Pre-departure Blog - Diving in the Far East

 Hello!

Everyone has that dream vacation in their head, the one that you have talked about and dreamed about for years saying, "we will do that when we retire".  On Sunday we leave on our "dream" vacation!

I know, I know, we have been so many places and seen so many amazing things!  This is true and this vacation does not change that or diminish those trips in any way!  This trip is more about the "use it or lose it" philosophy.  It will be a long and physically demanding trip ... not one to be attempted in old-age.  [Whether we are in that category is a matter of what day it is and what we did the day before.... LOL.]

Keep in mind that the POINT of this trip is DIVING.  We will actually not be doing much sight-seeing along the way.  We will have to come back to see this part of the world again ... and that certainly is in the long-range plan.

Sunday we depart for Sydney.  The 17 hour flight will be the longest ever for me, and pretty close for Carsten. We immediately fly to Cairns and have one day there before boarding a liveaboard dive boat Spirit of Freedom.  


In general, the liveaboards are a week long dive trip with approximately 12 other divers plus crew.  This is not a giant cruise ship! 

After we return to Cairns we travel to Bali for a little rest before heading to Sorong, Indonesia to dive from La Galigo liveaboard.

Next is Khao Lak, Thailand and the Bavaria liveaboard.

Finally, Puerto Princessa in the Philippines to board the Philippines Aggressor liveaboard.

We will be blogging along the way - it may be pictures of fish, waterfalls, sunsets ... who knows?

The final challenge is the 6 flights to get home.... this part is NUTS: Puerto Princessa to Manila to Bangkok to Phuket to Istanbul to London to Houston from March 16 to March 18.  Completely insane.

This is unlike any trip we have ever attempted to a part of the world that is completely outside of our comfort zone.  I would be lying if I told you I had no concerns.... but, we have a solid plan and the tools to execute it!  It will be a blast!

Get ready for a crazy adventure!

Sheri & Carsten

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