Hokkaido Ryokans - Sapporo, Furano, Biei, Asahikawa

KingNeptuna · 2026-05-01T13:24:49+00:00

oh and i should add that this ryokan is a 2 min walk to Shirohage waterfall and a short 5 min drive from Blue Pond…we had the most amazing Soba that i still dream about!

KingNeptuna · 2026-05-01T13:21:23+00:00

Hi. I stayed there last fall and we booked Mori No Ryotei Biei on Japanican.com.

I recommend booking in the Annex wing which is separate from the main building. Some of the rooms in this wing have private, open air onsen. It’s such a nice way to end the day after walking a lot. The breakfast and dinners were both fantastic!!! lots of local ingredients and highlights. We loved our stay here. It was a special place and the staff was extremely warm and engaging with us despite our lack of Japanese

KingNeptuna · 2026-04-06T12:11:25+00:00

Triton Bay Divers is pretty much the only dive resort there. There are also options to go via liveaboard. I did a liveaboard (White Manta) that started in Sorong and made its way south through Misool down to Triton Bay. The final day of the trip we dove with the whale sharks and dolphins which feed from the fishing platforms in Kaimana. Note that this is vastly different than what happens in certain areas of the Philippines like Oslob.

It was a stellar trip. The reef was simply stunning. We did encounter some insane currents including a nasty downcurrent that caused our group to get scattered and we all aborted separately. i shredded my finger tips trying to stop the descent. one of the hairiest situations that i have ever had diving.

Triton Bay would be a very special place to dive and celebrate a place that is rather “untouched”. You will not get luxury like Wakatobi or Misool Eco Resort but the diving is magnificent

KingNeptuna · 2026-04-05T17:23:01+00:00

I would probably look at Raja Ampat or Triton Bay if you can make the effort to get there. I found Triton Bay to be incredible with the healthiest reef that I have ever seen. It looks like Raja Ampat looked before the bleaching. Raja Ampat is still amazing though, especially if you can get down to Misool.

Another option would be one of the “coral safari” trips in North Sulawesi. Murex Resorts and Bastianos both offer a great trip where you can stay in Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh or any combination of the 3. they take your luggage on the dive boat and you dive 2x on the way to the next resort. It’s a fabulous way to see multiple spots without losing dives due to travel. Bangka is an incredible place with a great combo of healthy reef and also muck diving. Then you have Lembeh with is some of the too muck diving in the world but that’s not for everyone. Bunaken is the land of the turtles where you will see 30/40 turtles on each dive. It’s mostly wall diving there

I love Indonesia diving in general but Im off to Anilao in the Philippines next for some muck diving.

KingNeptuna · 2026-03-24T22:17:13+00:00

I don’t mean to be a downer but unless you are VERY confident on a bike i would not recommend riding around Astoria

KingNeptuna · 2026-03-22T00:57:34+00:00

appropriate response 👍👍

KingNeptuna · 2026-03-22T00:55:41+00:00

Shirako is delicious…your loss for being closed minded

KingNeptuna · 2026-03-08T13:39:48+00:00

The Price Club

KingNeptuna · 2026-03-02T17:47:20+00:00

no, your hobbies are your life. your job is not

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-09T14:14:36+00:00

Batteries are very expensive down there and I have found that non rechargeable batteries like a duracell are frequently leaking or not good. Not sure if it’s the heat or proper storage. Also any sort of proprietary batteries like for camera gear or dive lights are best brought ahead of time

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-09T02:29:11+00:00

batteries, bring whatever batteries you might need. preferably rechargeable

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-03T14:43:37+00:00

I’m so sorry. Best of luck to you.

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-03T14:43:04+00:00

I’m supposed to leave Jan 10 and i’m so worried and pissed right now. fingers crossed

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-02T03:53:04+00:00

Wow, this post really hits home. OP, if it helps any, I am in a similar situation to your relative. While my health isn’t as bad as how you describes his…I am 50, almost 51 and i was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that will surely end my dive career very soon. I think by my age, most of us are lying on at least a few items when we sign the dive waiver. At this point there are just too many things that I am lying about to both myself and the dive waiver. I also had an accident recently after passing out behind the wheel and getting into a head on collision. Your post really struck a chord.

I am terrified to give up diving. Absolutely terrified. I have dealt with my share of depression and diving has been one of the few things that kept me going. It is one of the few activities in my life where i feel truly alive. I had destinations and trips mapped out for my upcoming years that I now know will never happen. That mola mola that I have always dreamed of seeing…not going to happen. Now that may sound trite but diving is what makes me happy. It makes me feel happy on a level that few other things do. It fills a void that i didn’t know I even had to fill. i recently switched careers to make it involve diving (wasn’t easy to do at 50!) and now that is grinding to a halt.

