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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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 Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:33 am Post subject: 9 Days, 2 Million Won |
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Consider this my uh, research on where to go.
Got a vacation coming up in late July/early August with the girlfriend. 9 days. She wants to budget it in at 2 million won or less (per person), and we'd prefer destinations outside of Korea. She initially mentioned Italy, but it seems like we'd go rather far over our budget.
We're also looking to go somewhere new. I've been to the big bits of China, HK, Thailand, Japan, and Bali. She's been to all those except HK, as well as Vietnam, the Phillipines, and Guam.
We'd prefer somewhere where you can do some scuba-diving. It's kind of our summer ritual. It's not essential, though, if we can get some cool cultural experiences in. We're not really looking for a relaxing trip or anything.
Ideas welcome. She's thinking some small Pacific island whose name escapes me, and I just remembered Malaysia. Anywhere is cool if it fits the budget. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:53 am Post subject: |
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this is including Tickets?
europe will run you 900.000 including tax..
so leaves you around 1000 USD for a week.. minus 1 day each way
Italy can be done for that easy... in august the main cities shut down for vacation.. everyone hits the resorts..
but 1000 usd well if you are sharing 2000 even better..
dont know where to suba though..
FIJI, SAMOA, TONGA, pacifc islands is unreal!! tahiti..
might cost you 1.2 to get there.. but really great places..
MALDIVES is always a popular choice too.. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:13 am Post subject: |
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I color highlighted the best bets!
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Top 10 Trips & Vacations
By their very nature, most attempts to rate the planet's best dive sites are subjective. Below you will find rankings that are nothing if not scientific: the results of a poll conducted by the nation's leading scuba magazine. So without further ado, we present the world's 10 best dive sites, as chosen by the readers of Rodale's Scuba Diving.
1. Gal�pagos Islands Scuba Diving, Ecuador.
What kind of diving can you expect to find in the islands that formed the basis for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution? In a word, variety. Among the cast of unlikely characters are swimming iguanas and equator-dwelling penguins.
2. Morehead City Scuba Diving, North Carolina, U.S.A.
The "Graveyard of the Atlantic" has become North America's hottest wreck-diving destination. In the early days of World War II, U-boats had a field day, littering the ocean floor with merchant ships. In summer, the warm, clear Gulf Stream infuses the wrecks with an abundance of tropical and game fish.
3. Little Cayman Scuba Diving, Cayman Islands.
The secret of its success is undoubtedly Bloody Bay Wall, a sheer drop-off that begins in 18 feet of water and plunges almost completely vertically into the inky darkness. The wall is splattered with corals and sponges and is tended by all sorts of reef fish.
4. Palau Scuba Diving.
Never heard of this South Pacific nation? Must not be a diver. This tiny island chain was once a U.S. territory, and there are those who think we should've hung onto it: There's striking scenery of above water and a broad array of diving below. World War II-era wrecks, beautiful reefs, dramatic walls, drift diving, guaranteed shark action--hell, everything but a McDonald's.
5. Cozumel Scuba Diving, Mexico.
Cozumel is a lazy diver's paradise--simply fall into the water and the island's strongish currents will carry you away, past a Technicolor reef scene that boasts a rainbow array of sponges and scads of unique fish. Look in cracks and crevices for the whiskered Splendid Toadfish, found nowhere else on Earth.
6. Bonaire Scuba Diving, Netherlands Antilles.
Diving on Bonaire is a shore thing: Just rent a four-wheel-drive vehicle and head out on the island's bumpy roads to any of 50-plus yellow dive markers. Whether you suit up with tanks or just take out the snorkel, you'll appreciate the healthy reefs of the 20-year-old marine park, one of the first and finest in the world.
7. Tobermory Scuba Diving, Canada.
Yes, Canada. Tobermory crowns the tip of Ontario's Bruce Peninsula, at the confluence of pure, icy cold Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. The water's chilly, but the temperatures that numb your face and fingers have also preserved the nearly two-dozen wrecks that litter the bottom here.
8. Great Barrier Reef Scuba Diving, Australia.
"Great" is an easy word to toss around, but what else can you call the planet's biggest living thing, a reef so large it can be seen from space? More than 1,200 miles long, placed atop the U.S. the reef would stretch from Maine to Miami, and it harbors untold thousands of exotic tropical fish living within millions of acres of soft and hard coral gardens.
9. Belize Scuba Diving.
The only predominantly English-speaking nation in Latin America, Belize boasts three of the four atolls to be found in all the Caribbean. The diving off these atolls is not to be missed, particularly the 412-foot trough in the Belize Reef called the Blue Hole, featuring walls covered with healthy coral and sponges and some of the biggest fish you'll find in the Caribbean.
10. Red Sea Scuba Diving, Egypt.
On the eastern edge of the Sahara lies one of the choicest diving spots in the world. Separated from the rest of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea has been left to develop an exhilarating reef system unparalleled in the region. To top it all of, 30 percent of the marine life here is endemic to the area. |
http://www.iexplore.com/activities/scuba_top10.jhtml?activity=Scuba+Diving |
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ajuma
Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| Sri Lanka was great! Great culture, sites, beaches, diving, a little surfing...you name it, they have it! PM me if you want more details! |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:30 am Post subject: |
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I'm biased after living there for seven years, but Turkey is a great place and still very affordable.
