Where to go next?

Ok, my wife and I do a big trip (3-4 weeks) every other year and its time to plan next year.

Where we've been..

Caribean - everywhere

Pacific - Costa Rica (twice)

Indo Pacific - Fiji (Taveuni and Suva), Micronesia (Yap, Palau, Guam), Indonesia (Bali and Lembeh)

Places we're thinking about....

Australia and PNG

Galapagos

Maldives

Thailand

Back to Indoesia

What we're looking for...

Great photo ops

Someplace off the beaten paths

Intersting land component as well

Ideas and recommendations?

Off the beaten path:

PNG : GoldenDawn's Wewak to Hermit Islands. No one else goes there and it's a pretty grand place.

Actually any place in PNG is pretty off the beaten path. Maybe 2-3 boats at any one time.

Indonesia: Banda Sea. Only one boat services the area full time but it's susceptible to the weather.

Biak to Mapia. It's different and apparently still quite good. I haven't been since 93 to Mapia but I also don't know as much as I do now.

FakFak/Timika/Raja Empat It's the other side of Papua and has much to offer.

Komodo: Still the jewel of indonesian conservation and always fun. Just get the right boat.

Galapagos: Now that you only can dive or do land tours, it's perfect to do both in a long trip. Do a wolf/darwin trip then head to the souther islands for the birds.

To throw in a sleeper:

South Africa

I hadn't considered South Africa, but I have heard a lot of good about it. Talked to a guy on a plane that had just got back from a great white dive down there. Komodo keeps coming up. I need to check some trip reports out on that.

Thanks Drew, you gave me some others that I have never heard of before and will check out.

Golden Dawns - Eastern Fields trips are pretty hard to beat. I always combine it with some time at Loloata. Plenty of opportunity for land excursions.

misool eco resort in raja ampat indonesia , looks a bit different

not finished yet but could be if your planning for next year

definitely off the beaten track

Just saw the Layang Layang shots also, look really nice. Raja Ampat looks very interesting also. Is it realistic logistically on a 4 week trip to do PNG adn Raja Ampat?

Just saw the Layang Layang shots also, look really nice. Raja Ampat looks very interesting also. Is it realistic logistically on a 4 week trip to do PNG adn Raja Ampat?

Although they are at either end of the island of Papua, it might be challenging to find flights that allow you to get between the two easily.

Alex

You could easily spend 3-4 weeks in PNG alone! You could combine Huli Wigmen with Sepik River touring and then do several good boats in different parts of PNG depending on the time of year you want to visit. We did Golden Dawn's Eastern Fields last December (and it was FABULOUS) after spending a week in Milne Bay on the Paradise Sport.

If you're interested in Layang Layang, you could combine that with Borneo eco trips visiting the orang utans and river trips, climb Mt. Kinabalu and then spend two weeks diving Sipadan, Mabul & Kapalai.....

We're great at spending your hard-earned money, aren't we