Where to dive advice on my year long trip
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Ulsterkiwi
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If you come to New Zealand the chances are you will be flying into Auckland. A short (in kiwi terms) 2.5 hour drive north will bring you to Tutukaka. From there you can easily and cheaply do day trips to the Poor Knights islands. Cousteau rated these highly and I would think he was qualified to judge 
Diving is all year round there unless there is a cyclone blowing. Easily doable in that area are a number of deliberately sunk ships, the Tui, Waikato, Canterbury and the salvaged and resunk Rainbow Warrior, although this time the French military were not involved. All very diveable and VERY worthwhile.
Aucklanders will have you believe that South of the Bombay Hills is a desolate desert where only possums and rabbits exist, tosh! You can head east and dive White Island which is an active volcano. I havent been there personally but I have been told that its better than the Poor Knights and they are excellent.
If fresh water is your thing you can dive Lake Taupo, pick your depth down to 186 metres (you might want to consider hiring doubles for that) or jump in the Waikato river and do an amazing drift dive past bungy jumping stations and where geothermal hot pools emerge into the river.
Heading south the Wellington region is excellent for accessible shore diving with lots of options. Its a small city and easy to get a few sites explored in a couple of weekends. Compared to Lake Pupuke in Auckland which is full of duck s*&^ this is shore diving heaven. It does get colder down here but nothing a one piece 7mm wetsuit cant handle 9 months of the year.
Across the Cook Strait and the Marlborough Sounds are beautiful and the best wreck dive in New Zealand waters, the Lermontov. Kaikoura on the eastern side is whale and dolphin watching country but I have lost count of the boat charters in Wellington where I have been dropped into a pod of a couple of hundred common dolphin in between dives. You will likely see cetaceans of some shape or form in NZ.
Further south there is good diving but I am not familiar with the conditions or sites. You can if you are feeling adventurous go cage diving with great whites off Stewart Island which lies off the southern tip of the South Island. Some of my dive buddies are just back from there and are very fired up about the experience.
all in all, there is awesome reef diving, wrecks, wildlife encounters, photography or even hunting if you want for crayfish (very big here) or spearfishing (legal but not encouraged on scuba)
if you find yourself in kiwiland PM me and I can help more.
Diving is all year round there unless there is a cyclone blowing. Easily doable in that area are a number of deliberately sunk ships, the Tui, Waikato, Canterbury and the salvaged and resunk Rainbow Warrior, although this time the French military were not involved. All very diveable and VERY worthwhile.Aucklanders will have you believe that South of the Bombay Hills is a desolate desert where only possums and rabbits exist, tosh! You can head east and dive White Island which is an active volcano. I havent been there personally but I have been told that its better than the Poor Knights and they are excellent.
If fresh water is your thing you can dive Lake Taupo, pick your depth down to 186 metres (you might want to consider hiring doubles for that) or jump in the Waikato river and do an amazing drift dive past bungy jumping stations and where geothermal hot pools emerge into the river.
Heading south the Wellington region is excellent for accessible shore diving with lots of options. Its a small city and easy to get a few sites explored in a couple of weekends. Compared to Lake Pupuke in Auckland which is full of duck s*&^ this is shore diving heaven. It does get colder down here but nothing a one piece 7mm wetsuit cant handle 9 months of the year.
Across the Cook Strait and the Marlborough Sounds are beautiful and the best wreck dive in New Zealand waters, the Lermontov. Kaikoura on the eastern side is whale and dolphin watching country but I have lost count of the boat charters in Wellington where I have been dropped into a pod of a couple of hundred common dolphin in between dives. You will likely see cetaceans of some shape or form in NZ.
Further south there is good diving but I am not familiar with the conditions or sites. You can if you are feeling adventurous go cage diving with great whites off Stewart Island which lies off the southern tip of the South Island. Some of my dive buddies are just back from there and are very fired up about the experience.
all in all, there is awesome reef diving, wrecks, wildlife encounters, photography or even hunting if you want for crayfish (very big here) or spearfishing (legal but not encouraged on scuba)
if you find yourself in kiwiland PM me and I can help more.
Malaysia peninsula: A second vote for Perhentian. As long as it is not a public holiday it is worth while going without a reservation, taking the first ferry out and finding accomodation when you are there. All levels are available and negotiate the price. Food is very cheap but if you want more than beer then take it with you as much cheaper to buy on the mainland.
Perhentian: Given your dive profile may be a little advance, check out before you go.
Lankayan: If you fancy a few days of bliss not the cheapest resort but it is beautiful, the diving is easy and stress free. Hopefully you will see turtles hatching and if it is the right time egg laying.
The town of Sandekan: Get up early and go to the fish market, very interesting, eat at Ocean king, seafood is GREAT and the staff are good fun, almost the wild west in the east. Trig Hill is worth a visit in the evening if only for the views.
Have a great time and keep us informed of the places you visit, what you love and those that disapoint.
Perhentian: Given your dive profile may be a little advance, check out before you go.
Lankayan: If you fancy a few days of bliss not the cheapest resort but it is beautiful, the diving is easy and stress free. Hopefully you will see turtles hatching and if it is the right time egg laying.
The town of Sandekan: Get up early and go to the fish market, very interesting, eat at Ocean king, seafood is GREAT and the staff are good fun, almost the wild west in the east. Trig Hill is worth a visit in the evening if only for the views.
Have a great time and keep us informed of the places you visit, what you love and those that disapoint.
Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought of NZ for diving but definitely will keep it in mind!!
I did my first dive in the Perhentian Islands many years ago on Perhentian Besar. We'll be heading back there for sure.
I've been unfortunately hobbling around with Gout the last week or so, at my spritely age of 35 too, don't laugh, i haven't even been drinking that much, anyway the swelling is going down and i'm in Unawatuna in SL at the moment and am doing two dives on Monday, one 30m wreck and one 18m reef dive.
Trying to plan Philippines at the moment, looks like monsoon season starts in May but a place called Palawan has a later season so we may head there.
It does look like up until October we'll be hitting places in the rainy season which is a bit of bugger!
I did my first dive in the Perhentian Islands many years ago on Perhentian Besar. We'll be heading back there for sure.
I've been unfortunately hobbling around with Gout the last week or so, at my spritely age of 35 too, don't laugh, i haven't even been drinking that much, anyway the swelling is going down and i'm in Unawatuna in SL at the moment and am doing two dives on Monday, one 30m wreck and one 18m reef dive.
Trying to plan Philippines at the moment, looks like monsoon season starts in May but a place called Palawan has a later season so we may head there.
It does look like up until October we'll be hitting places in the rainy season which is a bit of bugger!
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