@bvbellomo, I can relate to what you're saying about the Caribbean. I, too, am tired of it for a variety of reasons, so my dive travel has been focused in the Pacific and Asia. I'll give you my real life experience here with maybe a little opinion thrown in.
I did my first trip to Raja Ampat in 2023. It was a logistical challenge to plan everything and takes a lot of research and preparation. My flight took some 50 hours, including an 18-hour layover in Tokyo for which I got a hotel to sleep, then went back for the flight from Tokyo to Jakarta (another 8 1/2 hours). Raja Ampat is for hard-core, experienced divers (my opinion). You don't want to arrive and start diving. You really need a day of rest to get over the jetlag and add another day for delays and cancellations. That's four days before your diving starts. IMO, if you're going that far and spending so much money, perhaps make this a trip to look forward to when you have more time. I did a liveaboard and a land-based resort and was there for 28 days on a 30-day visa. I wrote a live trip report.
Trip Report - Raja Ampat, Live Report, Nov. 7-Dec. 7, 2023
Earlier this year, I spent time on two of Fiji's islands, the main island of Viti Levu and Taveuni. This was my first trip to Fiji and I'm hooked! I have attached my trip reports.
Hi, All, A Little Background. I have been very disappointed with the condition of the Caribbean reefs, so I no longer dive there. I’m exploring my boundaries to Asia and the South Pacific, and this trip I wanted to maximize my time in that part of the world, so I started my adventures at...
scubaboard.com
Hi, All A Little Background. With Caribbean reefs in rapid decline, I’m switching up my dive travel destinations. Living on the West Coast of the USA in Portland, Oregon, it takes less travel time to get to Fiji than it does to get to the Caribbean islands, including Mexico. This year, I’m...
scubaboard.com
IMO, Fiji fits what you're looking for...easier to get to, even from Ohio, than Asia, cheaper overall, and fantastic soft coral reef diving. LAX or SFO to Nadi is a direct, 10 1/2 hour flight. It usually departs at night, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., so you could conceivably fly from Ohio to LAX or SFO on the same day. If not, get a cheap airport hotel and get to California the day before the Fiji flight. Keep in mind you lose two calendar days going to Fiji, and you arrive back to the West Coast the same day you left.
I am a solo traveler, so money matters when I'm charged double for my own room on a liveaboard; therefore, I don't take too many dive trips that way. The Nai'a is the ONLY liveaboard in Fiji, so there's no competition and it's pricey, $5000-$7000 per person for 7-10 days and double that if you want your own room. For that money, you could get two weeks to a month at a land-based resort and only be charged around 20% for the solo penalty, depending on where you stay. Also note that Nai'a ran aground a couple of months ago and sustained damage to the boat. You can find a firsthand account of the incident at undercurrent.org. IMO, if a liveaboard captain can't keep the ship from running aground or the boat has maintenance issues (and most of them do around the world), then that company is off my list.
I highly recommend Volivoli in Rakiraki on the main island of Viti Levu. Taveuni is the other island popular with divers. I found the hassle with the domestic flight, limited luggage allowance, land transfers, and the awful experience at Paradise Taveuni to be more than I wanted to deal with, so I won't be going back. Note that Paradise Taveuni's owners are getting divorced and the resort is for sale. Take caution if you book there because you don't know how secure your funds will be if everything goes sideways and they shut down the resort. Plus, when a resort is for sale, all improvements and repairs to the property stop and the staff start disappearing or they're working in fear and unhappy.
