Help me plan my bucket list trip...

[Susanitaj]

Hi Angel, you rocks mate! I envy you!!
If you are looking for the trip of your life you can't miss New Zealand, one of the must stunning places ever!
Borneo is also a worth place to go, check it out (Kuching and Kota Kinabalu)

In addition, if you plan to go to Raja Ampat and you are interested in marine conservation projects, have a look at Raja Ampat Biodiversity resort. Rey and Patricia are very concerned about conservation projects and probably you can hit their door.

Hope it helps!

Hi, all. I haven't been on this board for awhile sadly, but I'm planning the trip of a lifetime and could use your help. I am planning a career change and as part of that, I am going to take a year traveling around Asia and Africa, getting my instructor certification (I will hopefully have completed DM before I leave), diving, and volunteering (preferably in marine conservation). It's been making me so excited to come back here and read all your trip reports but it also makes it hard to decide so I thought I'd just reach out to you helpful people for advice. I think I could travel for 10 years and still not see it all.

The must dos for sentimental reasons are Saipan and Mozambique. Other than that I've sketched out some ideas of roughly where I might be when. I'm planning to leave room for spontaneity, but I also have some things I want to do that book quickly, and some friends and family who want to meet me places, so I need to have at least an outline of a plan. (My friends and family aren't taking a gap year so they'll actually need to plan ahead when and where they'll meet me!)

Any and all advice is welcome! Anywhere I cannot miss? Anywhere on my list you'd skip? Anywhere that I'm planning to go at absolutely the wrong time of year? (I don't need perfect weather but would prefer not to have all rain all day every day. Your typical tropical afternoon rains are fine. I've never really been anywhere that was that bad even during the rainy seasons but maybe I've been lucky.). Any good marine conservation volunteer programs you know about? (I know many are basically Eco tourism. Which is ok as long as they're doing some good and it's a good experience.). And any great value locations that are still worthwhile? In between my big bucket list items (live aboards, etc.) I'm going to try to get by pretty cheap in terms of housing and food so while I'm willing to spend on the must-dos I'm going to try to get by on the cheap elsewhere!

Here's my initial brainstorm of my plan along with a few specific questions I have for you helpful people. I am also planning to blog my adventures so I will post that here so you all can follow when the time comes!!

July-August: Indonesia (Bali)--considering IDC/MSDT internship with Bali scuba as I read good reviews. If anyone has experience with their instructor training I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Sept-oct: Philippines--traveling and hopefully volunteering. I've looked at Marine Conservation Philippines. Any experience with them? I may head back to Indonesia for part of this as I will need to go through Jakarta to get to...

Nov 1-13: Raja Ampat/Banda sea with La Galigo--this is the only thing I'm close to booking. It's a bucket list destination and I've read this is the time with the best chance of seeing the hammerheads. Looks like they book crazy far in advance. Some other boats are already booked up! Anyway this is one of the few boats I've found that does both raja Ampat and Banda sea in this time period, and I really think it's the perfect itinerary. I've read great things about it and they've confirmed they have availability.

Mid-late Nov: a week in Palau. I was originally thinking live aboard but that seems like a LOT after RA. How is the land based diving in Palau? Is there interesting stuff to do topside as well? Any recommended ops? (I figure if I don't do a live aboard I can probably work this out later.)

Late Nov.-mid Dec. Guam/Saipan/Chuuk: this is a big one for me because my grandpa was stationed in Saipan and told us about his old "swimming hole" we learned was the grotto. I have to dive the grotto but I also really want to go to Chuuk to see the WWII ships for that reason as well. Anything worthwhile in Guam or is it just a jumping off point? Is Chuuk best done by live aboard or is land based good as well? Do I need to try to get any tec training before Chuuk if I want to see the good stuff? Anything interesting topside (particularly WWII related)?

Dec-January: Back to USA

Late January-February: FP/Tahiti to Cook Islands to Fiji. Maybe some volunteering in Fiji? Maybe a live aboard? (Fiji is thus far my favorite place I've ever been. I dove with Wananavu and loved it but we didn't get much time out at the next sites due to conditions.). Maybe New Zealand?

March-April: travel Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, wherever the wind takes me?)

May-July: travel via India to SE africa (Tanzania/zanzibar, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana... Thinking about volunteering with blue ventures in Madagascar?)

HOME.

Sorry this is so long. It's too far away but I am just so excited! And I don't want to be disappointed and miss out on any of the things that tend to book way in advance (like the live aboards...)
Thanks in advance for any advice!!!!

 

[cephalopod2]

Mid-late Nov: a week in Palau. I was originally thinking live aboard but that seems like a LOT after RA. How is the land based diving in Palau? Is there interesting stuff to do topside as well? Any recommended ops? (I figure if I don't do a live aboard I can probably work this out later.)

