44 replies to this topic

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

I'd be willing to go back to Anilao in 2013, but for more than 1 week and if the price is right. Loved diving there!

[WreckWench]

Kamala,
I did the Rocio del Mar LA in the northern Sea of Cortex last summer. Decent diving and good variety of fish, critters plus whale sharks. Fly to PHX, relatively cheap. Then shuttle to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Shuttle is $100 RT. The LA is about $2200, but that can be negotiated for a group.
Now the boat has some problems, the biggest is limited compressor capacity. If they fix that, and they said that they were gong to do so, it might be worth considering.
If you're interested, I'll give you a full dump in Bonaire.
Harry

I have considered them so certainly give me the scoop. We have a group interested in booking them so that intel would be invaluable.

[WreckWench]

I'd be willing to go back to Anilao in 2013, but for more than 1 week and if the price is right. Loved diving there!

Resort preference? Time of year that coincides with good weather and your schedule? (Yes being one of our awesome TC's has privileges!)

[WreckWench]

the biggest issue for me in doing anything in the Caribbean is that airfare is so expensive. Add that to the fact that I have been diving in most of the Carib it does not make it as attractive. For my trip to Anilao last year the airfare for me going all the way to the Philippines was $300 cheaper than my airfare to T&C. Going to Indonesia is cheaper than going to Bonaire. That being said, I will look at any trips going in that direction. I would like to do Raj Ampat. I know that is considered a bucket list trip for most. But it can be done with out paying an arm and a leg. Anilao was great and inexpensive. I can not travel anytime between November 1st and January 31st and most of June. But if you get something going around the Coral Triangle I would be interested.

Jim

Jim I agree ...Indonesia is the bomb! Trust me you'll see more trips going there or to that part of the region..at least one a year. In March 2013 we are doing Lembeh and I'm heavily inclined to do Raj Ampat in 2014 or perhaps in conjunction with Truk. (Not sure the logistics will work for that yet.)

Do you have an operator you like for Raj Ampat? The former Raj Ampat Aggressor is now operating solo so I've been speaking to them. There are several other operations in Raj Ampat that sound promising. Any help with the legwork of who to use is greatly appreciated.

p.s. when you say Coral Triangle do you mean Indo?

[WreckWench]

Kamala,Is Roatan being considered for Nov.?

The following are destinations we typically repeat annually:

1. Bonaire scheduled for April to take advantage of lower season pricing
2. Roatan for fall
3. Cozy either for Halloween or another time
4. Cayman Brac would like us to repeat our Single's Week (we are doing the first one this Aug)
5. Dominica has been over Memorial Day but they would like us to repeat
6. Cooper River
7. Atocha Dive Adventures on Mel Fisher's Nuestra Atocha looking for treasure

We did Roatan at HMResort in Nov 2011. We are scheduled for Oct 2012 at Media Luna (twice as nice for $100 more). These trips were pkg driven meaning all inclusive 3 boat dives a day for $899 +tax and $999+tax. This year we upgraded hotels to Media Luna so pricing is $999+tax d/o and $1099+tax s/o.

So will we do it again in 2013? Don't know. I'm supposed to do a 3 yr contract but I was only required to do 2 for the Single's Week Exclusive.

So it will depend on how many people want this trip for 2013 and WHEN?

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

I'd be willing to go back to Anilao in 2013, but for more than 1 week and if the price is right. Loved diving there!

Resort preference? Time of year that coincides with good weather and your schedule? (Yes being one of our awesome TC's has privileges!)

May last year was beautiful, and as long as a trip does not include the first day or two of the month I can consider it. Water temps were consistently 82 or so, air temps were warm & humid. Some rain on some nights, but not monsoon season. We stayed at Crystal Blue Resort, but I'm sure there are others. Only 4 divers per outrigger-style boat. VERY camera friendly, with an entire large room devoted to cameras, computers, photo editing, etc. Uber-helpful dive guides and boat crews, and you can dive your computer limits - they will patiently wait on the boat until you decide to come back. The resort staff also aimed to please. One server got to the point where she would come to my table at breakfast and lunch and get my big water bottle to fill it for me!

