Where to go in September/October?

[Bubble Dragon]

Hello!

Since it seems like I will be in between jobs in September/October of this year, I'm wondering where to go.
I'm looking for a cool country to go to for 4-6 weeks, with diving as a main interest. Ofcourse this will not be the only thing I'll be doing, so there has to be something else to see or do.
But it seems that in some place this is hurricane or monsoon seazon?
Since my last trip was to South-America, this time I'd be interested in Central-America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras?) or South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia?)
Or are there better regions to check out that time of year?
All advice, tips or stories are most welcome!

 

[robint]

Hello!

Since it seems like I will be in between jobs in September/October of this year, I'm wondering where to go.
I'm looking for a cool country to go to for 4-6 weeks, with diving as a main interest. Ofcourse this will not be the only thing I'll be doing, so there has to be something else to see or do.
But it seems that in some place this is hurricane or monsoon seazon?
Since my last trip was to South-America, this time I'd be interested in Central-America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras?) or South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia?)
Or are there better regions to check out that time of year?
All advice, tips or stories are most welcome!

That is the heart of hurricane season for anywhere in Caribbean including Central America, so that would mean possibility of lots of rain and/or no diving due to bad weather. Bonaire is about the only place I say you have the best bet of good weather for October. Not a whole lot to do on the island but dive though - a month might get old if you want topside activities other than wind surfing.
I would go to Indonesia..... that is a great time to be there, from what I have been told by friends.
Another place you might want to consider is Hawaii. Lots of topside activities, like visiting the Volcano national park (amazing!!) and waterfalls and jungle treks, caves and lava tube exploring.... It isn't a cheap place to visit, but if you are going for a month I am sure you can rent a place cheaper and cook all your own meals. It is relatively cheap to "island hop" there too.. visit several of the islands, dive at each.

 

[cappyjon431]

Consider diving in Bocas del Toro, Panama. While most of the Caribbean is subject to hurricanes, Panama is out of the hurricane belt. September and October are actually the two best months of the year to dive, as the sea conditions on our outside reefs are lake-like and viz averages about 80 feet. Our inside reefs offer good diving, are always calm, and have little, if any, current, but viz averages about 40 feet. Our outside reefs are ONLY accessible in Sept. and oct. and offer world class diving.

Plenty of cool non-diving stuff to do as well. We have beautiful beaches, lush rainforests, multi-cultures, excellent restaurants, and a hopping night-life scene. Accomodations run from $10/night hostels to $500/ night resorts. Check out BOCAS DEL TORO - Ecotourism in this Panama Caribbean region for more info on the area.

If you have 4-6 weeks, consider visiting more of Central America. There is a group of nine diveshops throughout Central America which provide great discounts to divers travelling throughout the region. All you need is a logbook stamp from any one of the dive operators and all the other operators will offer you a discount on your diving. If you are on Facebook, do a search for: TrekCATS to find the list of diveshop locations offering the discounts. There are shops in Belize, Utila, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia. They are working on a web site, but right now they only have the group advertised on Facebook.

 

[openhelix]

I'd say around SF california. LOTS of great diving around monterey and plenty of non diving activity from great beer, to wine country to SF itself.

 

[Scared Silly]

Panama has been on my list of places to check out. Lots to do besides diving. We have explored Costa Rica, a bit of southern Belize, and a touch of Honduras. By far Costa Rica has the greatest variety. With 4-6 weeks you could jump around.

I would not let the Caribbean Hurricane season force your decision. Just have alternatives in mind if traveling in the area. For instance, for Costa Rica the diving is on the Pacific side so it is less impacted.

I know in some places in Asia like Palau which we just returned from, due to the winds the season is typically from Nov - June. So check that as well.

 

[Oceanic Dreams]

Hello,

I suggest you to try Maldives. Diving in Maldives is one of the biggest dream of divers . With so many dive sites around and varaiety of big and small fishes you will have an awesome expeirence under the coral gardens. There are several world class dive sites and now there is more word spreading around just for the great manta ray sighting and whale shark .

Sep /OCt is a good time of year for the Mantas and whale shark even though you can expect choppy sea and a bit of rain. however its worth it. please check this video to see what you may encounter in a Maldives dive tour . Mantarays of Maldives

 

[samlee]

I suggest you to select place from Carribean, there are so many nice places in Carribean like Jamaica, Aruba, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. you can select any thing from this because all places are very beautiful.

you will enjoy you holiday here

 

[henno777]

There is only one place to go - South Africa. Great diving, See all the sharks, Mozambique close, Kruger Natonal Park, Lion, leopard, buffelo, elephant Rhino, Cape town, Table mountain, The Garden route - this country will blow your mind!!!! I promise.

 

[Bubble Dragon]

Central America sounds great, also because I'm pretty fluent in Spanish or used to be ;-)
Panama would be good place to start from & the maybe head over to Costa Rica. If it's good enough for Cousteau, it's good enough for me. Plus there's supposed to be plenty of things to see & do outside of the water aswell, right? Thnx all of you for the great info!
Now let's just hope I can go ahead with this plan...