Papua New Guinea or Maybe Something Else?

[NootFish]

My vote goes for Maldives, on a 2 week liveaboard going to the extreme south to see tiger sharks. Good for experienced divers because strong currents and big wildlife. Tropical, and a long history of dealing with COVID (and a highly vaccinated population, especially in the tourism sector). Spent a month in Maldives April-May 2021 and was supposed to do the itinerary described above, but the guests on the boat from the previous trip tested positive, so we had to get a different boat and do a different itinerary.

 

[Dan]

My vote goes for Maldives, on a 2 week liveaboard going to the extreme south to see tiger sharks.

Maldives Deep South you are referring to is Fuvahmulah. Yes you’ll see Tiger Sharks because of the local resort there feed them. I was on Carpe Vita, watching the feeding from the deep end, so it’s not so close to the Tiger Sharks, as shown in this video, below.



If you want a better, close encounter with Tiger Sharks on liveaboard, go to Tiger Beach, Bahamas with Dolphin Dream liveaboard going from West Palm Beach, as shown in this video (you might see other Sharks too like Lemon, Gray Reef, Nurse, Bull and Great Hammerhead):

 

[Centrals]

Y

Yeah....tropical Scapa Flow..

I am aware of that. LOL
It is a lot "easier" to enter UK than most tropical diving destination. And I believe there is no quarantine required.
However, UK has seen one of the highest deaths from Covid in the world.

Tropical: only a handful few outside the Caribbean.

 

[AlMitch]

If I were in your shoes I would be looking at Fiji.
It ticks all of your boxes.
Maldives is quite a bit further flying time.

 

[NootFish]

The Philippines are now open, so that's another option!

 

[Thomas Fair]

Update on this a year later: Indonesia is back to being open, we've booked a two week trip starting at the end of August to Bali. Since this our first time going international with our trips and our first time going to SE Asia, we are staying close to home. Starting out in Amed beach for 4-5 days, going to Nusa Penida for 3 days, and back to Bali to stay near West Bali National Park. As I prepare over this coming year I may have questions so I will try and put them here or in the forum. I'll also give a trip report once we are back in the US. Any tips for divers, cool places to explore, or general info I need to know would be greatly appreciated!

 

[outofofficebrb]

Update on this a year later: Indonesia is back to being open, we've booked a two week trip starting at the end of August to Bali. Since this our first time going international with our trips and our first time going to SE Asia, we are staying close to home. Starting out in Amed beach for 4-5 days, going to Nusa Penida for 3 days, and back to Bali to stay near West Bali National Park. As I prepare over this coming year I may have questions so I will try and put them here or in the forum. I'll also give a trip report once we are back in the US. Any tips for divers, cool places to explore, or general info I need to know would be greatly appreciated!

On Bali, lots of good food and if you or your travel companion are into spas, some good ones there that are really inexpensive. Hire a driver that can double as a tour guide (they're very affordable) to take you to temples and other things you want to do or go see. If you're into hiking, there's that and it could be cool to see some of the rice terraces. If you want to leave it more spontaneous and flexible, download Grab and you can use that like Lyft/Uber.

If your plans are not firm, you're also within a 1 hour flight to Komodo and you can do diving there land based on day boats or at a resort as well. 7 years ago, I also made the trek to Bali for the first time and originally didn't have any plans to go to Komodo but other members here told me that I really needed to go and I am really glad I did. It is some of the best diving in Indonesia and you can see some komodo dragons. There are liveaboard options there as well but it's not needed/required. It would go well with muck diving in Bali.

 

[matts1w]

On Bali, lots of good food and if you or your travel companion are into spas, some good ones there that are really inexpensive. Hire a driver that can double as a tour guide (they're very affordable) to take you to temples and other things you want to do or go see. If you're into hiking, there's that and it could be cool to see some of the rice terraces. If you want to leave it more spontaneous and flexible, download Grab and you can use that like Lyft/Uber.

If your plans are not firm, you're also within a 1 hour flight to Komodo and you can do diving there land based on day boats or at a resort as well. 7 years ago, I also made the trek to Bali for the first time and originally didn't have any plans to go to Komodo but other members here told me that I really needed to go and I am really glad I did. It is some of the best diving in Indonesia and you can see some komodo dragons. There are liveaboard options there as well but it's not needed/required. It would go well with muck diving in Bali.

I would start by nixing the trip to north west Bali. The diving is meh and you will lose two full days of vacation getting there and back. It ain't worth it.

If this is a trip of a lifetime and probably the only time you will get to this part of the world, find a way to spend four or five days diving Komodo. Komodo to Bali is very easy. The diving is as good as it gets.

 

[Thomas Fair]

I would start by nixing the trip to north west Bali. The diving is meh and you will lose two full days of vacation getting there and back. It ain't worth it.

If this is a trip of a lifetime and probably the only time you will get to this part of the world, find a way to spend four or five days diving Komodo. Komodo to Bali is very easy. The diving is as good as it gets.

Can you expand on NW Bali, we are staying at NusaBay Menjangen and diving with the dive shop there. Any particular reason to avoid this area or the park in general?

 

[matts1w]

Can you expand on NW Bali, we are staying at NusaBay Menjangen and diving with the dive shop there. Any particular reason to avoid this area or the park in general?

The diving in Manjangan just isnt that great. North Bali is beautiful and super chill. There is nothing wrong with heading there to get away from the norm and experience its charm. But of the diving "zones" in Bali, it is very much the bottom of the list.