Figured today was a good day to join :)

[keralucu]

Cybordolphin- haha, sleepless nights... I know the feeling well. Do dive safe and don't worry - you will savour every moment once you're down there - it helps to take a slate and jot down as much of what you see as possible too. Most importantly - HAVE FUN!

Monster - I've done 27 dives since April - all in the same area. I've never been to Koh Tao although have heard all about it from my instructors who did their IDC and lived there for 4 years. I will get there one day - please don't talk about whale sharks! My first certified dive had me missing the 6m baby swimming behind me because I was so awestruck by the life on the reef wall! I still haven't seen one but am looking forward to that and mantas in Feb in Similan - woohoo! I'd also love to dive the Philippines... have many friends who've done so.

ADG - I'll dive with you anyday, girl... Indo is also high up on my list, but Malaysia might be first - get ready for the Thai invasion!

Cheers all

 

[monster]

ADG, other than Palawan, you could also look into the dive sites in the Visayas (middle of the archipelago) such as Bohol, Dumaguete (Apo Island), and Cebu. Myself, I do a lot of diving near Manila, where I'm based... excellent diving in Anilao and Puerto Galera, both only about 3 hours away from the capital!

The nice things about these sites is that the Visayas sites are easily accessible if you fly into Cebu, and I think there are direct flights from Singapore to Cebu already, only about a three-hour flight.

Manila is definitely easily accessible from Singapore... I used to fly through Singapore every other weekend from KL to go back to Manila... to dive! I'm sure you can find an "official reason" to visit Manila, and from there, it'll be a piece of cake to squeeze in a dive weekend.

Yeah, I heard of Redang, Aur, Layang-Layang, and Perhentian when I was living in KL but unfortunately never got to go. But I WILL get there... oh yes, I will...

ker -- yeah, Koh Tao is that kind of place, the kind that's really difficult to leave once you're there. Beach paradise, truly amazing overall experience, so cool and laidback.

You live in Bangkok? Is it easy to get to dive sites from there? Reason I'm asking is I might end up in Bangkok this year. Malaysia was great diving, but really long drives from KL... whew.

Anyways, ker & ADG, consider yourselves invited whenever you're in the Philippines.

 

[keralucu]

Ta for the invite, monster. And likewise for when you get here!

Yes, Bangkok is where I live and it is relatively easy to get to several dive sites. If you recall Chumpon, where the ferry leaves for Koh Tao, the place I regularly dive is about 120kms north of that and takes about 4 hrs by car/5-6 hrs on the bus. See my website for more info on it.

Otherwise it is even easier to get to the eastern coast (Cambodia side) as the road to Pattaya is excellent and takes around 2 hours. There are many dive sites over there - including a 60m wreck called Hard Deep - from what I understand there are places you can dive all year round on that side, but of course there are tons of dive shops and therefore divers! My LDS is the only one between Bangkok and Koh Tao so you can imagine how spoilt I have been...

Finally, it's only a short plane ride to Phuket and Krabi which gives you access to all the other wonderful sites. Are you coming to BKK for work or holiday?

Let me know if you need any info on anything.

Cheers

 

[monster]

Might be assigned there for work, although I can always find time to dive!

Been wondering about Chumpon, because I've seen it spelled a few different ways (Chumporn, Chumphon), even in travel guides, so I wasn't sure what the real deal was. Anyways, yes, I remember it, from hearing about it, but the route I did was to actually fly straight to Koh Samui from KL and then catch a speedboat to Koh Tao.

Will definitely touch base with you if I end up there. Btw, what's the URL for your website?

 

[keralucu]

Chumphon... Chumphol.... Chumpon... it's all a matter of phonetics! Probably the most correct is Chumphon which is how I usually spell it - dunno why I didn't last time?

You can find my URL at the bottom of this post, or any of my posts... it's the button in the middle that says WWW... or just click on this! Unfortunately you won't be able to see much right now as I was just in the middle of updating it and the damn server went down so all the pics have disappeared. I'm going to try and get it back up again tonight... Otherwise you can check out my LDS website, Absolut Wreck to get an idea of where I dive.

Later....

 

[Arduous]

Good luck with your classes cybordolphin , have fun and dive safe.

 

[Asiandivergal]

Monster - sounds great! Will definitely consider that, coz I still have some free slots available for this year. I have not firmed up my diving schedule yet - only Phi Phi in Feb is confirmed. Will also be doing Redang in May and Perhentians in June/July, so feel free to join us. And thanks for the invite, will definitely drop u a note if i am in your area

Keralucu - yes yes, pls come to Malaysia! Will definitely try to squeeze in one dive trip with you this year! In fact, we might be doing Manado in August, will keep u updated!

 

[monster]

Divergal,

Another great thing about diving Anilao or Puerto Galera is you can actually make daytrips, get in a couple of dives, and make it back to the city in time -- and with enough energy -- to meet up with friends in the evening. Which is exactly what I did today.

Didn't even plan on diving this weekend, but a friend of mine had a group to take out but got sick; he called me in last-minute and we headed out early Saturday morning, did two nice and relaxing dives, ate and hung around for a bit after, then drove back to the city.

If you've read about Puerto Galera, that's also very accessible from Manila... once did a daytrip there as well, with just a couple of friends, and managed to do four great dives -- with sharks, wrecks, large jacks and tuna, amazing coral, even a turtle.

My friends over in Cebu, they can get to the beach in 20 minutes! They can actually do a dive over a "long lunch break"! <-- that's me, green with envy.

Ah, ain't it great?, this addiction we call diving...

 

[Ari]

This is really the place to ask diving questions on the net and get some good answers as well.

Welcome and have fun.

Ari