Last Minute Dive Trip - Where to go in Asia?

[pconsidine007]

Hello all,

I'm between jobs and have the next few weeks off, during which time I would like to take a 5-7 day (maybe longer) dive trip.

I just did Komodo (absolutely epic) in May, and my wife would kill me if I did Raja without her - so Indo is out. I looked into Thailand, but the Gulf of Thailand (KT and KS) seem less than spectacular and raging parties are 5-10 yrs behind me now... Andaman Sea side of TL appears to be out-of-season. Also looked into the Philipines, but it seems like August could be a little sketchy from a weather perspective.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where I can embark on an excellent Asia dive experience, at a reasonable cost, over the next couple weeks?

Def pushing my luck here, but also a HUGE lover of culinary adventure, so if there's any great dive location that's also a foody adventure.... that'd be the cherry on top.

Really appreciate any reco's / insight the SB community can share.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

 

[dirtfarmer]

I'd favor Bali or Lembeh/Bunaken/Banka over Thailand. Do you like muck? You might have been on some muck dives in the Komodo area.Are you a photographer?
Or hell I'm going back to Komodo for a second time.

 

[nudisusie]

The visayas area of the philippines (cebu/bohol/negros) is great at this time of year - I'm flying there tonight for 2 weeks. There are numerous resorts fitting all budgets, great critter diving and option for snorkelliing with whale sharks and reef dives at Apo Island.
Not really a list topper for a culinary experience imho but the resorts have great food in my experience and I'm looking forward to Kinilaw (the filipino fish ceviche with coconut and chilli)

You're right about the Andaman side of Thailand .... we had a flash flood this morning in Phuket!

 

[Tippytoes12]

We were in the Philippines in June and the weather was fantastic...cannot recommend the Visayas highly enough. Apparently the Atlantis resorts have wonderful food , as well as Liquid Dumaguete where I can personally confirm that the food and diving is awesome.If good is really really important , Bali would also have my vote. Another area with awesome diving where the weather is great now is Sipadan. The food , where my hubby and I met our now good friend Dirtfarmer , is in the plain but plentiful category.

 

[Wingy]

North Sulawesi would be my pick for diving...but as a food destination, hell no LOL. I think Krabi/Ao Nang in thailand has some good food and reasonable thai diving and is ten years past the full moon parties. Saw some pics from a friend with a boat there of todays dives and the diving looked on the up for thailand. I love the ambience of Ao Nang and food heaven is named Kruatthara (a restaurant up near where the boats leave from).

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Lots of choices all over the Philippines and some decent budget deals. Same applies to Indo....Lembeh, Bunaken, Tulamben, Ambon. Too many options to list. Pick a place and you probably won't be disappointed. Figure out what you want to spend and go from there.

 

[DiveExploreIndonesia]

I would strongly agree with the others and go more for Indonesia or the Philippines, I can't advise on the latter as I haven't been but I only hear good things about it. Indonesia has many great places to dive also and Raja ampat can wait for you and your wife;-) have a look at the options, it also depends what you want to see, Alor is fabulous and so are many other places, I guess you also need to try minimizing flights and internal travel if you're only taking a short break.

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

Another vote for the Phillipines here. The visayas are amazing, and you can easily hit up several dive spots (malapasqua, bohol, apo island) within a couple of weeks if you use Cebu as you domestic arrival/departure gateway.