcas.

That was definitely not on my radar. Sounds COLD.