[WreckWench]

Cooper river?

Ah the cooper river...now that I live in SC it is a drive for me vs a flight. We only take 6 people + crew so its very private and our favorite operator is our very own OTWDiver.

Season is April to Sept but is 1000% dependent on the currents which are dependent on the tides. Therefore approx 2 weekends per month will line up with good tides and only 1 weekend will be great tides. Usually the great tides coincide with weekdays and not weekends. Since OTWDiver does not have to run every weekend he cherry picks the good ones. And since he is such a strong supporter of SD we get first dibs on all the cherry picked weekends. The only drawback is we don't know tides until at best 9 mos out.

So when planning the Cooper we sort of estimate the month we want to put the trip into and then pick the final dates when we know the tides.

But to answer your question...as long as we fill the trip this year...we can safely run it next year as it is only 3-4 diving days.

[ev780]

Fiji
Gallapagos--Although I hate cold water.
Papua New Guinea
Raj Ampat


On second though Who cares. Lets just go!!!

[Parrotman]

the biggest issue for me in doing anything in the Caribbean is that airfare is so expensive. Add that to the fact that I have been diving in most of the Carib it does not make it as attractive. For my trip to Anilao last year the airfare for me going all the way to the Philippines was $300 cheaper than my airfare to T&C. Going to Indonesia is cheaper than going to Bonaire. That being said, I will look at any trips going in that direction. I would like to do Raj Ampat. I know that is considered a bucket list trip for most. But it can be done with out paying an arm and a leg. Anilao was great and inexpensive. I can not travel anytime between November 1st and January 31st and most of June. But if you get something going around the Coral Triangle I would be interested.

Jim

Jim I agree ...Indonesia is the bomb! Trust me you'll see more trips going there or to that part of the region..at least one a year. In March 2013 we are doing Lembeh and I'm heavily inclined to do Raj Ampat in 2014 or perhaps in conjunction with Truk. (Not sure the logistics will work for that yet.)

Do you have an operator you like for Raj Ampat? The former Raj Ampat Aggressor is now operating solo so I've been speaking to them. There are several other operations in Raj Ampat that sound promising. Any help with the legwork of who to use is greatly appreciated.

p.s. when you say Coral Triangle do you mean Indo?

by coral triangle I am referring to the area of Indo, Philippines, PNG and the area in the middle of that. Raj Ampat, Komodo etc.

I have been looking at

http://www.diveadven...cia.php#mprices

as a possible Raj Ampat liveaboard. PNG was amazing but a bit of a challenge to get to. I have heard lots of good things about Komodo but I also hear that it is colder water and the currents can be a challenge. So my fist choice would be Raj Ampat, second Anilao . For any of these places I would rather go with something not so plush and have more money to stay longer rather than go to some place like Wakatobi where your in a first class hotel but I could only affort to go for a week.

Jim

[WreckWench]

I'd be willing to go back to Anilao in 2013, but for more than 1 week and if the price is right. Loved diving there!

Resort preference? Time of year that coincides with good weather and your schedule? (Yes being one of our awesome TC's has privileges!)

May last year was beautiful, and as long as a trip does not include the first day or two of the month I can consider it. Water temps were consistently 82 or so, air temps were warm & humid. Some rain on some nights, but not monsoon season. We stayed at Crystal Blue Resort, but I'm sure there are others. Only 4 divers per outrigger-style boat. VERY camera friendly, with an entire large room devoted to cameras, computers, photo editing, etc. Uber-helpful dive guides and boat crews, and you can dive your computer limits - they will patiently wait on the boat until you decide to come back. The resort staff also aimed to please. One server got to the point where she would come to my table at breakfast and lunch and get my big water bottle to fill it for me!

