Diving and tourist life

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Everything above. If you are a beginner - you wont mind the longish boat rides on modern steel hulled dive boats. They have an upper deck with food counter and soft drink, powder/filter coffee etc (yet to see one with a cappuccino machine) . I believe you are eager to combine travel experiences with diving. Phuket fits the bill perfectly for you. Bali is very good too. Sipadan requires a in-country flight from KL then a 2-3 hours road trip before a boat ride to the dive resort and is completely isolated so leave it for when you are more committed to the hobby. PG shore diving does not have the cleanest water as I suspect sewage from the town most likely dumps into the same water nearby. But it still has the holiday village atmosphere so its a good travel destination. TBH - I've always left PG fighting mild ear/throat infection where my immune system feels a little down and fighting. Especially after the shore dives. You wont get VFM going all the way to PG unless you make day trips to Verde Isle which you only should after you've tucked in upwards of 75 dives in your log book - it is an advanced dive site.

The advantage of diving Thailand for beginners is that new divers are properly chaperoned - to the extent possible, It has what you'd call a dive tourism industry that provides everything you had want - you just have to walk in, sign up (and pay up). Same with Bali/PG and most other S.E Asian tourist spots.

Things will have changed after covid-19 as far as the party scene goes. In fact some Bali nightspots/clubs were shutdown a few years back itself for legal violations.
"yet to see one with a cappuccino machine"
There used to be more, but still 3 daytrip boats with an espresso machine in the area.
 
I am a dive instructor that lives in thailand but I am currently stuck in Florida due to covid situation. I lived and worked in Khao Lak. Dive wise I think this is the best place to be. It is about 100km north of Phuket. Not a city but still many bars and restaurants. Koh Tachai in the Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock are the best dives in Thailand though best for advanced and above. Boat trip can be long if taking a big boat though. My advice is to dive there and then explore Phuket. Phi Phi is a zoo. Be aware that compared to everything else diving in Thailand is expensive. A two tank dive can be between $150 and 175 US with your own gear.
 
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