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

[tmassey]

Again thank you all for your feedback!

After further research, I think that many of you are right: Chuuk *would* be the trip of a lifetime. I think @Scared Silly's plan is *perfect*, and I really appreciate having it. But it's just not possible with the budget at this time, and I'm not spending that much on something just for me. And anything that starts with a $2500 plane ticket won't work. So I'm going with the trip-of-my-budget instead...

I have made no actual plans, but I think I'm going to go with a liveaboard on the Red Sea. And it was finding the right flight that has pushed me over the edge.

I've found a ~$900 flight that takes less than 20 hours *both* ways, and has *no* long or overnight layovers. It's all with the same airline (EgyptAir) and it allows *two* 23kg/50lb bags. It requires a 4-hour drive to and from Toronto... which is fine. It seems that travel to Egypt from the US just isn't an attractive option. And it'll allow me to spend a couple of days in a great city at the end of my trip.

Yes, I am a little nervous about seasickness. I'm not great in heavy seas, but I'm rarely the worst person on a boat. So I figure if everyone else can do it, I'll tough it out. I'm hoping that like mentioned, if I'm sick it'll only last a bit. But the good wrecks just aren't doable from the shore -- or would be even worse to do from the shore. You nailed it: it's the best way to do the most/best diving in the least time. I will just have to make it work!

I again want to thank you all for your feedback. You've highlighted some great options for future trips. I'm especially intrigued by the options for shipwreck-focused diving in the Caribbean that I was unaware of. I will look into that more closely for future trips. But being close, those trips are certainly more doable in the future. And Scapa Flow is another awesome thing I'm looking at as well. But I would really like water temps with a high somewhat north of 15C for this trip.... (As a proud Great Lakes Diver, I realize how much of a wimp that makes me. For this, I'm OK with it.)

I'm certainly willing to be talked out of this -- I have intentionally not made any plans yet. For me, though, this really seems like it will be the trip I was looking for. It really ticks a lot of the boxes I had outlined. However, I've found the responses in this thread *fascinating* and really valuable. I'd love to hear whatever other locations you might have in mind.

I'm going to do some more specific research on the Red Sea in particular. No doubt I'll have questions, but I'll start a new thread for that. Again, thank you all for your suggestions!

 

[runsongas]

I am confused by the OP's request for advice for the trip of the lifetime because he loves wrecks but he is not a good sailor and yet he is making plans for liveaboard trips!? I have done quite a few LOBs and I have gotten really, really sick on about half of them - whenever there is a deep water crossing, I'm a goner. So in the beginning of the trip (even with lots of drugs and using all the recommended remedies) I would wish myself almost anywhere else except on that boat! Happily, the sensation usually subsides in about a day and I am able to enjoy the rest of trip.

A LOB is a great way to do a lot of fantastic diving in a short period and visit some of the more remote and pristine dive locations, so I hope that the OP will also be able to adapt to the LOB environment.

truk is all inside the lagoon for the most part, so no long boat rides like some other liveaboards.

 

[Scared Silly]

I am confused by the OP's request for advice for the trip of the lifetime because he loves wrecks but he is not a good sailor and yet he is making plans for liveaboard trips!?

As mentioned above diving in Truk Lagoon is easy as one is in the lagoon. Unless there is a typhoon there is little wave action. There are currents that when anchored push the boat one way then back again. One splashes when the boat is over the wreck. So-so difficult.

For the OP. If you travel for work look at using frequent flier miles. Often one can find that flights to places like Chuuk to be a good bang for mile.

 

[Maverick17]

I did the island hopper for fun in 2014, BOI-SFO-HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM-MNL-SGN. I would not do it again unless I'm up front. Some cool airports and views, but a long ride in the back of a 737, even just the HNL- nnn -GUM part. I'm a bigger aviation fan than diving fan, yet I would frankly disregard the island hopper advice unless you have a lot of time to stop at one or two places along the way to break it up.

I am no diving expert, the people here seem to be doing good with recs. But your flight costs are sounding way high. I'd research that more, or find sites where you can ask for help. Depending on your flexibility you can get travel nowadays for really cheap. DTW isn't the cheapest airport, but ORD is one of the cheapest, so also look from there. For example, I can find 800 bucks ORD-HRG, one stop in Instanbul with enough time for a city tour. Your one stop flight via Cairo is pretty good too, although I'd put Turkish Airlines quite higher on my list of airline rankings. Since only limited airlines fly to HRG, look for one-stop or two-stop options to make it quicker. On the return, you basically should be arriving home the same day you leave Egypt. You'll be jet lagged, but 3-5 days of flying doesn't sound right to me. ORD to Truk doesn't have any deals at first glance, but last week there were flights to Bali for $500 and Philippines has been similar. So don't be too quick to decide airfare is limiting you.

Remember if you're going outside the US for one of your first times, check the weather. It sounds like October is when you're going, which is rainy/hurricane season in SE Asia, and I'm not sure about Guam and Truk but keep it in mind.

Have fun!

