Travel

WASHINGTON — Rep. Young Kim, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Oct. 29. She asked him to raise China's travel advisory from Level 2, 'Exercise Increased Caution,' to Level 3, 'Reconsider Travel.' On Oct. 19 the department updated the China advisory. It now warns of wrongful detention, arbitrary enforcement of local law, surveillance and exit bans without due process, but the rating stayed at Level 2. Kim says that places China in the same tier as Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, where the risks are isolated non-state threats. She argues that in China the risk comes from the state itself. She also wants the detained Americans Min Zin and Youlin Chen named on the advisory page. The department has not announced any change to the rating.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Villa Vie Residences, a Florida company that sold long-term cabins on a round-the-world ship, suspended the Odyssey's voyage at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, this week. The company said on Oct. 27 that it could not absorb 'extraordinary increases' in fuel costs. Residents, roughly 200 of them, say they were told in the morning to be off the ship by 2 p.m. and were left to find their own hotels. The company says it is coordinating temporary housing and covering local lodging and transport. The Straits Times, as relayed by IBTimes, reported it has not paid for passengers to leave Cambodia. The operator says it will pursue restructuring and recapitalisation over the next 60 days, with no guaranteed outcome. It has not said when sailing might resume or whether residents will get refunds. Some residents sold their homes to move aboard.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — Bloody Bay Wall off Little Cayman starts in roughly 5 to 6 metres of water and drops far beyond recreational depth. Guides describe it as low-current diving. Advanced Open Water certification is advised for the deeper sections. The dry-season peak runs December to April, and hurricane season officially ends November 30. Cayman's Department of Environment responded this week to the IUCN's global coral assessment. It said the findings signal an exceptionally high risk of collapse, not collapse itself, and that marine parks dating to 1986 have kept local reefs in better shape than most of the region. The department's figures show average coral cover falling from about 25% to 11% by 2023, with Grand Cayman near 6% in 2024. Stony coral tissue loss disease was confirmed on Little Cayman in August 2025, and the department asks divers to disinfect gear between dives and between islands. Getting there: connect to Grand Cayman (GCM), then take a 35 to 40 minute inter-island flight.

CHUUK, Federated States of Micronesia — Chuuk Lagoon, historically known as Truk, holds dozens of Japanese ships and aircraft sunk by U.S. forces in 1944's Operation Hailstone. PADI Travel puts the best diving window at October through April, though the wrecks can be dived year-round. The lagoon is sheltered. A 2026 Bluewater Dive Travel trip report described visibility of 30 to 70 feet, little current and water near 86F. Depths vary: the Fujikawa Maru is listed at about 9 to 34 metres, while the San Francisco Maru's deck lies near 165 feet and requires decompression. PADI says operators require at least Open Water certification, but many itineraries ask for Advanced certification and about 50 logged dives. Access is the main hurdle. A Guam-based tourism site says United flies Guam-Chuuk four times a week. From Memphis, expect connections through a U.S. hub and Guam or Honolulu, then roughly 1.5 hours onward.

DEVONPORT, Australia — Spirit of Tasmania IV and V make their first passenger crossings of Bass Strait tonight, leaving Devonport and Geelong at 6:45 p.m. They replace two ships that have run the route since 2002. Each can carry up to 1,800 passengers and has 301 cabins, including 18 that accept pets. ABC News reports capacity is 400 passengers higher, with 60 percent more vehicle space. The project ran about five years behind schedule and roughly $700 million over its original business case. The Devonport berth alone grew from $90 million to $493 million. The crossing takes 9.5 to 11.5 hours. For Memphis travelers there is no direct flight. The usual route is a connection through a U.S. hub to Melbourne, then roughly an hour to Geelong. The State Department rates Australia Level 1, reissued Aug. 18, and requires a visa or Electronic Travel Authority. Tasmania's best weather runs from December to February. Day sailings are scheduled September through April, according to one travel guide.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos — Several new routes to Turks and Caicos begin in December, according to the travel site Travel Off Path. United starts a Saturday Denver–Providenciales flight on Dec. 19, which runs through April 24 and is the westernmost direct link to the islands. BermudAir begins Raleigh-Durham service on Dec. 20 and St. Petersburg/Clearwater service on Dec. 21, each twice weekly into early May. For quieter surroundings, the report points to American Airlines' twice-weekly Miami–South Caicos flights, which skip the busy main island of Providenciales. The same report says the tourism board puts the territory at State Department Level 2 since July 2023. That is a tourism-board claim, so check travel.state.gov before booking. No nonstop from Memphis is listed. A connection, most likely through Miami, is the practical routing. The dry winter season runs roughly December through April.