Help me choose where to dive in Asia/pacific

[Oz Chris]

Having just spent a little over 2 weeks in the Philippines (we fly home tonight), and having done 7 days of diving and a couple of days of snorkelling, I’d be remiss if I didn’t fly the flag for here.

There are so many spots with amazing diving - beautiful reefs, Mantas, whale sharks, wrecks.

You can fly one stop to Cebu from LAX, or direct to Manila, and from them, reach all the areas by short domestic flights, ferries, and the odd land transfer (van, taxi, bus) - our itinerary was Sydney - Manila - Legazpi/Donsol - Cebu - Malapascua - Cebu - Coron - Manila - Sydney

 

[Frenchies4eva]

Having just spent a little over 2 weeks in the Philippines (we fly home tonight), and having done 7 days of diving and a couple of days of snorkelling, I’d be remiss if I didn’t fly the flag for here.

There are so many spots with amazing diving - beautiful reefs, Mantas, whale sharks, wrecks.

You can fly one stop to Cebu from LAX, or direct to Manila, and from them, reach all the areas by short domestic flights, ferries, and the odd land transfer (van, taxi, bus) - our itinerary was Sydney - Manila - Legazpi/Donsol - Cebu - Malapascua - Cebu - Coron - Manila - Sydney

Where did you dive?

 

[modustollens]

I have been to Samui, Phanagan and Koh Tao.

I would not try and dive out of Samui again. The dive sites were well away from Samui and I think I spent more time on the boat going to and from the sites than I did in the water. So, the ferry ride time to and from Koh Tao was more than made up for compared to the the boat time I would have had to sit through when diving from Samui. The cost per dive was lower on Koh Tao too, likely due to the less boat-travel time required.In Koh Tao, I spent more time under the water than I did riding the boat.

I liked Koh Tao for the reason that all the dives sites were but minutes by boat from the island. I could get in a couple of dives before mid-day and be back onshore by the time my wife got out of bed. I could often get a third dive later in the afternoon or get in a night dive. I even went back to Koh Tao a second time by-passing Samui altogether - my wife liked Koh Tao too even though she is not a diver.

There are more things to do on Samui given its size if one does not want to dive all the time though.

Phanagan was nice - it was very quite there when I went for there was no full moon party during that period but it is not a busy as either Koh Tao or Samui.

Cebu is nice; I dove out of Malapascua. I wanted to see the thresher sharks and was not disappointed.

 

[Wingy]

I had no idea about Auckland and Asthma - interesting!

Philippine diving is very good too although I've only dived Sabang.

On Vanuatu - Port Vila on Efate has the best medical facilities even though they would not be called world class by any standard. After a recent bus accident there has been an increase of Australian doctors and medical equipment sent over IFRC. Wrecks in Vila to dive - Star of Russia and the Flying boat are always fun, there's a couple of others and quite a few reef spots like Twin Bombies.

The must do dive in Vanuatu is the grand old lady SS Coolidge and million dollar point both of which are shore dives. Few reefs around that are quite interesting - I liked Cindys reef because it has a cool name. The Coolidge is on Santo island a short flight from Vila but Santo is a little worn out as far as Facilities go. There is a medical post and I'm sure it's contactable 24/7 but keep in mind Vanuatu is deeply Christian so most of the town is closed Sundays. I'd recommend Coral Quays to stay and dive with. A little out of town and more expensive diving but the safest op by far.

I'm pretty certain your little mans Asthma may prevent it but if you do go to Vanuatu you have the chance to climb Mt Yasur and stand on the edge of a very spectacular and active volcano. There are scenic flights from Vila which would keep the Respiratory issue at bay but climbing it is amazing. Tanna island itself is culturally spectacular and unique but the accomodation is ridiculously expensive at the resort....I have a small piece of land next to some locally owned bungalows with hot and cold water and 24/7 electricity right on the coast so depending on which way the wind is blowing it may be possible to overnight there. I would not recommend diving with the resort for safety reasons....the island is not ready for diving.

If you're sticking to Melanesia you may also want to check out Honiara in American Samoa as an alternative to Fiji or Vanuatu. I haven't dived there but it's popular.

 

[Frenchies4eva]

I have been to Samui, Phanagan and Koh Tao.

I would not try and dive out of Samui again. The dive sites were well away from Samui and I think I spent more time on the boat going to and from the sites than I did in the water. So, the ferry ride time to and from Koh Tao was more than made up for compared to the the boat time I would have had to sit through when diving from Samui. The cost per dive was lower on Koh Tao too, likely due to the less boat-travel time required.In Koh Tao, I spent more time under the water than I did riding the boat.

