Phuket Logistics Suggestions? Bang Tao Beach

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Dudewhatzup

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Hi, wondering if anyone can give any suggestions.

We booked a resort in the Bang Tao Region and only noticed after that most diving company recommendations are on the south east side of the island.

Is it worth diving on the west coast? Would you recommend I just shell out to the dive companies to give me a lift to the southeast coast?

Any company recommendations on the west coast?

Also, I'm thinking of getting my advanced open water - would you recommend I do it there or maybe wait until a better opportunity opens up elsewhere?

Open to any suggestions and opinions!
 
AFAIK most dive boats depart from Chalong Pier which is quite a distance from Bang Tao Beach.
I am afraid there is not much local diving around Phuket Island.
There are posts on night dive at Kata Beach.
 
There is an op on Bang Tao beach and they do offer a 2-tank dive from the beach. I have no idea about the quality of the op beyond what's on the Google maps reviews. I have to say the dives do not look particularly inspiring.


Other than that it's over to Chalong Pier for the day trips on the big boats.

AOW with them is not a bad idea. I would guess they do the first two dives on their local half day trip and then the rest on a full day 3-tank from Chalong. You'll be busy concentrating on the skills on the first day so it won't matter if the locale is boring.
 
I just came back from five months on Phuket, and while I was renting a house within a few minutes' drive of Chalong pier and maybe 20 minutes away from Kata beach, I ended up only doing most of my diving from liveaboard. Looking at my dive log, I see two trips to Phi Phi (3 dives each), two trips to Racha (3 dives each), two dives off Kata Beach, and five liveaboard trips totaling 99 dives. What are your travel dates? Keep in mind that in the summer it's the monsoon season on the west coast, the marine national parks are closed for visitors, and while local diving on Phuket is still available, I would not expect good conditions or great visibility.
 
I just came back from five months on Phuket, and while I was renting a house within a few minutes' drive of Chalong pier and maybe 20 minutes away from Kata beach, I ended up only doing most of my diving from liveaboard. Looking at my dive log, I see two trips to Phi Phi (3 dives each), two trips to Racha (3 dives each), two dives off Kata Beach, and five liveaboard trips totaling 99 dives. What are your travel dates? Keep in mind that in the summer it's the monsoon season on the west coast, the marine national parks are closed for visitors, and while local diving on Phuket is still available, I would not expect good conditions or great visibility.
Thanks for sharing your insight! I'll be there in less than a month. So not exactly summer.

I wanted to thank everyone for their insight so far! It sounds like I'd be better off diving from the Chalong Pier. Please keep them coming if you have any other feedback you think I need to hear!

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get to Chalong pier from Bang Tao I'm all ears!
 
If anyone has any suggestions on how to get to Charing pier from Bang Tao I'm all ears!

Nothing to worry.
 
Getting from Bang Tao to Chalong and back isn't really much of a problem, and whatever dive shop that you go with will likely arrange the transportation for you, it's just that it will cost you in money and time.

If you get there in April, you can still do a liveaboard trip or two, but it's the tail end of season, so conditions may be already worsening.
 
If anyone has any suggestions on how to get to Charing pier from Bang Tao I'm all ears!
It's an unusual setup. The big boats are just transports. The local shops provide the guides and usually transportation to the boats. You may have a dozen different groups of divers, each with their own guide or instructor, sharing the boat on a single trip.
 
Getting from Bang Tao to Chalong and back isn't really much of a problem, and whatever dive shop that you go with will likely arrange the transportation for you, it's just that it will cost you in money and time.

If you get there in April, you can still do a liveaboard trip or two, but it's the tail end of season, so conditions may be already worsening.

Unfortunately I'm only there for the week, but I'll keep my eyes on the weather for sure! Thank you!

It's an unusual setup. The big boats are just transports. The local shops provide the guides and usually transportation to the boats. You may have a dozen different groups of divers, each with their own guide or instructor, sharing the boat on a single trip.

Oh! I read it was an unusual setup, but it didn't quite click! So it sounds like each dive shop provides transportation, so if I sign up with (for example) Bang Tao Dive Center, they will arrange transport with their divers to Chalong Pier (if the dive site we're heading to is on the east side of the island) and share the boat with other dive centers / shops?
 
Oh! I read it was an unusual setup, but it didn't quite click! So it sounds like each dive shop provides transportation, so if I sign up with (for example) Bang Tao Dive Center, they will arrange transport with their divers to Chalong Pier (if the dive site we're heading to is on the east side of the island) and share the boat with other dive centers / shops?
Some operators have their own boat while others shared(cattle boat). You have to ask.

 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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