What was your favorite liberty port and why?

2016-08-07T21:17:10-04:00

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Aug 7 at 2016 9:21 PM

2016-08-07T21:21:18-04:00

ENS Private RallyPoint Member thanks for the read and share, I am standing by for the reads/share, great post. As far as the Army I love Fort Ord, California 1992-1993.

Response by PO3 Steven Stinnett made Aug 7 at 2016 9:37 PM

2016-08-07T21:37:57-04:00

It had to be Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, next Hong Kong, Yokosuka, Japan, then Subic

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Aug 7 at 2016 9:39 PM

2016-08-07T21:39:01-04:00

OK, as you can imagine the Marines were not in the habit of visiting exotic or esoteric liberty ports in SE Asia. Between Kin Vill and Olongapo City, there was not much there. I did, however, visit Hong Kong twice, once in 1969 on the 'Bon Homme', and again about 5-6 yrs later while afloat with the 31st MAU. I was blown away by the enormity and diversity of the culture there, only scratching the surface. It was still a 'Crown Colony' with all the trappings. By coincidence, I met a local Portuguese family who lived in one of the high-rise apt bldgs on Kowloon. The father worked in banking and I met and fell in love with their daughter at a Ship's party social function which she & a couple of girlfriends stopped by to check out the action. I was invited over for dinner. I again contacted them a few years later. They actually remembered and invited me back for a visit. Unfortunately, the daughter by that time had married an American civilian and moved to the US. I was
then and still am, greatly disappointed

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 7 at 2016 9:55 PM

2016-08-07T21:55:39-04:00

Whew, hard question. I was stationed in Yokota, but I've been all over SE Asia. Thailand, Hong Kong, PI, Singapore, etc etc. Then as a Merchant Marine I've been all over the world as well. Hmm. I guess I'd have to go with Subic, since I wound up living in PI (not Subic though) for a few years.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 7 at 2016 10:14 PM

2016-08-07T22:14:20-04:00

I had two.

Phuket Thailand is way up on my list. During my second deployment, I had custom suits and a dozen silk shirts made. I still have them.

Perth, Australia is a close second. Just had a blast, and didn't have to deal with various "hostile" area restrictions or Cinderella liberty.

Response by SN Kevin Neff made Aug 7 at 2016 10:15 PM

2016-08-07T22:15:18-04:00

Rota, Spain for me. It was a great place full of amazing food and beautiful women.

Response by CWO2 John Markiewicz made Aug 7 at 2016 10:34 PM

2016-08-07T22:34:46-04:00

In the Atlantic (Mediterranean) I always looked forward to Barcelona Spain. Good Food, Good Times and lovely Ladies.
In the Pacific I especially enjoyed Singapore. Very Clean, Great Restaurants and the Tailors were great for custom made suits and uniforms at reasonable prices.
Of course I am talking about the 60s & 70s so I do not know how these ports are nowadays.

Response by CPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2016 10:47 PM

2016-08-07T22:47:11-04:00

Well, my community doesn't really do liberty port calls,, but we can do deployments in some cool places. So I would say my best duty station was Souda Bay Greece.
My best deployment when we we were not flying around doing jobs in south/central America, would be Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico. I guess you could say when we came back from forward Dets , that it was a working Liberty Port. I loved it especially when we came back from doing a Joint Task Force DEA support mission in jungles of Colombia, 1992 and then we redeployed a detachment to Cuba, to support the Haitian Migration camps and that sucked. We worked before the sun came up and till the sun went down in June that is like 10:00 pm. We also lived in tent city on Gitmo.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Aug 7 at 2016 11:41 PM

2016-08-07T23:41:22-04:00

Christchurch NZ and Papeete Tahiti. Both are not regular stops for the Navy, especially Christchurch once the Navy was pulled from the Antarctic mission. Papeete is the absolute best place for your plane to go down hard for parts that will take a week to get there. Loved the warmth without the pounding humidity, incredible beaches, and cheap beer.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2016 11:52 PM

2016-08-07T23:52:53-04:00

Subic Bay and Olongapo City. Why? If you have to ask, you've never been. And if you've never been, you'll never know what you've missed...which is the NUMBER ONE BEST PORT OF CALL IN THE WORLD!!!

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 8 at 2016 1:41 AM

2016-08-08T01:41:45-04:00

So many to choose from!!!
Tahiti (my first "real" foreign country visit that wasn't Tijuana or Canada)
Indonesia
Australia
Singapore
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Cambodia
Cebu, PI

Shit, I even had fun in the Gulf! Bahrain, UAE, all those places.

Response by PO1 Brian Austin made Aug 8 at 2016 3:05 AM

2016-08-08T03:05:24-04:00

1A. Subic Bay - Everyday's a holiday, every night a party.
1B. Phuket & Pattaya Beach Thailand (See 1A)
2. Anywhere Australia. Though Darwin was kind of a weird place. Aussies are just so cool, only too happy to buy you a beer, both men and women. The women are intrigued by our accent.
3. Singapore. Very neat and orderly, good street food and restaurants. Orchard Tower.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Aug 8 at 2016 1:10 PM

2016-08-08T13:10:40-04:00

LoL...that painting looks like a scene from "Donovan's Reef"..... ;o)

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Aug 8 at 2016 10:13 PM

2016-08-08T22:13:43-04:00

Hong Kong 68-69 - bustling, exotic, great shopping, great food.
San Francisco, CA 69-70 - Hippies, food, sightseeing, visiting family.

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 12 at 2016 8:52 PM

2016-08-12T20:52:56-04:00

I felt this would be a discussion you'd like to comment on!

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 23 at 2016 11:17 PM

2016-08-23T23:17:28-04:00

I've never left the country or even been on a ship in almost 7.6 years, so at this point don't have one.

Response by PO2 Chuck Dufresne made Aug 28 at 2016 6:46 PM

2016-08-28T18:46:14-04:00

Palma Mallorcia

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Sep 1 at 2016 11:52 AM

2016-09-01T11:52:33-04:00

Hong Kong (but don't tell my wife)...