where to travel/dive

[crash684]

I am a novice diver (<30) and living in American Samoa (South Pacific). I need to travel to a place that has great diving w/other great things to do such as hiking, eat a lot of good food.... Was planning on traveling late this summer. I was looking into Australia as well as Belize - why? because a dive mag. said so.
so, any suggestions/help with my travel plans? I don't care for the cold. We don't need wet suits here in Samoa.

Put:

 

[Iguana Don]

That you look into traveling to "The Diving Mecca of the Freeworld"
Oklahoma..........yep that's correct I said Oklahoma.

The summers here are quite long and the water warms up to a balmy 90 deg f in late July and August.

Shoot you can even dive in your skivvies if you want and for those who are more bold, you can even dive in the buff.

There are some great lakes, ponds and mud holes that all share these excellent traits. And in August the pond scum is at it's ripest, a feature that is not to be missed.

Ain't no gators to fuss with. No great whites to ruin your day and the people are the friendliest.

Check it out!

ID.......The Social Reptile

 

[donacheson]

Originally posted by crash684
I am a novice diver (<30) and living in American Samoa (South Pacific). I need to travel to a place that has great diving w/other great things to do such as hiking, eat a lot of good food.... Was planning on traveling late this summer. I was looking into Australia as well as Belize - why? because a dive mag. said so.
so, any suggestions/help with my travel plans? I don't care for the cold. We don't need wet suits here in Samoa.

Put:

Frankly, I wouldn't trust a dive magazine unless their reviews are a mix of raves and rants. So much of what you want - great diving, good food, and other things to do - depend upon exactly where you go. If you're prepared to move around a bit to sample all three while foregoing one or two of the three at any moment, I'd say you have a much better chance of success.

IMHO, based on about 6-8 weeks each year for the past 12 years of tropical diving around the world, Australia is certainly a good bet to satisfy your 3 needs, Fiji could easily satisfy your requirements for great diving and good food and perhaps other things to do, Papaua New Guinea could satisfy great diving and other things to do and perhaps some good food. I don't know Belize at all, but from what I've read other things to do are a definite yes, good food possible, and some great diving a possibility.

Have you considered the Red Sea? Great diving and good food should be attainable on a liveaboard and good food and great other things are there for the taking in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt.

Good luck! You have a fun problem to ponder!

 

[MadReefer]

May I suggest an operator in the Lajas Sector of Puerto Rico. Parguera Divers. My wife and I had only our check out dives for our Open Water cert. (no experiance at all) We found them on the web and read several reviews. All were positive. We meet Angel and wife Roberta (owners) the morning after arriving. They were very nice. Their boat is a very new 31' island Hopper and is rigged for safety. Robin(DM) is awesome!
Our first blue water dives were unbelivable. Vis at or beyond 100 feet (wall diving at it's best)
Angel and Robin provide a level of comfort and safety that we have not seen since. This is truly a first class operation.
You want food...there is some of the best Puerto Rician food in the Parguera area. There are little stands along the road that sell all sorts of empanadas and roasted chocken (pollo), muy delicioso!

Go To Puerto for the best diving anywhere and dive with Parguera Diversa for a diving trip never to be forgotten

Jim

 

[Scuba Jim]

If you live in American Samoa, then you have some of the best diving in pretty much any direction you look -

PNG, Solomons, Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, Marshalls, Palau, Truk, Yap.

There is nowhere in the Caribbean that can remotely come close to offering the same diving, and why spend tons of cash getting there when you don't have far to travel in your own backyard.

Regards
Jim

 

[JPTM]

If you're considering Belize you should also consider Honduras. I was in Roatan and in Belize last July and dive is pretty similar but prices are double in Belize.

Red See is also great. Personally I consider it better than the Caribbean.

Have fun.