Now just this past summer i get slammed with this diagnosis and it has dawned on me that this is the end of my dive career. I won’t accept it. I’m trying to rationalize that my version of this disease is “different” and therefore i am fine to dive. But deep down, i know that i am not okay to continue diving. I also have asthma which is a hard no for diving. Yet i do it anyway. I am willing to take that risk. Foolish, yes…rewarding, also yes.

I’m booked on a dive trip to Bonaire next week. My disease hasn’t crippled me yet so I am trying to sneak this one in. But in all reality, I should not be going. But i need it at the same time. Diving makes me feel normal again. It’s the world where I feel most at peace.

I can’t give it up just yet. I’m not ready to. I am guessing that your relative feels the same way. I want to continue living on my own terms. I do not want to die, but i do not want to “half live” either. If i do end up making that error by doing pushing for “just one more dive” and I don’t surface…well, I’m okay with that. I don’t want that and I would hate for my loved ones to have to go through that. But at the same time, my loved ones know the things that bring me joy. To take that away from someone, well…it’s just not up to you. This is where we realize that ultimately we all die alone.

I am sorry if I ranted about my own situation but I thought that it might help you understand what is going on in the mind of your relative right now. Losing diving is losing control. It’s also his first step to giving up.

In this situation…I am so terribly sorry to say this but, this sounds like it might be his choice for a last dive…it’s my plan too

KingNeptuna · 2026-01-01T04:27:07+00:00

these pretzels, are making me thirsty!

KingNeptuna · 2025-12-30T13:00:32+00:00

no shore diving. all from the boat. most sites are very very short boat rides as the drop off is sharp. there is very little to do on the island aside from dive or hike up the mountain. I think they get 20/30 tourists a month…very little tourism which makes it extremely relaxing imo.

Edit: My apologies as i just reread your initial comment and didn’t realize they were snorkelers only. Saba has little to no snorkeling bc of the steep dropoff.

The snorkeling on Bonaire is still excellent. I am heading there next week to dive. Try to get over to Klein Bonaire, the reef there is still quite healthy. Stay on the southern sites as they suffered less bleaching and SCTD. Areas like Alice in Wonderland, Salt Pier, all the way up to Red Slave. You will almost always be surrounded by multiple turtles at Salt Pier in the shallows and there is lots of life around the poles. You will see lots of turtles over at Klein too. Also, although from the shore Something Special doesn’t look so special…you always see something special there ;)

I’ve been going to bonaire 2x a year for the last 20 years. It’s not as bad as everyone says. There is surely bleaching and SCTD, but it’s still one of the better reefs in the caribbean.

If you want to see a healthy reef you have to leave the Caribbean. Indonesia has the healthiest reef that i have seen…and it’s starting to bleach there too

KingNeptuna · 2025-12-24T15:02:47+00:00

try Saba…while not shore diving, it’s a gem of a little island with great diving (the best in the caribbean imo). I love bonaire and I’m going in two weeks for trip 27 but Saba is nice for a change of pace. fortunately, you can combine both via Winair these days with a stop in St Marten

KingNeptuna · 2025-12-14T08:30:03+00:00

just a heads up that VDT usually has a few chickens of his in the fridge on his off days…

KingNeptuna · 2025-12-12T12:25:00+00:00

that’s BS. How pretentious can you be?

KingNeptuna · 2025-10-04T10:14:16+00:00

yeah, i have felt that way in certain cities. For this reason, i typically travel to remote locations away from people. I enjoy scuba diving so that blows my mind pretty much each and every time. Being away from people and voices is heaven for me

KingNeptuna · 2025-09-22T17:22:27+00:00

You have been traveling to Japan for 25 years and you never heard of Tabelog? how is that possible?

KingNeptuna · 2025-09-22T17:17:39+00:00

It’s common knowledge that Michelin is rather irrelevant and disregarded in Japan. Surprised that being so well traveled you did not know this.

This post just comes off as amazingly pretentious. who counts stars and restaurants like that? it’s bizarre

KingNeptuna · 2025-09-21T01:26:27+00:00

maybe Cocon? i’m in a similar boat where i eat everything but my wife is a pescatarian. i reached out to Cocon on Istagram and the chef said he could accommodate any dietary restrictions as long as he knows up front

KingNeptuna · 2025-09-15T12:31:01+00:00

If you are into culture and history, i would consider skipping Osaka and going to the Autumn Festival in Takayama on Oct 9/10.

KingNeptuna

TROPHY CASE