Where to go? Need advice.

[tendi]

The trip planning has begun. I'm currently in the totally confused stage. We would like to go somewhere DIFFERENT. We have 100+ dives - all in the Caribbean (Coz, Bonaire, Roatan, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, etc...). The plan is to take 2 weeks Nov 18-Dec 2. We'd like to do a significant amount of diving - maybe a week (3-5 dives per day) and then have a few days for other site seeing/activites. So far we have looked at Indonesia, Thailand, Fiji, Phillipines etc... As for diving, we'd like to see lots of fish and a healthy reef. We'd love to see sharks, mantas and other big things as well as smaller interesting things we don't see often in the Caribbean. I'm not sure about manta, mola mola or other seasons but if there's anything spectacular to see Nov/Dec, I'd like to know about it. I'm also concerned about weather. I don't want to fly halfway around the world to spend my week in a monsoon so if SE Asia is out, I'm open to other suggestions. Looking for moderate budget. I would rather pay for something than miss out but we don't need a bellboy or turndown service...or even a TV.

 

[Centrals]

Fly into Cebu(Philippines).
Alona Beach(Bohol), Malapascua and Southern Leyte.

 

[aeastorga]

Get to Apo Reef from Coron in the Philippines. They have 2-3 night livaboards.

 

[Quero]

SE Asia is great in Nov/December.
The entire Andaman Sea area of the Indian Ocean is in season.
• You can dive in Indonesia at Pulau Weh, for example, at the northern tip of Sumatra. Though there's not any sightseeing there, you could go to Yogyakarta before or after diving.
• You can go to Koh Lipe at the Thai-Malaysian border. Again, not a lot of sightseeing right there, but it's a ferry stop away from Malaysia's Langkawi Island, which is very nice, and another ferry to Penang on Malaysia's mainland.
• You can go to Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, or Phuket for local diving at those islands. Good quality diving, but not the best in Thailand. Culturally, Thailand is unbeatable.
• You can get on a liveaboard in Thailand to the Similans and Richelieu areas. This is world-class diving. And again, there's the culture and the food!

• You can go to the Philippines as mentioned above.

• You can really get off the beaten track and go to Indonesia's Gorontalo area and Togian Islands, which are in season then.
• You can go to Indonesia's Lembeh Straits, which are diveable year round, though December isn't the best time.
• You can get on a liveaboard to Raja Ampat or stay at a land based resort. It's high season at year end there.
• If it's November and not December, you can catch the tail end of the season at East Timor. This one is still on my own personal bucket list.

I realize that this doesn't cut down on your options, which is probably what your post was intended to do, but your question is quite broad.

 

[Centrals]

Get to Apo Reef from Coron in the Philippines. They have 2-3 night livaboards.

Very interesting!
Could you please specify which operator in Coron run 2-3 night liveaboard to Apo Reef?

 

[Bubble Junky]

I'd second Pulau Weh - fantastic amount of fish ! There is also an awesome house reef at Lumba Lumba... To get there it's a short flight into Banda Aceh with Air Asia from KL, or from Penang with Fire Fly...

 

[Kevster]

I would NOT recommend Palau Weh. Seriously there are better options available. I would be dissapointed if i were to fly half way round the world to dive Palau Weh. (PW "may" be a good choice if you are a back packer on a limited budget and want to spend a month or so chilling out doing some diving)

For someone who has never visited/dived in Asia, i would recommend;

1. Bali- Bali is a class destination for diving/topside attractions/ease of travel/value/quality of accom.
2. Malapascua (Philippines)- Remote bit of paradise with excellent all round diving(wrecks, sharks,mantas, critters,reef)
3. Several other locations in Indonesia (Bangka, Alor, Ambon,Raja) Just depends how much travelling you are prepared to do once you arrive in Indo.

Fiji (obviously not in Asia but its on your list)- Excellent reef diving, lots of fish, lots of sharks(amazing shark dive at pacific harbour).

I would also suggest the Solomons(Again Non-Asian) but an amazing dive location (check out Munda, Uepi). More expensive compared to Asia but amazing diving & topside experience.

Lots of info/ trip reports available in these forums. You should be ok to travel in most of these places mid to late Nov.

Are you travelling alone, what is your budget,live-aboard or land based, do you want shops,cafes,nightlife,good food. Are you happy to travel to/from dive sites each day. Do you want to stay on a white sandy beach? Are you prepared to catch domestic flights and overnight before you reach you destination? Just some points that you should consider as some of these recommendations may not be suitable. There are a LOT of great options available.

My favourite dive location in Asia is Komodo, diving by live-aboard (would not recommend land based diving here)

 

[Bubble Junky]

Horses for courses... I personally enjoyed seeing mimic octopus, rhinopia, frogfish, ghost pipefish, waspfish, eagle rays, napoleans, sharks, huge schools of barracuda and jacks etc at Pulau Weh...

I'd agree with Bali too tho', a good mix of attractions...

Malapascua dissapointed a little for me overall. Aside from the threshers the diving is average. The macro is OK at best - good variety but sparse and there are no schools of fish...

 

[pughio83]

Maybe consider Palau for a week then onto southern Leyte or malapascua. Palau can give you mantas,eagle rays, sharks plus topside stuff including jellyfish lake, rock island tours etc...southern Leyte sogod bay whalesharks usually starts in November, so good chance to see them plus the diving is great (excellent macro, some muck dives and top coral walls and reefs). Then only have to get through Manila, but in 2 weeks it maybe a stretch if u factor you need multiple flights!
I did palau and lembeh in nov/dec and it was fab, critters galore in lembeh and weather was generally excellent in both places.

 

[Bexny]

Palau or Raja Ampat liveaboard.