Top 3 Best Two-Week Dive Trips

[squarepants]

I'm trying to plan a dive trip for our tenth anniversary, and needing inspiration! All work and no play has left me very dull and unimaginative. Maybe some fellow divers can help get us on track.

Where are your top three best places to spend a two week dive trip between Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Cheers!

 

[TSandM]

Well, me, I'd go cave diving (since I am).

But I'd seriously think about the Red Sea. I could easily have spent two weeks on the MV Tala, the trip we did in October. Or even better, I'd go spend a week in Beirut at Mo Hammoud's Calypso Dive Center, and then a week on the Tala. Heaven!

 

[vladimir]

In no particular order:

Combine a land-based stay at Wakatobi or Lembeh with a Komodo liveaboard.

A ten-day itinerary on Undersea Hunter to Cocos Island, with a 2-day canopy tour tacked on.

A week on a Galapagos liveaboard (I think the ten-day trips are history) followed by a week of land-based diving there.

Four or five days at Loloata Island in Papua New Guinea (say hello to Dik Knight for me--great guy), followed by a week-long liveaboard in the Milne Bay area.

Take the two-week trip to Velasco Reef in Palau that Aggressor sent me last week:

Palau Aggressor II Offering 2-week northern Itinerary to Velasco reef area May 2-16, 2010, for $5795 dbl and $5995 deluxe and April 24-May 8, 2011. Capt. Mike Farmer reports "the diving was fantastic, reefs pristine, lots of table and soft corals, sea fans, untouched by anyone. From large schools of Black Snapper, Bumphead Parrotfish, and sharks, it is a spectacular area". This 5-6 hour cruise up the west side of Palau brings spectacular views. The itinerary includes 5 ½ days of diving the northern itinerary and the second week diving the southern dive sites that Palau is famous for. (Price includes cabin tax, dive tax and additional fuel charge)

Sorry, that's five. I have not been to the Galapagos yet, and though I have been on the Aggressor in Palau, I haven't been to Velasco Reef, so I can only recommend half of that trip based on experience, but I do so enthusiastically. I have done the other trips with a little variation, and can recommend them all highly.

 

[robint]

That time of year I would go somewhere in Pacific/Asia area. These are not in any particular order, just depends what you want to see.

1. a week on a liveaboard in Palau (shark mating season is Dec-Mar), and then land-based for a 3-5 days before or after in either Hawaii or Yap making it a 10-12 day trip since travel is about 2 days each way to get there. There are 3 great liveaboard companies there in Palau, the Aggressor, the Big Blue Explorer, and the Ocean Hunter. You can't beat Palau for incredible wall diving with sharks every dive, seeing mantas, and huge schools of all kinds of fish, tons of anemone fish, jellyfish lake snorkel, deep diving, WWII wrecks, blue holes....

2. 2 weeks in Indonesia on Lembeh - 5 days diving on the lush reef side and 5 days diving on the muck diving side. For a photographer or lover on little critters and weird sealife, this is the place to go! Once again, this is a trip that takes 2 days to get there.

3. a week on a liveaboard to Socorro Islands off Cabo/Baja to dive with mantas, schools of sharks, and possibly whale sharks during that timeframe. Spend the second week just relaxing there in Cabo.

 

[caymaniac]

Go to Cairns and do a trip out to the Coral Sea for 5 days, then off to PNG to New Britain and do Star Dancer for a week out of Walindi. I've done this trip, it's tops and you won't find any better diving on the planet.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Ummmm. . . whats your budget?

 

[scubafanatic]

Ummmm. . . whats your budget?

...that's no fun, Tim...like a bucket of cold water splashed across one's face....cold reality !

 

[squarepants]

It looks like the majority says go south, and keep going , and west, west, west.

I'm hoping we can do it for about $6K - total. It may or may not be possible. I agree that the South Pacific will likely be the warmest water in mid December. Fiji is beautiful, and I wonder about the French Polynesian Islands. Not looking forward to the flight, but won't let that hold us back.

