Special dive trip for 60th birthday?

[Scuba]

DH turns 60 next year, and I’ve started thinking about planning a special trip to celebrate. We’ve been to Palau and North Sulawesi, as well as Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, and most of the islands in the Caribbean.

What do you think would be a really special dive trip for a milestone celebration? Water needs to be warm and we prefer to have nice beaches to relax on when not diving. Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Odiedog]

Dive trip

I guess that rules out the Channel Islands and the islands around Vancouver......

From the list of places you've been to, the Galapagos seem to be conspicuously absent but it is cold water too. Certainly a bucket list item for a lot of divers.

We always like going back to Bonaire as a low stress, dive as much as you want location.

 

[USGrant1962]

The Red Sea comes to mind. It is warmish, but mostly live-aboards I think. Here's an example Red Sea operator that I dive shop I respect uses https://www.emperordivers.com/

 

[Trooper]

DH turns 60 next year, and I’ve started thinking about planning a special trip to celebrate. We’ve been to Palau and North Sulawesi, as well as Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, and most of the islands in the Caribbean.

What do you think would be a really special dive trip for a milestone celebration? Water needs to be warm and we prefer to have nice beaches to relax on when not diving. Thanks for any ideas!

Wow - you've been to some amazing dive sites! I'm a fellow diver that turns 60 tomorrow . Have you been to Turks and Caicos? I haven't been there, but hear the diving is great and so are the beaches. 2 caveats: I hear it's a little pricey, and to dive it well you should spend some time on a liveaboard.

Other bucket list dive location for me is the Red Sea. Not sure about the beaches, and it also requires a liveaboard which is not some divers' cup of tea.

Wakatobi? Dominica? I love Bonaire as well, but you most likely have been there. Would love to hear what you decide.

 

[latexman]

I enjoyed Sipadan Island when we lived in Singapore. Just next door in Malaysia.

 

[Scuba]

Wow - you've been to some amazing dive sites! I'm a fellow diver that turns 60 tomorrow . Have you been to Turks and Caicos? I haven't been there, but hear the diving is great and so are the beaches. 2 caveats: I hear it's a little pricey, and to dive it well you should spend some time on a liveaboard.



Other bucket list dive location for me is the Red Sea. Not sure about the beaches, and it also requires a liveaboard which is not some divers' cup of tea.



Wakatobi? Dominica? I love Bonaire as well, but you most likely have been there. Would love to hear what you decide.

I dove in Turks & Caicos back in the 90’s and loved the wall diving in West Caicos. DH & I spent about 10 days on Grand Turk. Diving was exceptional there, and you don’t need to be on a live aboard.

We’ve been to Bonaire. We really enjoyed it. Have been to Dominica but didn’t dive as we were on a cruise with MIL. It’s certainly a beautiful island. It got slammed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Red Sea is a good idea. Not sure if DH will want to go to the Middle East right now but worth considering for sure. Maldives might be a really special trip we could do.

I thought about Australia and the GBR but they’ve had 2 serious coral bleaching events back to back, so I’ve read the quality of the diving has been impacted quite badly. Probably better to wait a few years and hope it improves.

We haven’t done Wakatobi but it’s very close to where we went in Indonesia (Gangaa Island). The Philippines is a possibility - never been there.

I’ll post updates as we work through the options.

 

[Scuba]

I enjoyed Sipadan Island when we lived in Singapore. Just next door in Malaysia.

Thanks, Sipadan is a great idea. I remember looking at that when we chose Indonesia. It looked really nice. DH loves Singapore so we could do some diving and spend some time in Singapore also.

 

[Scuba]

I guess that rules out the Channel Islands and the islands around Vancouver......



From the list of places you've been to, the Galapagos seem to be conspicuously absent but it is cold water too. Certainly a bucket list item for a lot of divers.



We always like going back to Bonaire as a low stress, dive as much as you want location.

Yes, the water temp is why I left off Galapagos. I’m sure it would be really interesting to dive there, but we may never do it because of the temps. I agree, Bonaire is great.

