Thailand diving for newbies

[lora9753]

Hi Scuba board!

My husband and I are planning a trip to Thailand in March. We just got our OW and are excited to start diving finally!

We plan to go to Phuket for at least a few days. I would like to go to the best that thailand has to offer for diving, but that would still be appropriate for new divers. Simmilans and Koh Phi Phi look tempting to me, but would these be ok for new divers?

How about a live aboard for new divers? Doing 4 days seems like a some what economical way to get a lot of diving in.

 

[stevenl]

Yes, a 4 day liveaboard is a very good dive experience and a economical way to get some diving under your belt.

However, before you do that first get used to the local diving habits, the local waters, etc., and do 1-2 daytrips. Racha Noi is perfect for that, and also a Phi Phi trip would be a good choice.

 

[Scuba Cat Diving]

You can dive form both daytrips and liveaboards as a newer diver here, but if you did choose a liveaboard option I would suggest you take the advanced course on board. This way you still get to experience and see the great diving in an economical way, but also have dives with an instructor who is teaching you the techniques of how to dive them with respect to the conditions.
During the course on board they will teach you proper techniques for the night dives which are on offer as well as drift dives that are done and the deeper dives too. It is a great way to practice the skills under direct supervision of the instructor whilst at some great sites.

 

[Hutch12]

I think a 4 day live aboard in the Similans would be a perfect way to get some good diving in a short space of time.

I can highly recommend the White Manta. My wife and I went on the Similans trip a couple of years ago and were impressed enough to take a trip on one of their Malaysian itenaries. The boat is comfortable, food is great but most important of all particularly fro new divers the staff are great.


I have seen on both trips the dive guides take new divers and really help them be it working on AOW, Nitrox courses or simply helping new divers with their computers and weighting etc.

Back when we first dived the Simillans, i believe the reefs and fish life were still recovering from a coral bleach event, however,. from regular updates it seems the Similans is now back to providing amazing diving with regular whale shark and manta sightings. So much so we are considering going again. I would not look at any other boat.

Paul Hutchinson

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

Yep, another vote for a live aboard, but I agree with Scuba Cat - if you are going to commit to a 3-4 day trip to see the best sites, you should consider getting your advanced, or at very least your deep adventure dive so that you can really get the best value out of the trip.

Happy diving

 

[stevenl]

If doing the advanced (or adventure deep), doing it on daytrips is excellent value for money. The extra price you pay for the advanced course on daytrips is very little compared to the extra charge on a liveaboard.

 

[MichaelWallentin]

There is a whole range of liveaboards available with prices from 21.000 THB and up for a 4 days/4 nights trip - everything included. Many of these liveaboards, but not all, will have spaces available in March, so I would wait with that booking. However! If you have a specific boat you like to book and you already know you like to do the trip, then just book it straight away - The more popular liveabords around here tends to get fully booked most of the season.

If you feel ready to do your advance course, then do it. It is my experience, that it is very individually and not all are ready with only a few dives behind them. If possible do a dive or two before coming to Thailand with your local dive center and ask them for more advises (yes I did noticed that you are from Portland, but a pool dive will fine to tune your skills). Your course will include 2 days of diving from Phuket which can include the Racha islands, Phi Phi islands but also King Cruiser Wreck, Shark Point, Anemone Reef and/or Koh Doc Mai. Price for the course is from 11.000 THB and up with everything included.

With an advanced certification in your hand, you can get the most out your liveaboards trip to the Similans, which include diving around Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. As a little teaser - several liveaboards have seen a lot of manta rays this season. Let's hope it will continue.

I'm sure you'll have a lot of good diving around here and feel free to ask for more details.

Michael W

 

[Zippsy]

I think a 4 day live aboard in the Similans would be a perfect way to get some good diving in a short space of time.

I can highly recommend the White Manta. My wife and I went on the Similans trip a couple of years ago and were impressed enough to take a trip on one of their Malaysian itenaries. The boat is comfortable, food is great but most important of all particularly fro new divers the staff are great.


I have seen on both trips the dive guides take new divers and really help them be it working on AOW, Nitrox courses or simply helping new divers with their computers and weighting etc.

Back when we first dived the Simillans, i believe the reefs and fish life were still recovering from a coral bleach event, however,. from regular updates it seems the Similans is now back to providing amazing diving with regular whale shark and manta sightings. So much so we are considering going again. I would not look at any other boat.

Paul Hutchinson

Thanks much, Paul. We love guests like you!

Lora, I agree with the others about the diving in Thailand and the advanced course. The Similans / Surins / South Andaman areas are very good for newer divers to get more experience. To get the most out of it, e.g., night dives, deeper dives, etc., taking the advanced course during your trip is also a wise decision just as long that you know that owning the certificate is only half the deal in becoming an advanced diver. It takes both education and experience.

Whatever you choose, have happy and safe dives!

~Michael

 

[MikkelBC]

I did my advanced course on a Similans liveaboard about 5 years ago and have been on Thai liveaboards almost every year since then. An important advantage of doing a course on the liveaboard is that you will have an instructor with time allocated to watch out for you (as opposed to a divemaster guiding a group). Even though the instructor will probably be guiding other people too, he/she will still be paying more attention to you because you are students. I think that is very important when you are new divers on your first liveaboard.
Have a wonderful trip. If you choose the Pawara near the end of January, I will see you there!

 

[lora9753]

You can dive form both daytrips and liveaboards as a newer diver here, but if you did choose a liveaboard option I would suggest you take the advanced course on board. This way you still get to experience and see the great diving in an economical way, but also have dives with an instructor who is teaching you the techniques of how to dive them with respect to the conditions.
During the course on board they will teach you proper techniques for the night dives which are on offer as well as drift dives that are done and the deeper dives too. It is a great way to practice the skills under direct supervision of the instructor whilst at some great sites.

Do you think it would be ok to take advanced course when we have virtually no dive experience? I feel so far from advanced. Would there be many dives on the liveaboard we could not do with just OW? Could we still do a night dive as an OW?

Thanks for your help with these questions!