2 Middle aged adults looking to do Open Water Certification in BKK

[Robert Harrison]

My wife and I want to do get Open Water Certification at an adult-friendly instruction facility. We are both close to 50 years old. Where would be a nice place to learn during late Sept.?

Robert

 

[lord khram]

There really isn't any diving direct from Bangkok. The nearest dive location is Pattaya, but the quality of diving there is really not very good, and the city is not really the best place to visit with your wife. Should you need to be near to Bangkok and elect to go to pattaya, for training I would recommend Real Divers, they do have a website that contains all information you should need to know. Koh Chang in the East of Thailand is also an option, one of my favourite spots in Thailand, but during September although coming towards the end of the rainy season can still have its fair share of bad weather. Also the diving there whilst of a decent standard is far from the best available. (this really applies to anywhere in the gulf of thailand)

Having said that, even though the travelling is further from Bangkok I would recommend the Andaman coast of Thailand, by far the best diving available in the country, one of my favourite islands is Koh Lanta, also some nice places on Phuket if you avoid Patong and the other larger towns. With regard to recommending individual dive shops and training facilities in this area there are people that post here regularly that are far better placed than me to give specific recomendations, I am sure you will hear from some of them soon.

John

 

[Quero]

Hi Robert. For a couple like you who will be dive buddies from initial learning onwards, it would be nice if you could get a private instructor. This would make the course as "adult-friendly" as it can get. One of our Thailand members here, Sinbad Scuba, is a retiree who is an instructor in Bangkok. I don't personally know him or how he teaches, but perhaps you could contact him for information and references.

Otherwise, come to Phuket and I'll personally take care of you.

 

[Buadhai]

Just a bit of curiosity. Your profile notes that you are in Manila. Is there some reason you're choosing to learn to dive in Bangkok rather than some place more local?

 

[Manow]

Go to Phuket! Pattaya sucks and so does Bangkok. That's just the plain truth. Okay, here's the deal: Phuket is a big island, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. No really an island if you ask me, but that's a debate. Anyway, Phuket "Island" has many different beaches. Kata Beach or Karon Beach are the best. All of the Dive shops launch from the same place, and hit the basic 6 dive spots. Details: Catch a flight from the Bangkok Airport to Phuket International Airport. It's like buying a bus ticket. It's about an hour, and cost bout $50-75 each way from the Bangkok Airport. If you stay in Kata, a good cheap hotel is the Outdoor Inn Resort. I've stayed there many times. It's less than $20.00 per night. Clean, modern and safe. There are lots of them actually, and the airport van or taxi will both stop at a hacker's office, and they will try to get you to go to one of their hotels. All price ranges. They earn comission. You pick. I go to the less expensive hotels. You have lots of dive shops right there in Kata. Marina Diver's is excellent. Also, Sun rise diving. There are others, but these are two I like. It will run about 300 to 400 to get certified as basic open water divers. They will train you in a pool & then take you out to some really cool reefs. Tip your instructor if things go well. Stay away from Bangkok, and as another writer said, Pattaya is no place to take your wife. Also, the diving in Pattay is really bad. Basically, you have the Adaman sea on one side (Phuket) and the Golf of Thailand/Pattaya on the other. Phuket is cool, and you will like it. Cheers.

 

[samtihen]

I also recommend Phuket at that time. The Gulf side will be in low season. I also agree about Pattaya... the diving wasn't very good there.

 

[lord khram]

I also agree about Pattaya... the diving wasn't very good there.

I must say your description of the Pattaya diving is most polite, compared to other descriptions I have heard over the years.

 

[idivethesea]

I also agree with several of the comments:

Pattaya diving is awful. And the quality of instruction that I was witness to was equally as bad. This could be true anywhere but my gut feeling is that it is more prevalent in the Pattaya area.

Everything you do in Phuket is more expensive in comparison to anywhere else in Thailand, lodging, transportation, food etc. Although your timing is in the off season, so Phuket would be an option as well, also the diving is among the best.

Kho Lanta is far and away my favorite choice, fly in to Krabi, it's just an hour flight.

There's no diving in the immediate Bangkok area.

Make sure you get a foreign (USA/Europe/Aus/etc.) instructor and absolutely take a private course if at all possible. Make sure your instructor has logged plenty of experience, along with all those certifications. I'm not slighting the Thai instructors but I live and work here and have first hand knowledge of "lost in translation" so common in Thailand.

As a frequent visitor to PI, I can assure you there are great facilities in your local area, actually I would guess the level of instruction there may be more consistently superior to what you might find in Thailand.

Good luck and enjoy the sea......

 

[Buadhai]

Looks like the OP joined up, made one post and never came back:

Join Date August 18th, 2011
Last Activity August 18th, 2011 01:19 PM

 

[idivethesea]

yeah....but then look at me, I joined years ago, made one post to assist a friend and never really came back.... Sometimes we have good intentions but.....



But now I'm here and plan to be a regular.......