Help me choose a once-in-a-lifetime SCUBA trip!

[tmassey]

Wow! What a response! A big reply to address as many questions as I can.

One quick clarification: Don't get hung up on the "trip of a lifetime" thing. For many, that means fancy hotels or meals or a unique over-the-top experience. Trust me: 14 days in a row of no work for me *IS* an experience of a lifetime. I want to use that experience of a lifetime to do some good diving! Don't focus on the "it's gotta be unbelievable diving or bust!" I'm focused on on "what is the best way to fill a week or two with diving within my budget and interests?" That's why the low budget doesn't scare me. Yet, anyway...

A better way of putting it: For the first time in my life, I have few limits on my time or location, but do have a limit on my money. How should I use my new flexibility?

Thank you for the tip on how to get to Truk Lagoon: I will look into that!

I've never done the Caymans; I've always heard that they're some of the best reef diving in the world. But if I can get some wreck diving in, I would prefer that.

Carolina wreck diving is something I would like to do. That's something that I think I can do with my family: they'll enjoy time in the Carolinas, too. Because of that, it's something I'm willing to postpone. That and the hours-long boat rides and consistent reports of rough seas that drops it down the list for me.

Yes, my $4k budget is a challenge. It's not absolutely fixed in stone. More money could be allocated, but it would have to be stolen from something else. For a first pass at this, I would like to see what I can do with that as a budget. Only if I can't find something that I feel is worthy of the expense at all, then would I consider changing the budget. And I like and value the challenge it presents!

The two week stay is a rough maximum, not a goal or requirement. 7-10 days would be fine. For a liveaboard, a week is *plenty*. In the case of Egypt, though, it would be a shame to spend 7 days on a boat and 5 days in an airport/airplane and see *nothing* of the area. So additional time is available, but not required. Again the goal is to maximize the value, not the length, and not just because.

And I'm *not* content swimming around wrecks! If the wreck can be gotten into, I want to get into it!

If diving were the only concern, liveaboards would probably be my preference -- though I've never done one. Maximum diving, minimum time and expense. But for overall experience, I'm a big fan of experiencing local things, which is really tough to do only on a boat. So a shore-based trip would be great, too -- as long as there's still lots of diving! (I'd like to get at least 2 dives a day in.)

The VI's or Grenada are not something I considered. Thank you for the tip! I would not have thought of it for wrecks.

And trust me: don't discount things like the Red Sea and the Philippines. That's *exactly* the type of things I'm looking for. I'm 41: I've got plenty of time for the *next* once-in-a-lifetime thing! How about first-in-a-lifetime thing?

Again, thank you for your help and interest! Keep the ideas coming!

 

[drrich2]

If you go alone to North Carolina, last I checked, Olympus Dive Center had a Dive Lodge that would let you keep costs down.

In the interest of narrowing it down, let me ask this; are you mainly after a 7+ day salt water trip to do wreck dives including penetrations?

If so, the field of options drops a good deal. And if so, mainly wrecks, or is a week of reef diving with one wreck penetration enough, or do you want to penetrate 2-4 or so?

Richard.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

My one time destination of a lifetime was the Browning Pass area of British Columbia. I loved it so much that I'm leaving Friday for my sixth consecutive trip there, with another planned for August.

 

[tmassey]

My wish list includes: a trip with at least 15 dives. At least half of them are on penetrable wrecks. Multiple such wrecks would be great. Total trip of 14 or so days or less (and can be much less). Under $4000. And ideally something I would not be able to do as part of a normal family vacation. Things like Cozumel, the Carolinas, Florida and Caribbean islands are places I can see visiting with my family: not 15 dives in a week, but not impossible to get the family to and enjoy 6-8 dives.

I've already found a somewhat rough plan for a trip to Egypt that meets all of those requirements -- barely. It requires some pretty arduous air travel, and doesn't leave much outside of diving to enjoy the local culture. But I've only been working on it for 2 days, and I've got 5 months to keep improving the plan.