If you want hiking, you can go to Goreme in Capadokya and wander around the valleys, seeing rock carved churches for days.
If you're more beach resort people, they line the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts - Alanya, Antalya, Kas, Fethiye, Datca, Dalaman, Bodrum, etc. Take your pick. All of these are close to good hiking in the mountains and lots of interesting historical sites. Diving is available all along the coast, but I'm told it may not be the most interesting diving you've ever done.
Specifically, I could recommend Pattara, the best beach in Turkey, with lots of inexpensive hotels in town. The beach is slowly covering the ancient port there. You can go from there up into the mountains to ancient Lycian cities like Xanthos, Tlos, Letoon or along the coast to places like Faselis. Saklikent is a great hike along a river into a narrow canyon and you can tube from there down to the Med coast at Pattara.
If you're into cities, Istanbul is the greatest city in the world. I know a very good boutique hotel in Sultanahmet (the old city) where you could stay a week for about 400 to 500 Euros, leaving your money to be spent elsewhere in the city. Lots of history, good nightlife. Izmir is also a great city, though I don't know it as well. Very cosmopolitan.
Lots to choose from, affordable prices. PM me if you are interested and want more info. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 1:18 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the info so far. Still in the preliminary stages of choosing. |
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doctor bacon
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Vancouver Represent!
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| Vancouver. Greatest city on earth. |
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endofthewor1d
Joined: 01 Apr 2003
Location: the end of the wor1d.
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 10:08 am Post subject: Re: 9 Days, 2 Million Won |
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| Zyzyfer wrote: |
We're not really looking for a relaxing trip or anything.
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and why the hell not? who needs a week of relaxation more than you? get your ass to thailand, sit on a beach, catch a fish bigger than mine,(gloating), and drink yourself silly for a week. |
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intergalactic
Joined: 19 May 2003
Location: Brisbane
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| Posted: Sat May 20, 2006 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| I was thinking Turkey too. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat May 20, 2006 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
3. Little Cayman Scuba Diving, Cayman Islands.
The secret of its success is undoubtedly Bloody Bay Wall, a sheer drop-off that begins in 18 feet of water and plunges almost completely vertically into the inky darkness. The wall is splattered with corals and sponges and is tended by all sorts of reef fish.
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2 million Won won't get you very far in the Caymans. Or rather, to the Caymans.
And of course the farther you fly for your diving, the longer you have to wait to fly without diving before the return flight.
And Zyz, you and your girlfriend are probably thinking of Palau or nearby Yap. That's where you want to go if you have 2 million each and 9 days. Not too far (connect at Guam), expensive but not crazy, and some of the best damn diving in the world.
Lucky S.O.B., you deserve a boot to the head if you don't go there.
Or maybe she's thinking of that place in Malaysia The Lemon went to, the one with the sea Turtle graveyard- Sipadan. |
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baldrick
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: Location, Location
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
3. Little Cayman Scuba Diving, Cayman Islands.
The secret of its success is undoubtedly Bloody Bay Wall, a sheer drop-off that begins in 18 feet of water and plunges almost completely vertically into the inky darkness. The wall is splattered with corals and sponges and is tended by all sorts of reef fish.
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2 million Won won't get you very far in the Caymans. Or rather, to the Caymans. |
That's why it wasn't color highlighted. But it meets the other criteria, shouldn't be missed by divers, and has the best rum in the world!
| Bullsajo wrote: |
| And Zyz, you and your girlfriend are probably thinking of Palau or nearby Yap. That's where you want to go if you have 2 million each and 9 days. Not too far (connect at Guam), expensive but not crazy, and some of the best damn diving in the world. |
Palau! I've often heard talked about, but know nobody who's ever gone. |
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matthews_world
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Try the Phillipines. I hear it's quite beautiful near the coastal areas and cheap to boot. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
and has the best rum in the world!
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What? It didn't even have single distillery when I lived there. And what's rum made out of? Sugarcane. I probably grow more sugarcane in my freakin backyard in Ontario than the three Caymans do, and I don't grow any at all! Pretty remarkable if they now have "the best rum in the world". They are, however, famous for a 'rum cake' that that's really nothing more than something to sell to tourists- a sponge cake soaked in Capt. Morgan's Rum, which, like all other liquor, is imported. Including the beer. You can always tell when the supply ships are due soon, all the popular bars run out of decent beer about a week before.
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| shouldn't be missed by divers |
Well, that part is God's honest truth that's for sure. Even when it blew rough you could just head to the other side of the island- good diving all around, to be sure.
But there is nowhere else in the world like the North wall...
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| Palau! I've often heard talked about, but know nobody who's ever gone. |
A coworker of mine went, said it was amazing. This is the same guy who I've mentioned here before- he was on the dock at Phi Phi waiting to board a dive boat when the tsunami hit. He and his girlfriend were one of 5 (i think) survivors of 15 or so people who were on the dock with them that morning. |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 6:40 am Post subject: |
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For 'diving' and 'islands' I can recommend The Whitsunday islands close to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. For sea life, this area is second to none, and some of the islands are made of white sand to give you that paradise feeling...
For just 9 days, however, you could use up a lot of your time just traveling to the destination.
Howabout Taiwan? It has some surprisingly excellent dive sites and fantastic culture. Equally, Malaysia has great dive sites and has good quality facilities. |
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