As part of a 3 month dive trip in 2008 I spent about 3 weeks in Palau. Though I love liveboards, I decided for that leg of my trip they didn't offer me any extra value since I could dive every site on the itinerary by land and had enough time to dive top sites multiple times. Land-based actually allowed me to skip all the so-so sites in favour of diving the top sites multiple times, which I could not do via liveaboard.

I stayed within walking distance of all the restaurants and grocery stores of Koror and dove with Sam's Tours (largely marketed to North Americans) and Fish n Fins (largely marketed to Europeans). Both were good.

Now if you've only got 1 week you might miss out on some of the top sites if you're diving land-based. Peleliu for example is a longer distance, special trip - but if you contact the ops before you book perhaps they can commit to do 1 day out there if you are booking an entire week.

If you had more time I would say no problem to do land-based. I heard land-based risks more crowded dives at signature sites like Blue Corner, but I was there in the summer and never experienced that. North American summer is not the best time to dive Palau - I was told winter was. So it may be more crowded when you are there.

Also, I heard Sam's Tours restructured their day trips since I was there - I think now there may be a requirement to book a 3 dive day to hit certain sites. Check with them for more info. Certainly they run trips to Jellyfish Lake and their Peleliu trips can include a terrific land tour. Although Jellyfish Lake has been in trouble recently, I would still try to get there if you can (if it has recovered).

For some sites there is a bit of a boat ride to get there, but those rides rank in the most beautiful of anything I have seen anywhere in the world. The Rock Islands are simply stunning and our Sam's Tours captains would always take a bit of extra time for a close pass of some especially beautiful island, or we would stop by a war artifact on our trip back. Hopefully they are still doing that.

I had a great time topside in Palau meeting and talking to locals. I also did a great tour run by a local expat. Lots to do there IMO (though I am not a partier so if that's what you're looking for, you'll need another source).

 

[billt4sf]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Let the planning and daydreaming begin....

That's the best part of any trip

- Bill

 

[cubbiegirlem]

OK more planning and daydreaming under the belt. Much of it I will play by ear but I've booked a few things that appear to fill up very far in advance. (Namely PNG land tour and Truk live aboard... the odyssey is already booked solid from August to just before christmas!)

June or July to August: IDC in Indonesia. (Somewhere undecided. Schedules aren't out yet. Plenty of time to book that but want to get it sorted out soon enough to get a deal on a miles flight. Right now I can get a business ticket for 80K miles! That would be a deal and I have a feeling there are only a handful of those saver awards!)

Anyone have recommendations for IDC? I'm now realizing there are about a zillion options. Looking at Bali scuba, two fish, and Manta Rhei. And others. That's a little overwhelming and price varies dramatically.

Late August-September: PNG land tour for a cultural festival (fully escorted because I'm a solo female traveling and PNG is a bit risky alone even though I'm pretty adventurous) followed by a liveaboard

September-November: probably Philippines. Looking at volunteer programs but I'll probably largely play it by ear. Hopefully going over to Palau at the beginning or end of this since it's a pretty quick flight from Manila.

November: Raja Ampat. (Have found some liveaboard options for later in the month that may go to Banda.)

November-December: Guam and Saipan

December 10-20: Truk master

2018 is going to be much more flying by the seat of my pants and a bigger geographical footprint. But my family and I are aiming to finish it off and meet up for a big trip to Africa in late spring or summer. Looking at Blue Ventures in Madagascar as well. But that part of the trip is just daydreaming in any event. No need to plan it now since it's almost 2 years away!! Really no need to plan any more than I already have... but it's too much fun!

 

[Wingy]

That's the best part of any trip

- Bill

Haha Bill..unless you are travelling with me. Im great at helping people plan their trips.....mine......oh shall we go to thailand? um why are we in Africa??

A couple of weeks Im leaving for my banda sea LOB and decided to take the long way home......via Amsterdam, Germany, Iceland, Norway, and now apparently Budapest - because all these places are en route to perth from jakarta, just taking the long way home. Its my boomerang theory - everything is in the neighbourhood of everything - throw a boomerang, it comes back..eventually.

Cubbiegirlem - I do know its a long way off but before you decide to dive Madagascar please PM me as there are a few things I would like to advise you on for your own safety ok

 

[cubbiegirlem]

Haha Bill..unless you are travelling with me. Im great at helping people plan their trips.....mine......oh shall we go to thailand? um why are we in Africa??

A couple of weeks Im leaving for my banda sea LOB and decided to take the long way home......via Amsterdam, Germany, Iceland, Norway, and now apparently Budapest - because all these places are en route to perth from jakarta, just taking the long way home. Its my boomerang theory - everything is in the neighbourhood of everything - throw a boomerang, it comes back..eventually.

