Where to dive in October? Pick from 4 destinations or suggest one

[LeggoDiveyDivey]

Where would you dive in October? I'm have time between Sept and Oct to dive and am thinking of Oct. I have short listed some destinations but feel free to offer any recommendations.

Destination	Total cost (USD) (Flights + Dive cost)	Pros	Cons
Costa Rica - Cocos Island / Bat Island	8000	Shark island, heavy 30+ hour crossing	36 hour crossing, shark oriented, low chance of mantas/whales Least luxurious liveaboards
Maldives - Hanifaru	3800	Manta migration, sharks	Monsoon season, touristy, semi-luxury liveaboard
South Africa - Durban, Aliwal Shoal, Fury Shoals	2400	Ragged tooth shark migration	Rough diving with shore boat launches
Red Sea	2200	Nice reefs, drift diving, conflict nearby	Middle East conflict nearby, have been before, luxury liveaboards Cost efficient
Turks and Caicos	3500	Nice reefs, drift diving	Recommended by Ron, great wall dives with reefs.

Honorable mentions (considered but decided against):
Bonaire/Roatan - Not a fan of shore diving, or just bad at it.
Belize - Heard its not as good, but did originally consider this together with Cenotes.
Cancun/Cozumel - Heard its too touristy

 

[rongoodman]

From your location, probably the Maldives. I've been to Cocos multiple times and will go again. The Maldives look good, but the travel time is a deal breaker for me. The crossing to Cocos is very relaxing, unlike sitting on a plane or in a terminal for a similar amount of time.
Turks and Caicos is my favorite Caribbean location.
(I don't know about your other cost estimates, but your figure for Cocos seems way too low.)

 

[LeggoDiveyDivey]

From your location, probably the Maldives. I've been to Cocos multiple times and will go again. The Maldives look good, but the travel time is a deal breaker for me. The crossing to Cocos is very relaxing, unlike sitting on a plane or in a terminal for a similar amount of time.
Turks and Caicos is my favorite Caribbean location.
(I don't know about your other cost estimates, but your figure for Cocos seems way too low.)

Thank you and you are right about Coco's , I think i forgot to convert it to USD. The price should be about 8k USD from London.

What makes Cocos and Turks and Caicos the best for you? Im still considering T&C although im unsure which liveaboard to pick.
That said the price differential is huge between T&C and Cocos , though Coco's is arguably a world class destination.

 

[rongoodman]

T&C is close, less expensive, with lots of nice walls. Both liveaboards visit the same sites, the Aggressor boat is a little nicer. Cocos is just spectacular, I’ve never had a bad trip there. I’m considering a trip to Malpelo too.

 

[LeggoDiveyDivey]

T&C is close, less expensive, with lots of nice walls. Both liveaboards visit the same sites, the Aggressor boat is a little nicer. Cocos is just spectacular, I’ve never had a bad trip there. I’m considering a trip to Malpelo too.

Interestingly I was consider Malpelo on the Ferox but kind of gave up when I saw the price-to-comfort ratio. If im not wrong its a converted military ship so it wasn't designed with comfort in mind. It does seem very far off the beaten track, its just my moisturised skin thats too pampered at this point in my life.

Enjoy your trip, I have heard nothing but good things about Malpelo!

I have also added a T&C option just to visualise it better.

 

[BoltSnap]

Turks and Caicos

I'd never go back to T&C again. Nothing special and boring. I have been there twice on Liveaboards. I don't see any reason for you to go there from the UK.

Red Sea

Good time of the year to be there, and very cost-efficient and awesome diving. Just pick the right boat, don't try to go cheap there.

South Africa - Durban, Aliwal Shoal, Fury Shoals

Just make sure that it is a good time of the year to be there.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Bali and South Lombok

 

[greatwhite1]

T&C is close, less expensive, with lots of nice walls. Both liveaboards visit the same sites, the Aggressor boat is a little nicer. Cocos is just spectacular, I’ve never had a bad trip there. I’m considering a trip to Malpelo too.

Which boat, season and what kind of costs are involved for Coco's please? Do single divers join liveaboards there?

 

[LeggoDiveyDivey]

I'd never go back to T&C again. Nothing special and boring. I have been there twice on Liveaboards. I don't see any reason for you to go there from the UK.

and thats why I originally discounted it.

Good time of the year to be there, and very cost-efficient and awesome diving. Just pick the right boat, don't try to go cheap there.

Really struggling with going back after having done BDE and Deep South. Do you have recommendations for a boat? I often end up with the German speaking crowd (im the only english speaker). I was thinking Blue Force this time if im back in Egypt.

Bali and South Lombok

I've already been multiple times, really good but Bali recently had a few issues with the volcano. I might be visiting it next year too.

Just make sure that it is a good time of the year to be there.

It's an alright time for SA. So it sounds like a toss up between Red Sea and SA for you?

 

[LeggoDiveyDivey]

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