So May onward is certainly warm enough...now does anyone recall when rainy season/monsoon season is? I think that is Oct or possibly even late May. So with your work schedule the best timing would be May to Sept not covering the 1-2nd or 3rd of any month right?

[WreckWench]

by coral triangle I am referring to the area of Indo, Philippines, PNG and the area in the middle of that. Raj Ampat, Komodo etc.

I have been looking at

http://www.diveadven...cia.php#mprices

as a possible Raj Ampat liveaboard. PNG was amazing but a bit of a challenge to get to. I have heard lots of good things about Komodo but I also hear that it is colder water and the currents can be a challenge. So my fist choice would be Raj Ampat, second Anilao . For any of these places I would rather go with something not so plush and have more money to stay longer rather than go to some place like Wakatobi where your in a first class hotel but I could only affort to go for a week.

Jim

Yes I talked to these people as well...just pulling out literature on them. Has anyone heard anything good or bad?

And ay weather issues to steer clear of? For the times of year you can travel...when is the best weather and conditions wise in Raj Ampat?

[WreckWench]

Fiji
Gallapagos--Although I hate cold water.
Papua New Guinea
Raj Ampat


On second though Who cares. Lets just go!!!

Galapagos was AMAZING!!! I need to go back. We went in Oct and had 77-78 in Darwin and Wolf. It was colder in some of the other islands but not the two major ones! We saw whalesharks and hammerheads, rays, EVERYTHING!!!!

We used EV and I would certainly use them again.

Pricing for a week AI Liveabaord is currently:

$3,995 per person (2012 off-peak season Jan. 15-May 15)
$4,295 per person (2012/2013 peak season May 16-Jan 14)

The crossing was long and was similar to T&C to Mayaguana for those who did that crossing last year.

[ev780]

Fiji
Gallapagos--Although I hate cold water.
Papua New Guinea
Raj Ampat


On second though Who cares. Lets just go!!!

Galapagos was AMAZING!!! I need to go back. We went in Oct and had 77-78 in Darwin and Wolf. It was colder in some of the other islands but not the two major ones! We saw whalesharks and hammerheads, rays, EVERYTHING!!!!

We used EV and I would certainly use them again.

Pricing for a week AI Liveabaord is currently:

$3,995 per person (2012 off-peak season Jan. 15-May 15)
$4,295 per person (2012/2013 peak season May 16-Jan 14)

The crossing was long and was similar to T&C to Mayaguana for those who did that crossing last year.

Oh that is not as bad as I thought. 3mil for me.
Sweet. Lets go!!!!!

[WreckWench]

Fiji
Gallapagos--Although I hate cold water.
Papua New Guinea
Raj Ampat


On second though Who cares. Lets just go!!!

Galapagos was AMAZING!!! I need to go back. We went in Oct and had 77-78 in Darwin and Wolf. It was colder in some of the other islands but not the two major ones! We saw whalesharks and hammerheads, rays, EVERYTHING!!!!

We used EV and I would certainly use them again.

Pricing for a week AI Liveabaord is currently:

$3,995 per person (2012 off-peak season Jan. 15-May 15)
$4,295 per person (2012/2013 peak season May 16-Jan 14)

The crossing was long and was similar to T&C to Mayaguana for those who did that crossing last year.

Oh that is not as bad as I thought. 3mil for me.
Sweet. Lets go!!!!!

One of the islands was 65. It was a tad warmer than usual so I would assume in the right time of year it will be 75+

[Diver Ed]

I have looked at that area in the past. I do recall seeing that a lot of boats move from one area to the next as the seasons change. In a real quick look, I saw the Raja Ampat schedule seems to be mid November to the end of February. I am guessing that the schedule is weather related.

Yes I talked to these people as well...just pulling out literature on them. Has anyone heard anything good or bad?
And ay weather issues to steer clear of? For the times of year you can travel...when is the best weather and conditions wise in Raj Ampat?