I liked Koh Tao for the reason that all the dives sites were but minutes by boat from the island. I could get in a couple of dives before mid-day and be back onshore by the time my wife got out of bed. I could often get a third dive later in the afternoon or get in a night dive. I even went back to Koh Tao a second time by-passing Samui altogether - my wife liked Koh Tao too even though she is not a diver.

There are more things to do on Samui given its size if one does not want to dive all the time though.

Phanagan was nice - it was very quite there when I went for there was no full moon party during that period but it is not a busy as either Koh Tao or Samui.

Cebu is nice; I dove out of Malapascua. I wanted to see the thresher sharks and was not disappointed.

I agree ko Tao is much better for diving but I think the medical infrastructure is much better in koh samui which is why I wanted to stay there. Alas it seems it's just not to be.

I had no idea about Auckland and Asthma - interesting!

Philippine diving is very good too although I've only dived Sabang.

On Vanuatu - Port Vila on Efate has the best medical facilities even though they would not be called world class by any standard. After a recent bus accident there has been an increase of Australian doctors and medical equipment sent over IFRC. Wrecks in Vila to dive - Star of Russia and the Flying boat are always fun, there's a couple of others and quite a few reef spots like Twin Bombies.

The must do dive in Vanuatu is the grand old lady SS Coolidge and million dollar point both of which are shore dives. Few reefs around that are quite interesting - I liked Cindys reef because it has a cool name. The Coolidge is on Santo island a short flight from Vila but Santo is a little worn out as far as Facilities go. There is a medical post and I'm sure it's contactable 24/7 but keep in mind Vanuatu is deeply Christian so most of the town is closed Sundays. I'd recommend Coral Quays to stay and dive with. A little out of town and more expensive diving but the safest op by far.

I'm pretty certain your little mans Asthma may prevent it but if you do go to Vanuatu you have the chance to climb Mt Yasur and stand on the edge of a very spectacular and active volcano. There are scenic flights from Vila which would keep the Respiratory issue at bay but climbing it is amazing. Tanna island itself is culturally spectacular and unique but the accomodation is ridiculously expensive at the resort....I have a small piece of land next to some locally owned bungalows with hot and cold water and 24/7 electricity right on the coast so depending on which way the wind is blowing it may be possible to overnight there. I would not recommend diving with the resort for safety reasons....the island is not ready for diving.

If you're sticking to Melanesia you may also want to check out Honiara in American Samoa as an alternative to Fiji or Vanuatu. I haven't dived there but it's popular.

We really loved your suggestion of poor knights so I'll look at those. As an aside, it seems to me Samoa is mostly big Pelagics and it's difficult to get to/from. Would this be correct?

 

[Oz Chris]

Where did you dive?

Donsol/Ticao - we were based in Donsol, but dived San Miguel Island and Manta Bowl which are off Ticao Island

Malapascua - Monad Shoal for the Threshers, Gato Island for great macro and a bunch more great sites around the island

Coron (we stayed on Sangat Island which is $$, but much closer to the sites) - we went for the wrecks (Coron Wrecks - The History), but did a few great reef dives as well. We also did some great snorkelling of Coron Island

 

[Wingy]

Getting to Honiara seems to be 29 - 44 hour each way type nightmare. Apia in Samoan Samoa (?) is a lot easier - LAX - SYD or LAX - BRIS then direct to Apia. From either Honiara or Apia I believe you have one or two interisland flights to get to Uepi - I've only sailed there sorry can't give any more specifics.

I do wonder though if Uepi as magnificent as it is (Yes Pelagics but you have plenty if macro around and Manta cleaning stations) may not fit the bill for your son.

PNG diving rocks but medical access counts it out...Guam? Yap? Phillipines or Indo and parts of Thailand paired with Poor Knights...what a terrible problem!

 

[Frenchies4eva]

Getting to Honiara seems to be 29 - 44 hour each way type nightmare. Apia in Samoan Samoa (?) is a lot easier - LAX - SYD or LAX - BRIS then direct to Apia. From either Honiara or Apia I believe you have one or two interisland flights to get to Uepi - I've only sailed there sorry can't give any more specifics.

I do wonder though if Uepi as magnificent as it is (Yes Pelagics but you have plenty if macro around and Manta cleaning stations) may not fit the bill for your son.

PNG diving rocks but medical access counts it out...Guam? Yap? Phillipines or Indo and parts of Thailand paired with Poor Knights...what a terrible problem!

If we did the solomons we'd do lax->akl->vli->hir->nan-lax so we'd need to extend the trip to 3 weeks.

What is PNG?

 

[drbill]

Have dived in a number of places in SE Asia and the Pacific. Palau is my favorite.

 

[Frenchies4eva]

Have dived in a number of places in SE Asia and the Pacific. Palau is my favorite.

I see we live in the same area. How do you generally get to Palau and where else do you go while you're there?