Hey Robin, where/what is Yap? I like the idea of a stop-off, but didn't want to repeat Hawaii for this trip.

I wonder how much of a stress factor it would add trying to do Indonesia. I mean being completely unfamiliar with the language and culture, would it be a struggle? We went to a tiny resort island in Fiji once, and is was really easy, but there were people who spoke English, and lots of Aussies and Kiwis, so no problems getting around, or communicating.

My cousin went to Palau, and said it was amazing. She did a liveaboard. Not out of the question at all, but I'd like to also incorporate some land-based, new culture exploring if possible too. Maybe a week or so liveaboard and then ?? for the second week.

Thank you all for the great inspirational ideas!

 

[vladimir]

I wonder how much of a stress factor it would add trying to do Indonesia. I mean being completely unfamiliar with the language and culture, would it be a struggle?

No problem at all. The locals you deal with have learned enough English to make it really easy on you. Bahasa, the local tongue, is pretty easy--no troublesome tenses or conjugations, as far as I can tell--but you won't need a word of it to feel comfortable.

As far as culture, most Indonesians are Muslims, with the notable exception of the Balinese, who practice a Hindu-Buddhist-animist amalgam. Balinese do not want their pictures taken. A little restraint in the display of flesh is a good idea, I think, but I've never seen any issues arise, and I've been there at least a dozen times. They are much more relaxed in their religious observance than you might find, say, on the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia, for example, or anywhere in the Arab world. With the exception of seeing head scarves on some of the women, you can spend two weeks there and not have it occur to you that you've been in a Muslim country.

 

[robint]

It looks like the majority says go south, and keep going , and west, west, west.

I'm hoping we can do it for about $6K - total. It may or may not be possible. I agree that the South Pacific will likely be the warmest water in mid December. Fiji is beautiful, and I wonder about the French Polynesian Islands. Not looking forward to the flight, but won't let that hold us back.

Hey Robin, where/what is Yap? I like the idea of a stop-off, but didn't want to repeat Hawaii for this trip.

I wonder how much of a stress factor it would add trying to do Indonesia. I mean being completely unfamiliar with the language and culture, would it be a struggle? We went to a tiny resort island in Fiji once, and is was really easy, but there were people who spoke English, and lots of Aussies and Kiwis, so no problems getting around, or communicating.

My cousin went to Palau, and said it was amazing. She did a liveaboard. Not out of the question at all, but I'd like to also incorporate some land-based, new culture exploring if possible too. Maybe a week or so liveaboard and then ?? for the second week.

Thank you all for the great inspirational ideas!

A 2 week trip for $6k ??? I hope you mean per person or you are not counting airfare. Our liveaboard trip was only 1 week to Palau and total cost was round $10k for the two of us. (liveaboard, tip and fees, airfare, 1 day hotel in Koror on final day before flight home, food at airports and day in Koror, taxes, etc)

Yap is an island group, part of Micronesia and a stop on the way to Palau by the only airline that services the area from US, Continental. It is the place where they have mantas year round. If you really want to experience a culture and dive, go to Yap! It is one of the places least affected by outside influences.

Go here: Yap Visitors Bureau
and

some videos I found on You Tube:



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and



If you want to go there for your vacation, I think you would really enjoy it. Many people only stop there for 3 days after going to Palau. We haven't been there but most of the people on our liveaboard trip had been and liked it. It isn't as intense as Palau diving, not so many sharks or deep walls, etc. but the cultural aspect and all the mantas were fantastic. It is very different from Palau both underwater and culturally. Palau is very Americanized, Yap is still Yap.

It isn't a cheap trip, so more than a week might be out of your budget.

Indonesia, on the other hand.....you could do the 2 week thing, land-based.
http://www.divetrip.com/lembeh_bunaken.htm
muck diving, crazy critter heaven:


or Philippines would easily make your budget for a 2 week trip.
http://www.divetrip.com/philippines/el_galleon_resort.htm


robin