Where would you live?

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diveUAE

Contributor
Messages
350
Reaction score
258
Location
Abu Dhabi
# of dives
500 - 999
Hi all

Not sure I picked the right place to post this, so if not: mods, feel free to move it.

Question is: where in the world would you choose to live? And why?

Needs to: be safe and close to (international) airport. Have good school for our 9-year-old and good health care, stable internet connection and (of course) access to nice diving (within 1-3 h drive).

Alternatively: where would you stay for 6-7 weeks June-August with great diving and good internet?

Background: husband might have a new job opportunity, that leaves us with a choice of where to live. We might choose Denmark (we’re Danish, have lived in UAE for 10 years), but since the world is open, I’m toying with the idea of settling somewhere else (with better diving)
My husband would be traveling (a lot) to SE Asia, US, South America and Australia.
 
Hi all

Not sure I picked the right place to post this, so if not: mods, feel free to move it.

Question is: where in the world would you choose to live? And why?

Needs to: be safe and close to (international) airport. Have good school for our 9-year-old and good health care, stable internet connection and (of course) access to nice diving (within 1-3 h drive).

Alternatively: where would you stay for 6-7 weeks June-August with great diving and good internet?

Background: husband might have a new job opportunity, that leaves us with a choice of where to live. We might choose Denmark (we’re Danish, have lived in UAE for 10 years), but since the world is open, I’m toying with the idea of settling somewhere else (with better diving)
My husband would be traveling (a lot) to SE Asia, US, South America and Australia.

I was going to say the West Coast of Canada but with all of the travel, perhaps Singapore instead.
 
I was going to say the West Coast of Canada but with all of the travel, perhaps Singapore instead.

I assume West Coast of Canada would be cold diving as well? (Might be better than Denmark though;-)) How is the diving? Viz? What can you see?
I was also thinking Singapore, but you’ll mostly need a flight to get to good dive sites?
Loved Singapore, when we visited this summer.
 
I assume West Coast of Canada would be cold diving as well? (Might be better than Denmark though;-)) How is the diving? Viz? What can you see?
I was also thinking Singapore, but you’ll mostly need a flight to get to good dive sites?
Loved Singapore, when we visited this summer.

Yes and yes

But do check out mr. Google with regard to west coast diving because I didn't make it out there before becoming a strictly warm water diving. My understanding is that it's spectacular diving.
 
I was also thinking Singapore, but you’ll mostly need a flight to get to good dive sites?
Loved Singapore, when we visited this summer.
Yes. The local diving is poor. But a short, cheap flight will get you to great diving. And flying out of Changi is a treat. Visit the butterfly garden

It's tough to find big cities with really good warm water diving nearby. Cebu, Miami, Oahu, Havana, Bali would all work. I have no idea on the Med or Mid East.
 
If you can afford it - Maui.

There's about a dozen or more shore dives within a 5-30 ninute drrive and there's a lot to see including sharks, mantas, millions of smaller fish. fields of coral and there's 3 other islands you can dive on a day boat. The water is generally warm - summer/fall I dive in a t-shirt.

The main Internet trunk line (OC3) goes thru the Maui Supercomputing Center and is maintained by the US Govt. since they do massive data analysis there,

It's always balmy so heating/airco costs are low - sometimes even in summer we open the windows and run the fans instead. I'm sure tjere's heat but we've never used it.

There's the Maui Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente has a facility there - plus several smaller clinics. I Don't believe there's a operational Chamber on Maui but there is on Kona or Oahu and the medevac flights can stay low since both are less than an hour flight.

Big Downside - Everything is Expensive as it mostly comes from elsewhere. They do have about 4-5 malls but most have a tourist focus. Both Walnart and Home Depot are there.

You would have to fly (30 mins) to Honolulu International first except for direct flights to the US West Coast (LAX, SFO, SEA) and I believe there are direct flights to Tokyo also - there's a strong Asian community there.

You could also get the same or better on Oahu but it's too touristy for me - there are so many huge tower hotels in Waikiki Beach they block the Sun. Also a strong military presence near Pearl Harbor. It just seemed like there were tour buses everywhere all day long. Honolulu is a much bigger city so there's more of everything available.

I may retire on Maui...
 
Personally I'd either go to Malta (where I'm doing my DM) or stick with Southeast Asia. Kota Kinabalu is a great non mainstream option. Brunei too. Both have local diving, Brunei great, KK not so much, but KK has amazing diving an hour away in Kota Belud, or you can go for another hour or two north.

Otherwise, most people would stick with Singapore, Bali, BKK, or KL. Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Da Nang are less ideal but have tons of other things to offer. Manila is not livable, I wouldn't move there.
 
If you can afford it - Maui.

There's about a dozen or more shore dives within a 5-30 ninute drrive and there's a lot to see including sharks, mantas, millions of smaller fish. fields of coral and there's 3 other islands you can dive on a day boat. The water is generally warm - summer/fall I dive in a t-shirt.

The main Internet trunk line (OC3) goes thru the Maui Supercomputing Center and is maintained by the US Govt. since they do massive data analysis there,

It's always balmy so heating/airco costs are low - sometimes even in summer we open the windows and run the fans instead. I'm sure tjere's heat but we've never used it.

There's the Maui Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente has a facility there - plus several smaller clinics. I Don't believe there's a operational Chamber on Maui but there is on Kona or Oahu and the medevac flights can stay low since both are less than an hour flight.

Big Downside - Everything is Expensive as it mostly comes from elsewhere. They do have about 4-5 malls but most have a tourist focus. Both Walnart and Home Depot are there.

You would have to fly (30 mins) to Honolulu International first except for direct flights to the US West Coast (LAX, SFO, SEA) and I believe there are direct flights to Tokyo also - there's a strong Asian community there.

You could also get the same or better on Oahu but it's too touristy for me - there are so many huge tower hotels in Waikiki Beach they block the Sun. Also a strong military presence near Pearl Harbor. It just seemed like there were tour buses everywhere all day long. Honolulu is a much bigger city so there's more of everything available.

I may retire on Maui...

Had not thought about Maui, good one:) Is it more expensive than eg Singapore? UAE is pretty expensive as well ...
 
Personally I'd either go to Malta (where I'm doing my DM) or stick with Southeast Asia. Kota Kinabalu is a great non mainstream option. Brunei too. Both have local diving, Brunei great, KK not so much, but KK has amazing diving an hour away in Kota Belud, or you can go for another hour or two north.

Otherwise, most people would stick with Singapore, Bali, BKK, or KL. Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Da Nang are less ideal but have tons of other things to offer. Manila is not livable, I wouldn't move there.

Malta is ok, Don’t think I could live there.

Did not think about KK or KL, that could work as well as BKK. Bali is high on my list.

Manila was on my list as well - or just outside Manila, why would you not consider that liveable?
 
Malta is ok, Don’t think I could live there.

Did not think about KK or KL, that could work as well as BKK. Bali is high on my list.

Manila was on my list as well - or just outside Manila, why would you not consider that liveable?
Manila and cebu have awful traffics. My gf works in Quezon. Her colleagues walk 5km to work because it would be faster than driving. One has to live 80km away from the office because she cant afford nearby housing. She would wake up at 4am, pass 80km of traffics, to get to work at 10am, only then to leave at 3pm for the trek home.

Idk if Bali and KK have good international schools. SIN, KL, BKK, SGN, DAD definitely do. I'm stupidly in love with KK and KL (best public transports in SEA. most livable city in SEA IMO, besides SGN).

I think Maui is a lot more expensive than SIN. It's possible to live modestly in SIN, not in Maui.
 
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