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| Where should we go for vacation? |
| Philippines |
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| Laos |
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| Total Votes : 5 |
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Triban
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Location: Suwon Station
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 Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:12 am Post subject: Where to go for summer vacation? |
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The girlfriend and I are tossing around which place to visit. I have previously been to Bohol, Cebu, and Palawan (El Nido) and she has been to Phuket.
I would love to go to Coron but I doubt she would be keen on the bus ride/boat trip.
She isn't very keen on exercising but we are planning on having some adventure mixed with relaxation.
We want to:
-Scuba Dive (Am not currently licensed)
-Jungle Trek
-Relax/Drink
-Cheap and nice are better than expensive and luxury. I do not need a TV.
-Soak in some beautiful nature
-Waterfalls are rad.
These were the places we were tossing around. Any advice or information will be well received!
-Philippines (where?)
-Thailand (where?)
-Laos (where?)
-Malaysia (where?)
-Burma (where?)
-Hong Kong
I'm not looking to spend more than 1 million each and we will most likely have a little over a week (10-14 days?).
Please include as much info, where to go, and what to do. Thanks in advance! |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:12 am Post subject: |
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| You're going to be pretty SOL if you try to scuba dive in Laos. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:46 am Post subject: |
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2 million won
2 people
2 weeks
all inclusive (or it that in addition to airfare?)
If that 2 mil includes airfare you aren't going to do any diving or get certified.
Good luck
If that is 2 million + airfare then your options are wide open. The Philippines or Thailand will fill the bill nicely.
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sallymonster
Joined: 06 Feb 2010
Location: Seattle area
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:48 am Post subject: |
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| You do realize that summer in most of Thailand and the Philippines is the monsoon season, right? For this reason, I recommend Malaysia, which has more even rainfall year-round. |
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Triban
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Location: Suwon Station
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:10 am Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
2 million won
2 people
2 weeks
all inclusive (or it that in addition to airfare?)
If that 2 mil includes airfare you aren't going to do any diving or get certified.
Good luck
If that is 2 million + airfare then your options are wide open. The Philippines or Thailand will fill the bill nicely.
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I spent 18 days in the Philippines before, doing Cebu, Bohol, Princesa, and El Nido on around 1.2-1.3 total. We didn't skimp either, went snorkeling and on every boat tour in El Nido as well as one in Bohol. We even ate lobster one night ^^
Also, I'm open for discussion of these places with their merits, I don't want this thread to devolve into useless information. Thanks. |
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lemak
Joined: 02 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:57 am Post subject: |
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Manado in Sulawesi, Indonesia has loads of great stuff. Beaches, great weather year round, friendly people, good food, volcanoes, jungle and some amazing islands and underwater life. Very few tourists also if that's what you're looking for.
http://www.greenzonetv.info/video/world-/north-sulawesi
For what it's worth it's not an Islamic area meaning booze and pork are freely available and it isn't affected by some of the outbreaks of religious intolerance that are plaguing some of the southern, more populous islands there. |
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Triban
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Location: Suwon Station
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| Triban wrote: |
| ttompatz wrote: |
2 million won
2 people
2 weeks
all inclusive (or it that in addition to airfare?)
If that 2 mil includes airfare you aren't going to do any diving or get certified.
Good luck
If that is 2 million + airfare then your options are wide open. The Philippines or Thailand will fill the bill nicely.
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I spent 18 days in the Philippines before, doing Cebu, Bohol, Princesa, and El Nido on around 1.2-1.3 total. We didn't skimp either, went snorkeling and on every boat tour in El Nido as well as one in Bohol. We even ate lobster one night ^^
Also, I'm open for discussion of these places with their merits, I don't want this thread to devolve into useless information. Thanks. |
I have a house (own not rent) on Bohol and I am very much aware of what things cost as a local and as a tourist.
Your PADI certification will run you about $250-300 each (and diving is much more expensive than snorkeling). It won't leave much left out of a million each if you have to fork out for airfare and hotels too. (good news is that you can grab your own lobsters and cook them on the beach if you are so inclined).
The central Visayas is below the typhoon belts so there isn't much rain during the Korean summer break. It was bone dry on Bohol last July/August.
Thailand would be hit and miss for rains in July/Aug. We didn't get much rain in Central Thailand last summer but the north and south got pounded later in the year (October is far worse for rain).
If you want to try something a little different then Camiguin is fun for diving (volcanic island) with the sunken graveyard and lava flows as well as some nice coral diving toward the north and west sides of the island. Great hiking up the volcano too (dormant for the last 50 years).
There is plenty of great diving all around Bohol (lots more than just around Alona/Panglao).
There is always the north of Cebu Island Bogo and Malapascua. Moalboal is another place that isn't too hard to get to and has ok diving and you can trek into the central mountains of cebu for your jungle trek.
There is decent diving along all of coastal Thailand and resort facilities are plentiful in all budget ranges.
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Triban
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Location: Suwon Station
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| If I dive in the Phils I'll probably check out Coron...my mate said he dived there without a cert. I eventually want to get a cert and if I do the Phils this time perhaps I'll do it...I've got a couple filipina friends who live in Bohol that can help me with prices and one who works at one of the hotels...Walk-Inn something. Thanks for being helpful tom, if you have any more suggestions or can help me with pricing please shoot me some PMs, I'm really torn on what to do right now, and I like to plan ahead! |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Triban wrote: |
| If I dive in the Phils I'll probably check out Coron...my mate said he dived there without a cert. I eventually want to get a cert and if I do the Phils this time perhaps I'll do it...I've got a couple filipina friends who live in Bohol that can help me with prices and one who works at one of the hotels...Walk-Inn something. Thanks for being helpful tom, if you have any more suggestions or can help me with pricing please shoot me some PMs, I'm really torn on what to do right now, and I like to plan ahead! |
If you just want to try a dive or two you can do it under a divemaster (with an instructor as your guide (resort dives)) without a C-card.
Then you are just looking at a place to go play with access to beaches and jungles.
If you want to get a PADI cert (or one of the other ones) then you will need 3-5 days for the certification course AND the cash to pay for it. There are lots of options for certification locations.
Thailand has the best tourist facilities.
You can also have a great time in Thailand. The islands (gulf or Andaman sea) are nice and the weather is usually pretty good here in July (there are often rain showers in the afternoon or early evening but they are not all day soakers and they just tend to cool things down a bit).
If you want to cross the equator the rates (for airfare) go up but Bali and other locations in Indonesia are nice options.
The Philippines is your cheapest access option.
You can usually get really cheap flights into Clark and do your diving around Subic.
You are already aware of the (central) Visayas region.
The western Visayas has some interesting places to visit.
Palawan is always an option.
I am not a fan of Mindanao but I like the north east part (Siargao - Cloud 9).
Camiguin is nice to visit and has some interesting diving.
If you head for the eastern Visayas there isn't nearly as much for tourist facilities but there is lots of adventure (not much chance for diving without your own equipment).
There is virtually no diving around HK. The silt and run-off from the Pearl river make visibility virtually "0" in most places (and HK can get expensive as a location if you are there for more than a few days).
Doing what you want for as long as you want (airfare included) within your budget won't be easy but a small increase in your budget can make a large difference in your vacation.
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