I live on the West coast of the USA and I have two weeks off in late October. Possibly, my wife could be in the 2nd trimester or early 3rd trimester of pregnancy by then, so we would like to stay in a country where emergency transport and healthcare is easily accessible. I am hoping to go somewhere with excellent opportunities for diving photography, especially macro. I would love to go back to Lembeh or Tulamben but I am worried these are not good in terms of access to healthcare. Also, because my wife will not be diving, it would be great to go somewhere where there are things to do on land.

I was thinking Okinawa might be good? Philippines maybe? Maybe Bali is actually one of the better options? Any other suggestions for overlap between world-class tropical diving and accessibility to civilization/healthcare?

I probably have misconceptions about healthcare in non-Western countries so feel free to correct me.

thanks

I would consider Fiji or Guam. You are not interested in Hawaii I take it? Seattle is excellent in October as well but maybe you don't like cold water?

I would not consider Indonesia at all, probably not the Philippines.

Cool thanks I will look into Fiji and Guam. Hawaii is such an easy one week trip for us, and honestly I haven't been too impressed with the diving there.

Maybe Palau as well? It's a short hop from Guam, and it's practically a US territory. Palau citizens can join the US military, interestingly.

cool I will look at that too. The US hospital in Guam will certainly provide of peace of mind.

Asides from medical care available at your destination, you need to consider the dangers of a long flight.

When my wife, who is a physician, was pregnant she passed on a long trip to Australia from the US West Coast because it was too long to be in a plane and seated.

Check with your wife's OB for a recommendation.

Business Class!

@rwb500

My wife was pregnant a number of years ago and we were in a similar situation...

Indonesian (public) healthcare is not anywhere near up to western standards. I would completely avoid all of Indo. The Philippines (outside of Manila) is just as limited so avoid the Philippines as well.

We chose Hawaii when she was pregnant the first time (I still love diving the Big Island - It's not the Coral Triangle, but I would choose it over any part of the Carribean). For her 2nd pregnancy we chose Australia. Healthcare in OZ (for pregnant women) is easily a match for the US system, and in some ways even better). We chose Lizard Island up on the GBR - diving was good...

Guam is an option, Palau would be an option as well (mainly because you could get off island to Guam or Taiwan fairly easily).

Unfortunately, none of these are great (or even good) macro destinations. The Big Island of Hawaii has the "pelagic magic" blackwater dive, which is worth doing a few times, but not the same as true macro.

Because of this, what you might consider is using Singapore as a base for a trip. The healthcare in Singapore is world class - surpassing much of the US healthcare system. You can buy travel insurance to evacuate someone in a medical emergency back to Singapore, which is 3 hours from Bali, etc.

Thailand has good healthcare in general, but the diving is not as good as Philippines or Indonesia. A combination of decent diving spots and easy access to major hospitals is even harder to come by - the closest thing I can think of would be Phuket; you can dive Kata Beach or day boats there, which is not magnificent but still decent. Khao Lak is also an option - you can do day boats to Richelieu Rock or a short liveaboard.

Another option, kind out of of the left field - have you considered blackwater diving in Florida? I haven't been there personally, but I understand that it is one of the world's hotspots for blackwater, and it would obviate all the issues with international travel, healthcare, etc. It's very difficult from your typical muck diving, but it's still macro.

I would agree with @Oren Noah that checking with your wife's OB should guide your travels. Pregnancy is also a risk for deep vein thrombosis (DVT). If everything checks out as low risk, then much of the advice given above is spot on, especially deep into the 2nd trimester when things should be in cruise control.

First of all, congratulations to both of you for the growing family! I would prioritize peace of mind here as well. Talk to the doctors, but above all listen to your wife‘s feelings. If she can be happy, so will you - and vice-versa. In fact, that one continues well beyond pregnancy. No matter where you go this year, you will certainly cherish the memories of that trip once the little one is born. Things change a lot then, it‘s fantastic but very different. So prioritize the calmness rather than the shooting subjects - soon you‘ll be taking different pics and enjoy it very much ;-)

If you don't mind cold water Sydney has great macro opportunities - though there is nothing like macro guides available. You could also find good things on the great Barrier Reef . I thought of Thailand, but the good health care is centered round Bangkok precisely where the good diving is not. The other thing to consider is if there are guides who are good at finding macro subjects, they can be notoriously hard to find. The other thing to consider is any restrictions that travel insurance might impose, not to mention that it's probably a little early right now to know how the pregnancy will pan out - that is to say if any conditions arise that increase risk.

I thought I would add one more thing...

When our oldest was born, we decided very early on we would not stop traveling or stop diving. We took our daughter to Singapore (from the US) when she was 8 weeks old (that was a work trip), which gave us the confidence to take her to Fiji a year later (there was a trip to Hawaii in the middle - but only I dived, my wife wanted to stay with our daughter).

The trip to Fiji was awesome - Fijians (who are very family oriented to begin with) love babies - the resort arranged for a nanny for our entire stay (it might have been for something absurd like $1/day). We expected to see our daughter afer each dive (at lunch, etc.). However, by the end of the trip our daughter was spending almost full days in the local village, playing with other young kids, etc. We were very worried until my wife visited the village as well - our daughter was getting so much attention (and care) she was immediately put at ease. We enjoyed that trip so much we returned the next year as well.

When our son was born a year later we kind of repeated the whole thing. First trip was to Hawaii, then when he turned a year old we went back to Fiji. When he was 4 we took them both to the Maldives (we dove in the mornings and then I snorkeled with them in the afternoons). Our first trip to Indonesia was when he was 5 (our daugher was 7). We stayed at a very small resort - arranged for baby sitting while we did a morning dive each day, however by the end of the week they basically had the run of the resort on their own while we dove in the mornings (sounds more concerning that it was... they were very well taken care of - and the resort was on it's own island, and quite safe). The next year we did Bunaken (this time bringing a family friend to watch the kids as well - in exchange for paying to have our friend to get certified).

Fast forward more than a decade and both kids are highly skilled and confident divers as well as underwater photographers - we dive as a family once or twice a year, and I usually take one additional trip with each of them based on their university schedules.

As someone else said - prioritize your wife's comfort for this trip... it will pay off.

You're not just getting a kid (and all that this entails) - you're potentially getting a built in dive buddy for a number of years to come ;)

Another vote for Micronesia - Palau or Yap - both are a United flight away from Guam or Honolulu if needed.

Definitely not the Philippines if medical care is a concern. In our near-20 years there our family had multiple occasions to rediscover that lesson!

As for Fiji, there is no better destination on the planet for a young family. Fijians will instantly adopt kids as if they were their own, and the kids will have the time of their lives and be better for it. Our daughter grew up here from 6 months to age 5 and we have many fond memories not to mention an intuition that it shaped her in important ways. Just be aware that health care is not great, and a medivac to AUS or NZL is 4 hours and HNL is 6 hours.

I would suggest Hawaii. There are good (but not awesome) macro diving off the big island and some nice black water. Going anywhere outside the country is a risk, I would definitely check with her OB/GYN but you would never get over it if something bad happened to an unborn baby because of a dive trip.

Bill

well if anyone is wondering, we have tentatively decided on Australia. No compromises in terms of access to healthcare and we've never been. Not sure I'll get any great macro diving but I'll see some sharks and maybe some other stuff.

Come diving in Sydney, plenty of macro life and weedy sea dragons as well.