[whitehead]

If I was heading to SE Asia I would definitely include the Philippines and Indonesia - exceptional diving for both pelagics and benthics. I would also include Thailand - the diving is not as good as Phil and Indo in my view but the country is as tourist freindly as you are likely to find (and the food is 100,000 times better).

Another major thing to take into account is cost - a days diving in SE Asia is cheap - so you can dive a lot more! The hotels are dirt cheap so you can stay a lot longer. The food is cheap so you can consume more and the beer is colder (sorry should say the lager is colder). Our water is warmer, and consequently our RMVs lower so we can stay down longer.