where to go be a dive bum for a year or so?

[Bigbella]

Where to go be a dive bum for a year or so?

My vote would be Australia, where I did just that, in the late nineties and early aughts; even did quite a bit of work on dive boats, some even under the table.



344,400 square kilometers of reef should keep you busy; so too, the close proximity of PNG (Papua New Guinea) to Queensland . . .

 

[bassplayer]

If you have the time and resources to be a dive bum for an extended period of time, then I congratulate you for your success. I might suggest that, wherever you decide to go, you share your good fortune with the locals in the form of volunteer work or service or donations to benefit the community. I think you will find your experience greatly enriched for doing so.

thats a good idea, agreed

 

[Doc Harry]

During a liveaboard in Palau in January, we met a 70-year old woman who was a dive bum. She was going from one liveaboard trip to another, one right after the other.

That's what you should do.

 

[Lorenzoid]

During a liveaboard in Palau in January, we met a 70-year old woman who was a dive bum. She was going from one liveaboard trip to another, one right after the other.

That's what you should do.

She must be one wealthy "bum."

 

[GF99/99]

I'm in my mid 40s, just rented my house out and planning to take some time off and go be a dive bum somewhere.

I'm interested to keeping things affordable, say 2-3k a month total living expenses (that doesn't include plane tickets or diving costs).

Accomodations don't have to be luxurious, basic is fine. My goal is to spend time on fitness, do some learning, work on some tech projects related to all the new generative AI developments, and generally take a nice sabbatical.
Don't care about nightlife, medium safety is good but I'm not overly frightful. having some shore diving opportunity would be a plus to manage costs a bit. I'm assuming i would probably need to rotate between a few locations to manage visa issues, not sure if just doing that and staying in monthly furnished rentals is the best idea, or if there are other approaches?

Till now all my diving has been in the US and the carribean, mainly to accomodate my work schedule and timezones. Im very interested in the better diving in Asia but not sure if really the best way to access it is liveaboards, or if there's a good fit for the above idea? Or, should I just go hang out in mexico? Any advice welcome.

I did this in Indonesia for about 1.5yr during the peak of corona (was much better than being in locked down) and it was amazing! Looking at doing it again next year, maybe Tulum...

Think I put about 300hr on my unit during this time.

My cost brake downs were:
Rent: $400/month basic fully furnished western style condo/villa
Laundry: $10/month
Elec: $100/month
Water: included in rent
Internet: included in rent
Phone: $5/month
Scooter: (when i needed one): $100/month
Fuel: $10-15/month
Food (about 90% eating out combo of local or western): $200/month

Diving consumables:
Scrubber: $260 / 20kg tub
Helium: $400 / G
O2: $20 / G
Air: $2-3 / S80

Misc:
Random local holiday/traveling to other parts of Indonesia $100-150 for a flight to another island every 2-3 months.
Holiday hotel: $15-$20/night
Scooter, fuel, food same as above cost

I think this is way under your budget and I was living fairly comfortably. If your really on a budget you could go even cheaper, or if you have the extra money you could go more lavish.

 

[Divedoggie]

My requirements would include:
Great diving with healthy an abundant reefs and wrecks
Availability of good medical facility, just incase
Availability of good food and interesting social life
Accommodations and cost of living within budget
Great availability of alternative activities in addition to diving

As previous posters have suggested, Palau would fit that bill, but you need to establish a relationship with a local operator. The dive sites are varied and many are far from Koror, where you would most likely be living.

Bali is also a great suggestion. I prefer the northwest of the Island near Menjangan, with dryer weather and interesting diving.

Other locations in Indonesia like PNG or Sulawesi, would be amazing, but they are extremely isolated and could present some difficulties.

In the end, I'd probably choose Fiji. Many choices to make home base. Checks all the boxes. Plus, it is also relatively easy to get to New Zealand, Australia, or back to the US from there.

 

[PR_SMITH]

Cyprus has year round diving, lots to see, English widely spoken and it's only a 30 min plane ride to the Red Sea in Egypt.

 

[bassplayer]

During a liveaboard in Palau in January, we met a 70-year old woman who was a dive bum. She was going from one liveaboard trip to another, one right after the other.

That's what you should do.

Ha, how many liveaboard trips in a row do you think you could do? bonus, same but without sitting out days?

I did this in Indonesia for about 1.5yr during the peak of corona (was much better than being in locked down) and it was amazing! Looking at doing it again next year, maybe Tulum...

Think I put about 300hr on my unit during this time.

My cost brake downs were:
Rent: $400/month basic fully furnished western style condo/villa
Laundry: $10/month
Elec: $100/month
Water: included in rent
Internet: included in rent
Phone: $5/month
Scooter: (when i needed one): $100/month
Fuel: $10-15/month
Food (about 90% eating out combo of local or western): $200/month

Diving consumables:
Scrubber: $260 / 20kg tub
Helium: $400 / G
O2: $20 / G
Air: $2-3 / S80

Misc:
Random local holiday/traveling to other parts of Indonesia $100-150 for a flight to another island every 2-3 months.
Holiday hotel: $15-$20/night
Scooter, fuel, food same as above cost

I think this is way under your budget and I was living fairly comfortably. If your really on a budget you could go even cheaper, or if you have the extra money you could go more lavish.

this is a very helpful post, thank you. can I ask, where did you live exactly in Indonesia? And knowing what you know now, would you have told your past self to do the same or suggested a different location?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I would drift around the world based upon weather/peak diving seasons. I'd focus more on inexpensive places, as one can burn through money quickly. I wouldn't recommend going so far as being a dirt bag climber (my friend's words for describing himself) eating leftovers on people's plates at restaurants (I found that a little nauseating when I met up with him in Greece).

 

[bassplayer]

Update on all this:
I spent the last couple of months visiting cozumel -> playa -> san pedro -> roatan, while doing a consulting project for client in USA timezones. that should be done soon though. didn't spend any of the trip budget yet because of onsulting income so that's good.

I bought a discount spot on the Palau aggressor for July 16, plan is to start heading west at the beginning of July to acclimate (maybe head to Palau, maybe Manila or something, will see), make it to Palau in time for the liveaboard trip, then head to indonesia after.

thanks for all the input!