But before I use my very limited knowledge to start focusing on that, I wanted to hear from you experienced divers out there: what would *you* do if you wanted to plan a trip with my requirements? Some have back-handedly confirmed my positive thoughts about Egypt; others have made suggestions for places that I thought were beyond my budget but might work to bring them back in; and others have made suggestions for places that I had rejected because I didn't think they would meet my requirements but might actually work. So thank you all for your help!

 

[tmassey]

Take an economy non-stop from DTW to Honolulu. Collect your gear and layover a day or two to acclimate to the time change and lose some of the travel fatigue. Then grab your gear (cheating the airlines out of the chance to lose it) and board an island hopper (United) from Honolulu to Chuuk. Might seem more expensive to do it this way but most often it's not. R/T airfare and layover hotel about $2,000 total (last time I looked).

Chuuk is high on my list: I'd love to do it. But keeping it in the budget will be the tough one. So I'm really interested in your comments.

DTW to HNL is straightforward. Right now, flights are $900, but this is an easy flight to find and compare. Delta is the main airline out of DTW and they have competitive prices to HNL. No problem understanding this.

HNL to TKK is a different story. You say "island hopper". To me, that conjures an image of a small plane and short distance; what I might call a "puddle jumper". However a search for HNL to TKK finds a 12-hour flight on a 737 and with a $1600 price tag! That does not match my idea of what you were describing. You did say "$2000 total" for flight costs so this is likely what you were intending (and 5 months out is not going to get me the best pricing, I know) but I want to make sure that what I'm seeing is what you were describing.

 

[KeithG]

IMHO you maybe approaching this all wrong? Life is a journey not a destination.

I claim you should be looking at your next great dive trip (not the last greatest one). Hopefully I will pass away still looking forward to a next great trip.

And a great trip can be something as simple as lots of sunny days, calm seas and a single 30 minute sighting of an octopus calmly hunting on a night dive. (And maybe a lively travel discussion with a young millenial?).

I do not expect to personally experience "the world's greatest top 10". That is unrealistic.

I do expect to every now and then encounter something fascinating underwater: we have an upcoming trip that I hope will yield a few views of bulldozer shrimps. If not, then calm seas will be nice.

 

[tmassey]

I would love suggestions for low-cost European carriers. As a red-blooded American, I have very little knowledge of things outside the US. And I’m only looking at flight aggregator sites, so I’m completely missing out on those deals. That would help a lot!

 

[outofofficebrb]

@tmassey if you are set on Egypt, let me know and send me a PM. I just put together a trip for mr OOO and I. I’m going for 3.5 weeks and mr OOO is going for 2 weeks. He is getting a 1 week liveaboard and seeing some of Egypt and Jordan topside with me by way land tours. It is very doable way under $4K.

 

[tmassey]

@tmassey if you are set on Egypt, let me know and send me a PM... It is very doable way under $4K.

I am far from set on Egypt. It does, however, seem to be a place that ticks many of the boxes for me and I’m very interested.

This is literally the first time in my adult life where I have felt free to safely leave my time zone without fearing for my livelihood. And two days ago I didn’t know the Red Sea was known for great wreck diving. What else don’t I know? So I’m open to anything right now. I don’t want to prematurely narrow the field.

But I’d love to know more information about your trip!

 

[Scared Silly]

My brief read and suggestion. I too would suggest going to Chuuk and diving Truk Lagoon. Fly to Guam as you will have more options and hang for a day to get over some of the jet lag (could even dive there). Then fly on to Chuuk. You are looking at $2-2.5K for just the flights. (Though it is a 757 skip the island hopper).

Spend a couple of days at the Blue Lagoon Resort and do a few dives with them - including the shark cleaning station..

Book a week on the Truk Lagoon Odyssey. $3.5K and dive 4 times a day at your leisure. Great wrecks but also great flora and fauna on the wrecks.

Afterwards book a day tour of the island and the WWII battlements. By the time you get home that will occupy your two weeks.

Double your budget. But this is a trip that you can do as a single person that other family members would not do. Egypt is a place that others in the family would probably like to visit.