Where to go?

[grazie42]

Hello all,
I thought I should get some local (and maybe non-local) advice on where to go for a diving holiday...

Me and my buddy are planning on two weeks worth of diving during the month of October. We´re mostly into wrecks but pretty fishes are ok too As we are tmx and techwreck qualified we´d like to do at least a few techdives (maybe just air/nitrox depths) if it can be done without it costing an arm and a leg.

We´ve been thinking about Thailand and Phillipines (because it´s easy to get there from here) but would love to get specific advice on where to go...

Looking forward to your replies...

 

[mjh]

Not much Tech/Wreck diving in Thailand. You can check with these guys, we found them very helpful when booking our live-aboard.

http://www.siamdivers.com

 

[El Orans]

Why not post this question in the PPD forum?

 

[grazie42]

Because I wanted the thread to stay on topic for more than 5 seconds?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Check out Atlantis Resort in Puerto Galera. John Bennett established a school there and actually set his world record, 1000' I believe, in a dive just out in front of the resort. There are a lot of Tech divers there. Terrific resort, I'll be going back for the third time this year in September. Matt Reed is the resort manager and he pokes his head in here at least once a week.
I find the Philippines far cheaper than a lot of other counties.

http://www.atlantishotel.com/puertogalera/resort/index.htm

The tech diving there...

http://www.atlantishotel.com/puertogalera/diving/divetech.htm

 

[Quero]

Hello all,
I thought I should get some local (and maybe non-local) advice on where to go for a diving holiday...

Me and my buddy are planning on two weeks worth of diving during the month of October. We´re mostly into wrecks but pretty fishes are ok too As we are tmx and techwreck qualified we´d like to do at least a few techdives (maybe just air/nitrox depths) if it can be done without it costing an arm and a leg.

We´ve been thinking about Thailand and Phillipines (because it´s easy to get there from here) but would love to get specific advice on where to go...

Looking forward to your replies...

There are a couple of very important wrecks off the east coast of Malaysia that are best dived as tech dives: The HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales in the South China Sea--October is supposed to be a good time to dive them. You might contact Rec 'n Tec in Kuala Lumpur for their upcoming trips.

 

[chip104]

Because I wanted the thread to stay on topic for more than 5 seconds?

LOL!

Grazie, you can also go to Coron, PI. Wrecks are in the air/nitrox depths and there's also reefs, barracuda lake, and Gunther's cathedral that you'd probably enjoy. Trust me, you will not be disappointed (lots of fish and corals included on the wrecks!). If I recall correctly, there's about 8 wrecks to dive - all Japanese WWII wrecks. The scenery is probably the most beautiful I've ever encountered in the PI.

Go with Discovery Divers. For a weekend I spent US$200 for: transpotation to/fro Manila - Coron, accomodations and meals, nitrox tanks, weights, DM, boat, and 8 dives.

I'll try pull up previous threads about Coron for ya.


ninja edit - there's also Subic bay, which has some great wreck diving. But the dives are more technical. The man to ask about Subic is Versatile34 who was a DM there.

fake ninja edit -

here's some other threads about Coron:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=145463

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=141113

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=132692

Here's the most indepth report of Coron. It was a report when a bunch of us SBers went.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126664

BUT in true PPD fashion, it has a lot of OT posts (a classic thread), so I took the liberty to link the more pertinent posts for you. Read the first page since that's where I posted the first part of the trip report.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1512285&postcount=51
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1512884&postcount=130
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1512888&postcount=133
I answer some questions:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126664&page=15
Second part of trip report:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126664&page=19
read on for a couple of pages since Spoon finally chimes in and we answer some questions. Spoons posts are on topic, so just look for his.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1519360&postcount=276
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1530568&postcount=296

Shame that my gallery's down cause I had some awesome pics of the scenery. But I hope that helps, grazie!

(ps if you have a couple of days in the city, maybe you can arrange a night out with the PPD or if you're lucky, maybe go along on a daytrip to anilao if any of them will be diving)

 

[grazie42]

Wow!
Thank you all, specially chip104 for sorting thru that thread for me!
I´ll take a look at these...

Diverdennnis, I couldn´t find any prices on the website (it says to contact them), could you give me an idea about how much you should expect to pay?

More suggestions are always welcome...

 

[Diver Dennis]

Contact Matt Reed at matt@atlantishotel.com with the details and he will get back to you within 24 hours. They can arrange transport from the airport right to the resort by private van and boat for a very reasonable price. It makes for a worry free vacation.

I'll be there from September 13th to October 5th.

 

[Quero]

There *is* some wreck diving in Thailand, but it's mainly in the Gulf side. One established operator is http://www.techthailand.com/
On the Phuket side, one good shop is www.oceanzonedivers.com/