 

[Jimmyreeves]

Hello!

I am making a tremendous change in my life. After 20 years, I'm stepping back from the business I started. I plan on taking the next two years and seeing what happens!

To mark the occasion, I would like to take a once-in-a-lifetime SCUBA trip. I've looked at a number of options, but I could *really* use some help (and ideas!) from some people who have actually experienced these things. You can only do once-in-a-lifetime things once, and I don't want to use that one opportunity to find it was a mistake!

This is a long post -- it's what I do -- so thank you for your attention! If you don't want to read all this, then just tell me about the one trip you would do if it were your last SCUBA trip ever. But below is a little more about me and what I'm looking for.

In the past, my trips have been time-limited, both in length and in destination. I've rarely been able to take more than a few days off, so I've been limited to shorter trips and in the Eastern US timezone: nearly all in Flordia. Before, I had reasonably unlimited resources but very limited time. Now, it's the exact opposite: I have very flexible time, but limited resources! I would like to keep the entire trip cost to the neighborhood of $4000 USD. I can take up to a two week or so trip. My wife is literally demanding I take this trip, but I do still have a wife and kids, and don't really want to leave them for more than that. They don't dive, and unless the location happens to be a place that *she* would take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to (and drag small children), I will be doing it alone.

A little bit about my SCUBA training: I've been diving since 1992, seriously since 2006. I have something over 300 dives since then. Certs: PADI Master / TDI Advanced Wreck / Advanced Nitrox / Deco Procedures / Cavern / Intro Cave. I dive BP/W and OC doubles exclusively, and usually in a drysuit -- I only dive wet on vacation. I've never traveled with a drysuit, but for something like this I could try if I needed to.

My diving passion is wrecks. I've done the traverse on the Spiegel Grove and the engine room and galley on the Duane in Key Largo, and I've been all over the Captain Dan and RSB1 in Pompano Beach, for example. Not the Andrea Doria, but I enjoy penetrating wrecks. I've had a handful of reef dives that have wowed me (Molasses Reef or Looe Key when the conditions are superb), but after about 15-20 minutes of your average reef dive my mind is wandering. I've easily done 50+ reef dives off the coast of Pompano Beach, FL, for example. So unless the reefs are consistently stunning, such a trip would not be my focus.

Also, I have zero fear of boats or the water, but I'm not a great sailor. Long boat rides do not please me. Anything over an hour trip out would need to have a pretty good reason for me to do it. With drugs I'm good to something like 4'-6' seas, but 6' is the limit.

I'm a reasonably hardy and adventurous traveler. Within the past 5 years I've stayed in lowest-end motels, hostels, sparse Airbnb spare rooms, bunkhouses, and I've even done multiple weekend camping/diving trips in a tent or sleeping out of my Dodge Journey, but all in the US and Canada -- I have almost no international experience. Intentionally planning on sleeping in an airport is not something I want to do, but if it's the only way to do the trip, I would consider it. I don't need fancy, comfortable or even normal. I do need *safe*: I have a family to come home to.

My first series of research (affordable world-class wreck diving) led me to a liveaboard out of Hurghada, Egypt. (The Emperor Superior, for example.) $1500-$1600 seems to be a decent budget for a week trip onboard for the right trip. The big problem is travel: $1500 round-trip from DTW to HRG, 2 *full* days of flights and layovers to get there, *3* full days to get home -- and virtually guaranteed multiple overnight layovers sleeping in an airport. 5 days of hard travel for 5 1/2 days of diving seems... a tough balance.

I've thought about Mexican Rivera for cave diving, but I'm not yet full cave and I sure would like to *be* full cave before doing such a trip. And while I like caves, I prefer wrecks. I've thought about Truk/Chuuk Lagoon: the timing would be *great* for getting away from cold Michigan winter, but the price seems to be beyond my budget. $2500 flights take a big bite. Bonaire is doable, but I think I would like more than just reefs for my once-in-a-lifetime trip.

So, here's where I'm looking to you. I'm looking for any suggestions you might have. If you had up to two weeks and a few thousand dollars to spend on an unforgettable dive vacation, where would you go? Especially if you love wrecks! Any travel-related suggestions would also be appreciated -- anything to extend my budget or broaden my horizons!

Thank you for reading my long post. I appreciate any suggestions you might have.

I went to oz cod hole and ribbons - stunning

Cairns Liveaboard Scuba Diving - Great Barrier Reef and Cod Hole - +61 (0) 7 4047 9150

 

[KathyV]

Once you pick a liveaboard or a resort you should ask their booking agents to look into airfare options for you. They know the routes and may consider options that you may not know about. They may charge a booking fee but it might be worth it to save all the time you are spending on trying to find good flights. Plus, I've learned the hard way that it can be important to have all the flights booked on one ticket - and I can't always book one ticket myself - I don't get all the options to do that.

If something goes wrong with one flight along the route, like a delay, the other airlines will recognize the issue and usually try to assist you. When you book multiple tickets - you may be on your own dealing with delays. And cheapest isn't always the best option with airfare - just my opinion.

