if you could Live in any dive location for a year?

I will be getting paid $675 ( us) to go to school " full time" online to study photography. I figure what better then to be traveling the world being paid to do photography.

So the question is where do I go that has solid internet connection, Great diving, and where I can live comfortably on 675 USD/ month ?

places that come to mind

South east asia ( how is the diving in Thailand and Vietnam? )

Philippines?

Indo is pretty expensive to get to, but what is the cost of living there and Inet?

But I do not have experience with any of these locations

My photography is based more on large marine life and beautiful women.

You would have no trouble at all living and diving in the Philippines for that monthly budget. Wireless 3G is readily available just about everywhere in the country now for +/- $20/month and all other costs of living can be readily managed if you are determined to do so

Anilao and Palawan would all offer good options, maybe also Bohol / Panglao / Tagbilaran, and Puerto Galera might just be possible if a little more expensive. Research the kind of diving you want to do though as this is not a country known for reliable diving with large pelagics (except of course for the whale sharks of Donsol for a couple of months each year, and Tubbataha Reef which is liveaboard only)

Wish I had this dilemma - good luck!

Very little big stuff but mucho beautiful women in MoalBoal, Philippines. For $675/mo you need to be able to simply walk into the water and dive. That's why I suggest Moalboal over Puerta Galera.

Central Philippines will be cheaper than Anilao or Puerto. Another place to consider is Southern Leyte, was there in November and the reefs were in fantastic shape, tons of soft corals. Not as heavily dived too. Bohol and Cebu would be your best best for less expensive diving followed by Dumaguete. However, Anilao is hard to beat when it comes to convenience and variety.

S.

Derek,

I live in S. Leyte, Phils and i can say the diving is amazing, im my opinion better than Bohol and Cebu but due to the remoteness of the area diving is more expensive at around 1300php per dive (presently 43php to the dollar) but living is cheaper here. We often have empty dive boats and the reefs are in healthier condition than the other islands, but net is difficult. 3G is available but no broadband in the diving town of PAdre Burgos, you would have to travel 35mins to Maasin City for larger photo uploads/downloads.

Havent dived either Anilao or PG, but from other stories hear it is crowded and more touristy.

I dont want to get in trouble for commercialism, but my resort is not up and running yet and wont be for a year, but if you PM me ill be happy to give you more info on the area.

Olly

p.s Whale Shark season runs from Dec-Apr but for some reason, possibly weather orientated they have disappeared for a few weeks which is very abnormal. Last year was upto 7 sightings per day.

Boy you sure picked a crappy time to do this. The USD has dropped quite a bit so finding the right place for large animals.

For $22 dollars a day with diving? That'd be a tough buy anywhere, unless you work at the place as a DM or something. One can live on that in PI or Indo (especially in the non-touristy side of things).

Bali

I know quite a few surfers in Bali who live and surf for less than $500 a month, eating at the local warungs and riding around in mopeds, while living in rented rooms in local homes. But diving is at least $15-20 a dive and you have to get there and live around the dive area (eg Tulamben). Even the cheapest fleabag hotels are about $15 a day. The bigger animals are in the outer Sundas, which means internet is glacial slow.

PI

Same thing. You can certainly live on $22 a day but diving will cost $10-20 plus you have to get transport (ie boat/car) to get to the site.

3G broadband goes between 30KB/s to 100KB/s in PI and Indo. In Indo, if you are out of the 3G areas, it's GPRS, and that's glacial. My experience with 3G broadband in PI has been spotty slow to decent.

Sorry, but you'll need more than $675 a month to be able to live and dive often, even in SEA.

I forgot to mention that I am a very capable freediver. Not sure if the fact that I do not use tanks will make a difference in my expenses or not.

The Philippines seems like a vey viable place to try live on the budget, and the women, But I know nothing about the diving there. I have heard it is only good for macro?

I have heard it is only good for macro?

Incorrect. There are good opportunities for all types of photography. But there is no one site that will give you everything, you'd have to travel around. A little research is in order . . .

As it's been said a few times, the best dive sites are not that accessible by riding a bike to the beach from your beach hut. For eg. Anilao's dive sites with bigger schools Twins Rocks and Mahinit, are about 500m from each other but access to the beach isn't easy and almost all resorts use boats (except for the ones the site is right in front of.)

In Moalboal, many of the dive sites are along the coast (some are a good swim off the beach. Road access to the beach is limited if I remember correctly and the best sites are again boat accessed (Pescador and that submerged sea mound). The other issue is for the dive sites, you have to pay the local municipality fees. In some places like Dumaguette/Apo, there are even fees for uw cameras etc.

As it's been said a few times, the best dive sites are not that accessible by riding a bike to the beach from your beach hut. For eg. Anilao's dive sites with bigger schools Twins Rocks and Mahinit, are about 500m from each other but access to the beach isn't easy and almost all resorts use boats (except for the ones the site is right in front of.)

In Moalboal, many of the dive sites are along the coast (some are a good swim off the beach. Road access to the beach is limited if I remember correctly and the best sites are again boat accessed (Pescador and that submerged sea mound). The other issue is for the dive sites, you have to pay the local municipality fees. In some places like Dumaguette/Apo, there are even fees for uw cameras etc.

Any recommended resources to help research the Philippines?

Anyone with experience in central or south America?

The Philippines has so many hot spots, and being over 7000 islands there are so many to choose from.

The major players being, Anilao (Batangas), Puerto Galera, Apo Reef (will cost u). Coming further south: Malapascua (Cebu), Moalboal (Cebu), Panglao island (Bohol), Dumaguete or Dauin (Negros Oriental) Apo Island (not reef, just off Dumaguete), Padre Burgos (S.Leyte) and Coron and N. Palawan.

Just Google them. Dont buy a lonely planet and expect answers! Or maybe other Wetpixelers can give feedback or pics from their trips.

Hope that helps.

Olly