If not Phils or Indo, then?

[diveUAE]

Ok divers.

Seriously need your help here!

We’ve got 2 weeks in March/April.

I wanted Philippines (Southern Leyte and Anilao) husband said Mauritius.
I nearly had him convinced changing Anilao to Subic bay, but then came Taal:-/

I still want Philippines - we could fly into Cebu and do Coron instead of Subic, but husband is not budging, since we would then fly through Hong Kong and he’s afraid there might be problems.

We’re going to Bali, Komodo and Alor this summer, so husband don’t want Indo now. Went to Maldives in December, did Sri Lanka and did not like it.

Don’t know why, but I’m just not convinced about Mauritius:-(
So where should I push for?

Need to be land based, as we bring our 9 year old. (So Thailand is out)

No malaria areas. (Madagascar and Cairns out)

Stuff to do topside is also a priority.

Flying out of UAE (Abu Dhabi or Dubai).

Prefer warm water and good diversity under water.

And if anyone has good points about Mauritius, please share
Thanks.

 

[chillyinCanada]

@Wingy

Wing do you have any idea or tips about Mauritius?

 

[modustollens]

Why not Sharm El Sheik? Go and dive the Thisltegorm... Perhaps you have been there already? But, if not, then it would be but a short flight from UAE.

As for the Philippines, Taal may be benign by then.

I dove in Subic for there was some training I wanted to do there; nice wrecks, but the water is not the typical clear, tropical water one usually associates with such areas (my avatar is a photo from Subic Bay). Really want to get to Coron now.

I was once looking into going to the Seychelles.

 

[Centrals]

I wanted Philippines (Southern Leyte and Anilao) husband said Mauritius.
I nearly had him convinced changing Anilao to Subic bay, but then came Taal:-/
I still want Philippines - we could fly into Cebu and do Coron instead of Subic, but husband is not budging, since we would then fly through Hong Kong and he’s afraid there might be problems.

I have no problem of getting in/out from HK. But I don't travel from Fri night to Sun night or night before public holiday. The demonstrators have to work/study or whatnot!!!!

Enter Cebu from Singapore.
Unless you are staying close to the wrecks in Coron otherwise it is a day trip. You might be able to bring the 9 yrs old on board.

How about the East Coast of Peninsular of Malaysia eg. Redang, Tenggol, Tioman etc etc?
Malaria and Dengue can't be avoided in SE Asia. We have that in HK.

Good luck.

 

[Luko]

There are other ways to fly to the Phils : SIN KUL TPE (almost as close as HKG);
Mauritius is a bore... i prefer Réunion island for topside activities much more beautiful, but none of the 2 islands are worthwhile a divetrip, except for whale season in Reunion, which is starting from august.
What about Sipadan and then a landside trip on Borneo.

 

[drk5036]

There are other ways to fly to the Phils : SIN KUL TPE (almost as close as HKG);
Mauritius is a bore... i prefer Réunion island for topside activities much more beautiful, but none of the 2 islands are worthwhile a divetrip, except for whale season in Reunion, which is starting from august.
What about Sipadan and then a landside trip on Borneo.

agreed, what about Malaysia? The Borneo part has a lot of interesting things to do, both diving and on land.

 

[diveUAE]

Why not Sharm El Sheik? Go and dive the Thisltegorm... Perhaps you have been there already? But, if not, then it would be but a short flight from UAE.

As for the Philippines, Taal may be benign by then.

I dove in Subic for there was some training I wanted to do there; nice wrecks, but the water is not the typical clear, tropical water one usually associates with such areas (my avatar is a photo from Subic Bay). Really want to get to Coron now.

I was once looking into going to the Seychelles.

Really hope Taal will stay quiet the next few days, so I can book! Thanks for the heads up about Subic, will look into Coron

We have already “done” Seychelles, nice, but not enough to go back...

Not going back to Egypt, til I can do a “south” LOB.

There are other ways to fly to the Phils : SIN KUL TPE (almost as close as HKG);
Mauritius is a bore... i prefer Réunion island for topside activities much more beautiful, but none of the 2 islands are worthwhile a divetrip, except for whale season in Reunion, which is starting from august.
What about Sipadan and then a landside trip on Borneo.

agreed, what about Malaysia? The Borneo part has a lot of interesting things to do, both diving and on land.

Thanks, we went to Lankayan and Sipadan in 2008, along with a fantastic jungle trip, might be time for a trip back. But as far as I remember we needed malarone for that trip

 

[diveUAE]

I have no problem of getting in/out from HK. But I don't travel from Fri night to Sun night or night before public holiday. The demonstrators have to work/study or whatnot!!!!

Enter Cebu from Singapore.
Unless you are staying close to the wrecks in Coron otherwise it is a day trip. You might be able to bring the 9 yrs old on board.

How about the East Coast of Peninsular of Malaysia eg. Redang, Tenggol, Tioman etc etc?
Malaria and Dengue can't be avoided in SE Asia. We have that in HK.

Good luck.

Well to maximise our trip, we would have to fly in/out Friday and Saturday:-/

Not sure I understand about Coron? Are the hotels far away from the wrecks? Which hotel to choose to be closer? She likes the bangkas, so might be nice for her. Anything topside near Coron?

East coast Malaysia is interesting, flights to KUL are cheap, are there good dive sites?

Just checked, and my normal go to for vaccines and malaria, says not anti malarial for HK:-/

 

[Luko]

East coast Malaysia is interesting, flights to KUL are cheap, are there good dive sites?

Tenggol is probably the best spot of the east coast, March is a bit early in the season, the islands have nice beaches (Perhentians, Redang) but the diving is a bit meh compared to what is around, when I first dived in the Perhs in 97 it was nice snorkeling with one or two decent sites (Tokong Laut, VN wreck) but it has gone down every year with coral bleach and fundivers overpopulation.

How about India's Andamans dived from Havelock (just make sure they've stopped the restrictions for boat diving to the further and most intereting sites such as Johnny's Gorge or Dixon's pinnacle, check with DiveIndia Havelock Dive Sites | DIVEIndia | Scuba Diving In Havelock Island, Andamans, India| PADI, SSI Dive Centre ).
Then a short week tripping from Chennai to Madurai is an awesome lesson of culture, architecture and history. March would be the perfect season.

 

[Wingy]

I'd have to agree with Luko re Mauritius being boring. What about Christmas Island?