Guam, Saipan, Rota, Palau or Chuuk 2 weeks at Xmas

Hi,

Currently living in SEA and I have enough miles to fly free to Guam, Saipan, Rota, Chuuk or Palau.

Guam seems to be the easiest to get to, but I wonder if it offers everything we want. Chuuk and Palua appear to have better diving, but the prices seem to be way to high. I haven't done much research on the Northern Marianna Islands.

We are avid divers and snorkelers, love being by the water, big time outdoors people, maybe try to get the living on a secluded beach/island feel for a couple of days. We are looking for flashpacker style places, cheaper but in a nice setting. Ideally want to travel to 2 or 3 locations over a 2 week period.

So my question is does Guam or the close-by islands offer this at a reasonable price? Or should we splurge and go for the more expensive Palau and Chuuk.

Thanks in advance.

Skip the Northern Marianna Islands. Other than the grotte there was nothing else that really excited me.

Palau definitely one of the top three destinations on the globe for diving for me so I would definitely recommend it.

Truk is well worth for wreck diving so I would definitely recommend it as well.

There really are not any hostel/flash packer options at any of these places. Lodging will be in the mid range or higher a hotels. The best diving of the bunch is for sure Palau...check out Sams Tours. Guam has very underrated diving...and the cost (of diving at least) is low. Check out 'MDA'. Truk has the best wreck diving in the world (probably) but for some is not a nice place other wise.

I wasn't a fan of the diving in Guam (almost no coral, few fish and only a sea turtle or two), but I only did two dives. Guam is also the easiest and cheapest of all of those to get to, so you can always do it later.

I dove in Chuuk, and it's WICKED amazing. A bunch of WWII wrecks overgrown with coral, nice amount of sea life too. Brilliant if you're into wrecks. Most are penetration dives with overhead, 20+ meters deep. You can snorkel a few sites as well. On Chuuk, the cheapest for hotels will be around US$70-130, and there isn't too much else to do. Food is cheap and good, though. I dove with Truk Stop Hotel & Dive Shop, really great people. I really wish I'd gotten to Palau, too, but that's another trip.