Cubbiegirlem - I do know its a long way off but before you decide to dive Madagascar please PM me as there are a few things I would like to advise you on for your own safety ok

thanks! When I get close to actually planning the Africa portion of the trip I will PM you. And I have spent a great deal of time in Germany and a few days in Budapest. None of it diving related, but if you want my thoughts let me know! Budapest was one of my favorite unexpected gems....

 

[robint]

Palau..... you really want to do a liveaboard. The land-based dive ops are too far from the best diving sites. If you are land-based you can only do 2 boat dives per day, and spend 2-3 hours for them on a board you dive boat going to and from. You will also get to the dive sites along with every other dive op from the mainland, around 10am to do first dive.
If you are doing a liveaboard, your ship will be anchored in one of the shallow harbors out AT all the great dives sites overnight. You eat breakfast, jump on the small dive boat and 5-10 minutes to first dive, back to ship for surface interval and snacks, out to second dive.... all this before the land-based dive ops arrive for their first dive. You are back on your mothership eating lunch and relaxing, then off for your third dive of the day, to another spectacular site just a few minutes from the ship, back for an aftternoon snack and SI again. Then our for fourth dive. Back to mother ship for dinner.... all while the land-based dive ops are returning to hotels after only doing 2 dives. After dinner on the liveaboard, you have a night dive option....
Get my point? Land-based at Palau can get in 2 dives per day at the world-famous Palau outer reef dives....Liveaboard divers can get in 4-5 dives per day on the same reefs.
Sample of a dive day on a liveaboard:

We did a liveaboard for a week and we didn't see the crowds from land-based ops except twice, at German Channel when someone had radioed out to everyone that the mantas were feeding (must have been 8-10 boats that showed up) and once at another site we had 2 land-based boats drop in where we were diving.
If you do the liveaboard in Palau, you will be on a boat with more serious, long-time divers, too. Vacation divers with less experience usually do the land-based dive ops. Also, you will want to do nitrox... everyone on our boat did it and we never went into deco. The only guy who didn't was an old guy who refused to used that funny gas, and he had to go up early every single dive as he hit deco.

Just my 2 cents.
Palau, Micronesia on Vimeo

 

[Centrals]

1. I would give Vietnam a miss and go to Laos and Burma.
2. What is the attraction of Guam and Saipan over Thailand and Malaysia?
3. Two Fish have operation in both Bali and Lembeh.
4. The Culture show in PNG is amazing. I can understand your concern on travelling alone in PNG as female.
5. You did post a thread on Marine Conservation in Philippines(Sogod Bay), any development?

 

[cubbiegirlem]

Central sorry I missed your post. The reason for Saipan is sentimental. My grandpa was stationed there during WWII. Guam is really not a destination. Just the place I know I'll ultimately fly home from. Haven't seen anything more on Marine Conservation Philippines and haven't decided if I'll go that route or not. I probably will play that part a bit by ear once I start traveling around since I don't want to overplan.

As an update, I have the first leg pretty much as planned as it will be (aside from pre-booking my IDC eventually). I will be in Indonesia from mid June through mid August and will find a spot somewhere to do my IDC and maybe travel around a bit. Then I've booked a guided cultural tour in PNG. While I don't usually do guided tours, I figure that's the safest thing there. It includes a big cultural festival so that's pretty much the only non-diving thing I, planning ahead. I am following that up with a PNG liveaboard.

I have September and October pretty much open and will play that by ear. I'll probably head up to the Philippines and may do some volunteering. In November I ended up doing a different liveaboard that goes through the Banda sea during early November and will probably tack on some land based Raja Ampat diving on the end. Then somehow (probably via Jakarta and Manila), I'll head to Palau, Yap, Saipan, and Truk over the next 6 weeks, ending with the Truk Master before coming home just in time for Christmas. (The odyssey was fully booked).

So kind of bouncing around in the middle there but I have to anyway because i definitely want to do my IDC first in Indo but I couldn't pass up Banda during possible hammerhead season. Plus I can't stay in Indo more than 60 days anyway!

Will return to that hemisphere in late January. That part will be a lot less planned since I dont think I'll have the types of things (like the PNG trip and RA/Truk liveaboards) that require so much pre-planning because they fill quickly. I figure as I travel and talk to people it will probably help me narrow down my destinations for that half.

Anyway just thought I'd give an update for those who may be interested. I'm in a planning/daydreaming phase again right now... I think I could spend a year in Indonesia alone!!!

 

[RooCeleste]

I have nothing to offer but it sounds like an amazing adventure and I'm so jealous!!! Enjoy!!