 

[Scared Silly]

If something goes wrong with one flight along the route, like a delay, the other airlines will recognize the issue and usually try to assist you. When you book multiple tickets - you may be on your own dealing with delays. And cheapest isn't always the best option with airfare - just my opinion.

The above is good advise but let me emphasize one part. If you buy a ticket on airline 1 to get you from A to B and then buy a separate ticket on airline 2 to get you from B to C be very very careful. If A to B is canceled or delayed such that you miss the flight from B to C these days you are apt to be left buying a new ticket to get from B to C which might be very very expensive. It is better to buy a single ticket all the way through.

 

[KathyV]

The above is good advise but let me emphasize one part. If you buy a ticket on airline 1 to get you from A to B and then buy a separate ticket on airline 2 to get you from B to C be very very careful. If A to B is canceled or delayed such that you miss the flight from B to C these days you are apt to be left buying a new ticket to get from B to C which might be very very expensive. It is better to buy a single ticket all the way through.

That is so true and that is what I was trying to say because I learned that lesson myself the hard way. It can also be important to book everything on one ticket just make sure that your bags find you if they are delayed along the way. It would be very disappointing to travel half-way round the world to discover that you missed the sailing of your liveaboard, or that you've arrived on time but your gear has not.

If all your travel is booked on one ticket, your chances are much better of having glitches and delays recognized and addressed by the other airlines and airports during the journey.

When using the online apps, I cannot always book all the flights on one ticket, I don't have that option. That usually doesn't happen with domestic travel, but it can be an issue when booking trips to foreign destinations, especially if the flights include small airlines to remote locations. In those cases I ask the booking agent for the resort/dive venue to make the flight reservations or I ask a travel agent to do it. Even if it costs a little extra fee it is worth it to me. You don't want the "trip of a lifetime" to become the "nightmare of a lifetime!" Also, the travel experts that are familiar with the destination sometimes know of other, better options that are not apparent to me.

I also urge the OP to take the DAN insurance and to book additional travel insurance, as soon as he makes his reservations. Again it is an added expense and hopefully he won't need to use it, but it can be very important if something goes wrong, either with the travel or the diving. I don't mean to sound like an alarmist, but he is a husband and father and that carries a lot of responsibility as I am sure he realizes. I always add coverage for "transfer to the hospital of choice" to my travel insurance policy. It doesn't cost much more and I would prefer to have some control over where I receive medical care should it be needed, but hopefully I will never find out.

International dive travel is a great learning experience and it is wonderful that the OP is taking this opportunity and plans to make the most of it, but he is putting all of his eggs into one basket the first time out IMO. He said that he has only had the opportunity to take short dive trips to the Eastern US and Florida in the past. Also, that he is not a great sailor and has never done a liveaboard trip before.

I may be overly cautious, but I think that he should "get his feet wet" (pun intended!) with a nearer, easier foreign trip and venue first - if he can afford it; like a moderately-priced Caribbean liveaboard - just to get a feel for foreign dive travel and to see if he likes the LOB experience. It is might also be fun!

 

[outofofficebrb]

Exactly. An “online connection” vs an “offline connection”. If you have an offline connection along with a lot of non-refundandable/sunk costs and/or high value trip, I agree with buying trip insurance. I really like Dive Assure.

 

[tmassey]

For this trip, single ticket is a requirement. I'm a tech diver, and I'm not doing wreck penetration in rented single-tank gear, so I will need baggage. I'm not dealing with moving baggage around in and out of security multiple times in international airports, let alone all of the scheduling issues that can come from split tickets. Single airline is not a requirement, but a real strong preference: it's hard enough to manage things like baggage fees and requirements across a single airline, let alone multiple.

As for the cost of the flight: Sure: I can use Momondo and find $900 flights to anywhere (well, except TKK). That's not enough. The problem is in the details: flights that allow *zero* baggage; flights that take 50 hours to get somewhere; two or three nights spent with a 12-hour overnight layover in an airport -- sometimes consecutively; flights that will have me getting a taxi in a Middle Eastern country at 4 A.M. Not for my money. So just because you type a few details into an aggregator website and see a flight show up doesn't mean it's a flight that will actually *work* for any reasonable definition of "work".

But fortunately, after several nights of research, I have a flight identified!

I'm normally *not* a trip insurance type of person. DAN medical insurance is a *given*. Given the complexities involved and the fact I'm dealing with people *continents* away, additional travel coverage might be worth it in this case. Having said that, the cost is literally 10% of the trip. I'm not really worried about the money for the trip, or reimbursement of lost diving days, or things like that. I'm mainly worried about my personal safety (including medical, chamber access, evacuation, etc.), not about trip cancellation or things like that. And between my normal health insurance, DAN, credit card protection, etc. I think that biggest chunks of the trip are somewhat protected. So I'm still thinking.

Any other issues that anyone would like to share for travel, insurance, logistics or other such items? How about gear packing suggestions? I'd love to hear you thoughts!