 

[IMATERP]

I dove in Turks & Caicos back in the 90’s and loved the wall diving in West Caicos. DH & I spent about 10 days on Grand Turk. Diving was exceptional there, and you don’t need to be on a live aboard.

We’ve been to Bonaire. We really enjoyed it. Have been to Dominica but didn’t dive as we were on a cruise with MIL. It’s certainly a beautiful island. It got slammed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Red Sea is a good idea. Not sure if DH will want to go to the Middle East right now but worth considering for sure. Maldives might be a really special trip we could do.

I thought about Australia and the GBR but they’ve had 2 serious coral bleaching events back to back, so I’ve read the quality of the diving has been impacted quite badly. Probably better to wait a few years and hope it improves.

We haven’t done Wakatobi but it’s very close to where we went in Indonesia (Gangaa Island). The Philippines is a possibility - never been there.

I’ll post updates as we work through the options.

I concur with Bonaire. Spent some time there in 1993 AND will be heading back in January 2019 as a stop on our next cruise.

Take a look at Zanzibar. Spent some time there in the mid-90's. It was cool. Maybe see if you can couple this with a hike up Mt. Kiliminjaro OR a safari in the Serengetti during Wildebeast migration.

I

 

[candrew]

Phuket Thailand?

You mentioned the Maldives. A bit of political unrest there right now.

 

[donheff]

How about Cuba for pristine sites?

 

[latexman]

Thanks, Sipadan is a great idea. I remember looking at that when we chose Indonesia. It looked really nice. DH loves Singapore so we could do some diving and spend some time in Singapore also.

I've never seen so many Barracuda at one time in my life, than at Sipadan. And, the diversity of aquatic life was extremely wide. My recollections are 1994-ish, so do your research in case it has been spoiled. I have not heard of such a thing though.


In Singapore, I lived on River Valley Road. It runs parallel to Orchard Blvd, which is "the main drag" so to speak. We walked and hung out on Orchard Blvd frequently. It was a good life. Shopping, restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, etc.

 

[folivier]

My hands down favorite is Bonaire, rent a condo or villa and truck and enjoy the freedom.
Second is Grand Turk. I also like Roatan but it's changed a lot over the years, maybe Utila?
On GT we rented a condo but found out quick the availability of food in the grocery stores was very limited. We thought we'd save money by cooking but ended up eating out for almost all of our meals. But this was about 15 years ago.
Bonaire for me, it has some nice but smaller beaches, plenty restaurants, plentiful groceries, a bit of sight seeing. English is widely spoken. And out of the hurricane zone (mostly).

 

[Trooper]

Anyone been to/heard of Madagascar for diving? Clearly off the beaten path, but appears to have very diverse life, both UW and topside. I'm not sure how stable the political situation is, however.

 

[Freedom56]

DH turns 60 next year, and I’ve started thinking about planning a special trip to celebrate. We’ve been to Palau and North Sulawesi, as well as Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, and most of the islands in the Caribbean.

What do you think would be a really special dive trip for a milestone celebration? Water needs to be warm and we prefer to have nice beaches to relax on when not diving. Thanks for any ideas!

If you want to try something totally different, there is the Ocala National Forest in Central Florida for diving in the pristine fresh water springs.

 

[folivier]

Check the temperature of the spring water. If 68ºF is ok that would be a different type of diving.

 

[kaudrey]

My sister and I just got back from diving in Belize, and really enjoyed it. Not sure if you have done that.

 

[Scuba]

My sister and I just got back from diving in Belize, and really enjoyed it. Not sure if you have done that.

Yes, we went to Belize for 2 weeks several years ago. Stayed at two island dive resorts - Blackbird & Manta. It was great diving but the mosquitoes chewed up my husband.

 

[Scuba]

Check the temperature of the spring water. If 68ºF is ok that would be a different type of diving.

If we were willing to dive in 68 degree water, we’d go to Galapagos, but that is too cold for both of us. We are wimps!

 

[movingrightalong]

Spent some time in the Abacos, Bahamas a few years ago, and the most beautiful coral heads I've ever seen were off of the Eastern Cays there.