However, even having said that, Australia is the only place that anyone has raised a strong objection to (Hanzii) and I think we should respect that. Egypt just doesn’t appeal to me for some reason so I would really be pushing for Thailand.
How about dates? I would still be happy with late July/earlyAugust (as that will let me start saving) but am flexible.
To be honest, I am pretty easy, I know where and when I would like to go but I can fit in quite easily with the group.
That’s nice of you, but since me going at all will be unlikely anyway, that shouldn’t be the one reason to stop you all.
My list would be:
Egypt (easiest, cheapest and most likely to happen - also brimming with good sites)
Thailand/Asia (doable moneywise… and the wife just might let me)
I vote Australia, followed by Thailand (which for me, as it seems for everyone, means all Southeast Asia… poor little other countries, dominated by the Thai experience). The notion of diving in Egypt does not appeal to me: if I go to Egypt I want to spend all my time in the ruins. I don’t think I could overcome the history buff in me. Plus, not the safest place in the world.
It seems like Thailand/South-East Asia is coming out as a clear choice, if only because it is everyone’s second choice and we are not getting a consensus in first choices.
Also, Krazykrok - I think you should definitely bring your wife along, and anyone else who wants to bring a partner should do so too. As Tom said, this isn’t a QT3 DS and Xbox trip, it is a diving trip first and foremost, with the added bonus of getting to know people you may not meet otherwise.
Thailand is great in any case. I wonder if I can convince those who’ve never been to hang out a day or two in Bangkok. See the sights, eat the incredibly cheap (and very spicy) seafood.
The question though, is where exactly in Thailand. Or Phillipines as the case may be.
This sounds awesome, but the price of an overseas vacation might be an issue, mostly the airline ticket costs. Plus, asia kind of… scares me :). Give me the Caribbean and Mexico.
Umm, does anyone know how to go about looking into, umm, I dunno, packages, or whatever you use to go on a diving trip in Thailand?
I mean, I guess I could do a Google search and wade through travel sites, but I figure someone has an inside track on this, right? Or at least knows how to do it? Because my travel planning is pretty much limited to getting flights to Prague to stay with my buddy Casper. Anyway, I’m going to be out of pocket for the next couple days, but if we’re all equally helpless with this stuff, I can start poking around over the weekend.
You mean google isn’t the inside track?! I have a friend who has done quite a lot of diving, I’ll email him and ask if he’s ever dived Thailand. He’s travelling at the moment so he may not be easy to get hold of though.
I think what may be best is if we all do independent research and then just put our ideas together. I’ll have a chat with the fella in the local dive shop too, see if he knows anything.
On second thoughts, just to check, are we definitely decided on Thailand? Do we need to vote to make sure? Do I get to stake Nellie?
I think the Similan islands are supposed to be one of the top dive spots in the world. But, IIRC they are a bit far out for day trips? I think you need to do a liveaboard.
Btw, I have a scuba instructor friend in the Maldives now…
I’ve been thinking about liveaboards and I am coming around to the idea a bit. Unless they are prohibitively expensive or there are other factors I don’t really see why we shouldn’t seriously consider doing one.
But I am not up for the big trip since i already have plans set for going to Honduras this spring for a diving vacation so that will be the big dive vaction next year. But I was wondering if anyone knew of the closest/cheapest spot to seattle that I could just do a weekend dive trip to warm water.
I have done the sound, until i get dry suit certified, 40 degree water is not for me. If I could get a cheap flight, i would go back to Kona in a minute, but bar that, San Diego? I have no idea about diving on the west coast, or somewhere else cheap, a miami flight is only slightly more?
They’re great for focussing on what we’re they’re for - diving. You might get three dives a day that way (depending on depth and bottom time of course), because there’s less transportation between spots.
The only drawbacks I can think of is price and company (ie you might be living close to people you can’t stand). But it’s not really that much more expensive than a hotel and dive trips added if you don’t pick a luxury yacht for the liveaboard and we’ve got a group, so company should be no problem either.
All you have to do, is pick a good operator - it’s not as easy as switching hotels if the food suck or the operator is an amateur.
I love the Keys, personally, but part of their charm is how run down everything is. The reefs, sadly, aren’t getting any healthier, but the water is warm and if you miss hurricane season it’s some cheap winter diving.
