About Me. My fifth location in a multi-country, two-month dive trip was Perth, Australia. I’m a solo traveler with 700+ dives, and I made my own arrangements for the Australia portion. The first three weeks were spent in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, followed by a 10-day stay in Puerto Galera, Philippines, and I wrote trip reports for those stays.
Trip Report - Raja Ampat-Cove Eco-February 2025
Trip Report - Raja Ampat Dive Lodge-March 2025
Trip Report - White Manta Liveaboard-March 10-17, 2025
Trip Report - Puerto Galera, Philippines-March 20-30, 2025
Getting There. I left Manila for a 9-hour flight to Perth, Australia, with a 1 ½ hour layover in Singapore. It wasn’t the most direct route, but I flew business class on Singapore Airlines using points, and sometimes you’ve got to take what you can get when getting a free flight. Besides Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines has one of the best business class products and services I’ve ever experienced. This time, I didn’t get hassled for my slightly overweight carry-on bag.
I was very happy to be in a first-world country again after spending a month in Asia. It was easy to get around with Uber and easy to find food and groceries. Even with the USD to AUD conversion, Australia is an expensive destination. To my fellow Aussie divers, I love your country and really enjoy myself when I'm there!
Tradewinds Hotel. Located in Fremantle near Bucket List Diver, Tradewinds is a suite hotel, which is like an apartment-style hotel with a full kitchen in a spacious room with free onsite washer and dryer. Strong wifi is free. First-world comforts were much appreciated…good A/C, working appliances, comfortable bed, and it was nice to do laundry.
Bucket List Diver. A dive guide in Australia is not the norm, so I needed to find a dive op that provided a free guide. Thanks to SB member feedback, I chose them. Antoni and Kate are great owners. Antoni drives the boat and Kate does the scheduling. It was very easy communicating with Kate for scheduling and payment both through email and WhatsApp. Rottnest Island was where I planned to dive for five days.
The Weather and Dive Conditions. Out of five available days to dive, I only dived one day. The first week of April was brutally windy. The conditions were so unpredictable that I was on standby each day and would get a text the evening before as to a go or no-go. So, the one day I got out, we were at Little Armstrong Bay and Roe Reef. The second day that had good weather did not run because there weren't enough divers signed up. So I took the ferry and spent time at Rottnest Island. It was such a beautiful day and it was disappointing not to have been diving.
The Diving. Nitrox is not available. The ride was choppy, and it took a full two hours to reach Rottnest because there was something wrong with the engine. The guide spent our ride time out to the site asking everyone their experience level, last time they dived, pairing us up, and giving the dive briefing. Me and another guest were the only experienced divers. The other five were newly certified. A guy from Japan who spoke zero English had gotten certified a year earlier and didn’t dive again until he showed up in Australia. He was a mess underwater, and he lied to the guide about his air consumption and he sucked his tank dry. It was a real s*** show.
There were seven divers to one guide. Ugh! Once we got in the water, the visibility was about 8 feet between me and the guide, and there was a lot of surge, so much that one diver vomited in her regulator. I can’t say anything good about the two dives, except that the guide recognized that me and my insta-buddy were perfectly competent and didn’t need babysitting and allowed us to stay down longer than the others.
While we were diving, Antoni found the problem with the boat. Some marine trash had gotten wrapped around the engine and he was able to dislodge it.
The water temps were 73 degrees F. I don’t own a 5-mil wetsuit. I have a 3-mil jacket and 3-mil pants. I layered a 2-mil sleeveless vest and I had no hood and didn’t need it. I was not cold.
This video link will show you the boat and conditions of the day.
Trip Report - Raja Ampat-Cove Eco-February 2025
Trip Report - Raja Ampat Dive Lodge-March 2025
Trip Report - White Manta Liveaboard-March 10-17, 2025
Trip Report - Puerto Galera, Philippines-March 20-30, 2025
Getting There. I left Manila for a 9-hour flight to Perth, Australia, with a 1 ½ hour layover in Singapore. It wasn’t the most direct route, but I flew business class on Singapore Airlines using points, and sometimes you’ve got to take what you can get when getting a free flight. Besides Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines has one of the best business class products and services I’ve ever experienced. This time, I didn’t get hassled for my slightly overweight carry-on bag.
I was very happy to be in a first-world country again after spending a month in Asia. It was easy to get around with Uber and easy to find food and groceries. Even with the USD to AUD conversion, Australia is an expensive destination. To my fellow Aussie divers, I love your country and really enjoy myself when I'm there!
Tradewinds Hotel. Located in Fremantle near Bucket List Diver, Tradewinds is a suite hotel, which is like an apartment-style hotel with a full kitchen in a spacious room with free onsite washer and dryer. Strong wifi is free. First-world comforts were much appreciated…good A/C, working appliances, comfortable bed, and it was nice to do laundry.
Bucket List Diver. A dive guide in Australia is not the norm, so I needed to find a dive op that provided a free guide. Thanks to SB member feedback, I chose them. Antoni and Kate are great owners. Antoni drives the boat and Kate does the scheduling. It was very easy communicating with Kate for scheduling and payment both through email and WhatsApp. Rottnest Island was where I planned to dive for five days.
The Weather and Dive Conditions. Out of five available days to dive, I only dived one day. The first week of April was brutally windy. The conditions were so unpredictable that I was on standby each day and would get a text the evening before as to a go or no-go. So, the one day I got out, we were at Little Armstrong Bay and Roe Reef. The second day that had good weather did not run because there weren't enough divers signed up. So I took the ferry and spent time at Rottnest Island. It was such a beautiful day and it was disappointing not to have been diving.
The Diving. Nitrox is not available. The ride was choppy, and it took a full two hours to reach Rottnest because there was something wrong with the engine. The guide spent our ride time out to the site asking everyone their experience level, last time they dived, pairing us up, and giving the dive briefing. Me and another guest were the only experienced divers. The other five were newly certified. A guy from Japan who spoke zero English had gotten certified a year earlier and didn’t dive again until he showed up in Australia. He was a mess underwater, and he lied to the guide about his air consumption and he sucked his tank dry. It was a real s*** show.
There were seven divers to one guide. Ugh! Once we got in the water, the visibility was about 8 feet between me and the guide, and there was a lot of surge, so much that one diver vomited in her regulator. I can’t say anything good about the two dives, except that the guide recognized that me and my insta-buddy were perfectly competent and didn’t need babysitting and allowed us to stay down longer than the others.
While we were diving, Antoni found the problem with the boat. Some marine trash had gotten wrapped around the engine and he was able to dislodge it.
The water temps were 73 degrees F. I don’t own a 5-mil wetsuit. I have a 3-mil jacket and 3-mil pants. I layered a 2-mil sleeveless vest and I had no hood and didn’t need it. I was not cold.
This video link will show you the boat and conditions of the day.
