Military R & R Trip in May or June

[Squid Diver]

Howdy,

I am in the military and deployed to Kabul Afghanistan for the next year. One of the more positive aspects of my deployment is that the military will grant me a two week vacation period in the middle of my deployment and purchase airfare to my desired location. I have been doing some research trying to decide where to take my dive vacation. Obviously transportation is not a factor so I figured it would be good to get some ideas. All my diving to date has been in Hawaii (primarily Oahu).

Level of Cert: Advanced, Nitrox
Dives Completed: 126
Dates: May or June

 

[PeCaRi]

Hi Squid

If you already have the choice, I think you want to stick to places which is quite far from Hawaii. I have no idea how long it takes from Kabul (I personally think it is not worth to travel 4 days out of 14).

To think about:
Red Sea (egypt or Sudan). Best is Liveaboard to the brothers. Shark time! good corals, month is really good. just stick to the southern parts of Egypt (Marsa Alam).

Indonesia: Plenty of destinations, but mostly macro or muckdiving (weird critters). Relatively easy to get to: Bali, Manado (Bunaken, Lembeh, Bangka), Komodo.
a bit more effort (and money) it takes to go to Raja Ampat, Alor, (Moluccas). Moluccas go into the rainy season (rough sea) like Raja Ampat (still LOBs available).

Sipadan: It is a mixture of big stuff like Jacks, Rays and Hammerheads (not always), macro, critters and fish life (my opinion). good season.

Maldives: big stuff, like sharks, rays, Tunas, not really macro place and coral bleaching. May is o.k. June is the cheapest month in Maldives --> Monsoon, but usually it rains once a day for 1 hour (at least as I was there). Apparently it's possible that it rains once a week... the whole week.

very exotic and rather adventurous (haven't been there) and friends told me it is like the Maldives 20 years ago: Niccobars (belong to India, flight over Dehli). Season: no idea.

this are my suggestions for warm water dives. But it depends what kind of diving you want (big or tiny etc) and what your budget is.

hope that gives you some ideas.
snowy Greetings

 

[greylion]

Well, if it was me I'd want to get back to the world for a bit and that means the Western Hemisphere. The Caymans, Florida, Cozumel or Roatan would sound good to me.

 

[caymaniac]

Howdy,

I am in the military and deployed to Kabul Afghanistan for the next year. One of the more positive aspects of my deployment is that the military will grant me a two week vacation period in the middle of my deployment and purchase airfare to my desired location. I have been doing some research trying to decide where to take my dive vacation. Obviously transportation is not a factor so I figured it would be good to get some ideas. All my diving to date has been in Hawaii (primarily Oahu).

Level of Cert: Advanced, Nitrox
Dives Completed: 126
Dates: May or June

I've dove with several people that were in the same boat, they were in the middle of deployment and took their trip to Maui. They had a great time. Nothing like being back in the States when you are so far from home.
If you are looking for more exotic areas then choose Australia's east coast (Cairns/Port Douglas) maybe do a 4 to 5 day liveaboard out to the Great Barrier Reef or even Osprey Reef, Cod Hole, the Ribbons.
Extreme exotic would be Indonesia or Tahiti
If you are thinking Caribbean then how about T&C or Grand Cayman?

Thanks for your service, blessings to you and your family, Happy Holidays!

 

[DCBC]

My son's currently with close protection at ISAF HQ in Kabul. On his last tour he stayed on a live-a-board out of Cains. He loved the diving and the price was really reasonable.

 

[Squid Diver]

Thank you all for the great information! Having done a little bit of research i'm thinking along the lines of:
Nicobar/Andaman (Havelock): Looks very reasonably priced and very pristine. Accomadations look primitive, but thats not really an issue for me. I'm Looking at Island Vinnies.
Belize: I'm not sure about diving here other than the Blue Hole. I hear a lot of people call it overrated, but I would love to dive it for a couple of days.
Rotan: The diving looks here looks reasonable and the accomdations look nice. I'm looking a CoCo View.
Grand Cayman: I'm looking at Sun Set House although I haven't done a whole lot of research on the Caymans. My concern is that it looks like a lot of cruise ships run through the Caymans.
Maldives: The Maldives are looking very promising right now. A live aboard sounds great and the diving appears to be consistantly outstanding.

The Red Sea area also looked very promising but I think i'd like to get away from a Middle Eastern country for my R&R.

DCBC

My son's currently with close protection at ISAF HQ in Kabul. On his last tour he stayed on a live-a-board out of Cains. He loved the diving and the price was really reasonable.

I'm also currently stationed at ISAF HQ in Kabul I work at the CJOC. Small world!

Regardless of where I do choose thank you all for the advice! I'm starting to get really excited about my trip and thinking of getting my D90 set up for underwater use. Any further feedback or advice is appreciated! As-Salamu Alaykum!

 

[H2Ohm]

Hey Squid,

I'm deployed in Iraq for the moment. I go home to Maui for R&R's and will be there in February and again in July. Travel time from Dubai to Maui is 3 flights (London, L.A., Maui). One day of travel from Dubai to Maui and 2 days of travel coming back. To me, it's worth every minute of travel even if I were staying for only a week. I don't care what anybody says. I've traveled and lived all over the world and all I can say is Maui no ka oi! Watch your arsse over there in Afganistan. If we time it right, I'll show you some good spots on Maui....

 

[Squid Diver]

Hey Squid,

I'm deployed in Iraq for the moment. I go home to Maui for R&R's and will be there in February and again in July. Travel time from Dubai to Maui is 3 flights (London, L.A., Maui). One day of travel from Dubai to Maui and 2 days of travel coming back. To me, it's worth every minute of travel even if I were staying for only a week. I don't care what anybody says. I've traveled and lived all over the world and all I can say is Maui no ka oi! Watch your arsse over there in Afganistan. If we time it right, I'll show you some good spots on Maui....

H20hm,

I don't blame you for sticking to Maui I absolutley love that island. I had the opportunity to dive it for the first time earlier this year and I plan to island hop over as soon as I get back from Afghan. I've never done in diving outside of HI though, so i'm hoping to do somthing a little different on R&R. Make sure and keep your head down!