Tips on my trip to Asia

[JoakimV]

Hi there.

I am visiting Japan with some friends this summer and I need some advice. My friends do not dive, but I will not commit the crime of visiting Asia without diving so I am wondering how the diving in Japan is. I heard there are some great spots down in the Okinawa region. Does anyone have experiences with that? And how is it cost wise? I am a student and travel on a tight budget. What is the cost of getting there from the major cities like Tokyo. And are there cheap resorts to stay at? The cheaper, the better, so shabby bungalows are perfect. Maybe someone has some contacts I can hook up with?

Alternatively I may book flight tickets through some other Asian country (which of course isnt cheap either), and spend a week in for example Malaysia on the way home. Any tips here? I have already dived in Indonesia, which was great, but I want to try somewhere new. Heard someone say Malaysia was great.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read my post, and I hope you have some advice.

 

[shugar]

skip malaysia... go home via manila... spend a few days in anilao, PG or even go down to cebu, dumaguete or coron... there's more than enough to keep you wanting for more hehehehe

Jag

 

[ssra30]

There are so many choices to choose from. The Philippines hav a lot of good diving. I do like PG and Dumaguette a lot and plan to go back to Dumaguette in a few months. Malaysia is also very good especially Sipadan (although it will take you awhile to get there since there is no easy way to get to the islands). Where in Indonesia did you dive? Lembeh Strait/Bunaken, Komodo, Irian Jaya, Alor, Sangalaki, Wakatobi, Tulumben are all worth visiting depending on what you want to see so if you only have one or two trips to Indonesia before, you have not cover nearly all the good sites yet.

 

[JoakimV]

I only dived in Bunaken in Indonesia, and I have never dived in the Phillipines (been backpacking there though).

For some reason I feel exited about Malaysia. Maybe it is just my inborn urge to see new countries.

How is Malaysia cost-wise? Indonesia was cheap and I heard Malaysia is something similar. How do you get to Sipadan and what wil the trip cost?

Thanks for helping.

 

[ssra30]

Sipadan is just off the coast of Borneo. You will need to fly into Tawau and the resort will pick you up from there to go to Semporna (about 1 hour drive) and get on the boat there. To get to Tawau, Air Asia has a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur. From Bangkok or Singapore, you will have to fly to Kota Kinabalu first then to Tawau.
I am not sure about the cost right now but I assume that it would be up since all the resorts on Sipadan were shut down recently. Now you will have to stay either on Mabul or Kapalai to dive Sipadan. Sipadan used to have several resorts while Kapalai has one and Mabul has 3. So there are a lot less accomodation available there now. When I was there, it used to be less than $US100 a day all inclusive. Not sure about now though. Here is a link to Smart Diver where I stayed on my trip.
http://www.sipadan-mabul.com.my/introduction.html