8 days in July for PADI OW and transport in Thailand

[squeegy]

Hey All!

I'm just sorting out the details of my trip to Thailand this summer. I will have 8 days free in early July and want to do some diving. Never done it before (except for an hour in a pool) but it's always been a big wish of mine! :scubadive

Ok so I will be in Takua Pa (Phang-nga province) until July 7 and need to be in Bangkok for July 15. This leaves me 8 days to get somewhere, do the 4-day OW program and get up to Bangkok.

My question is where to dive. My possibilities are Phi Phi, Ko Tao or somewhere else in the Gulf. Here are my pros/cons so far:

Ko Phi Phi: possibly bad weather in July (best on Andaman coast though for diving), could take too long for transportation, expensive (I'm only a student!) but very good diving

Ko Tao: relatively mediocre diving (but I'm a beginner so likely good enough) and extremely crowded but better weather, inexpensive, decent location for my timeline

Other Gulf locations: Ko Phangan (around FMP though so probably not), Pattaya (good location for timing but not great OW level diving?), Ko Chang/Samet (don't know much about OW level diving here...)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Diver_City Boys]

If you are not a swimmer like me, you should be awere they want you swim 200 meters for OW

I have dived twice at Racha yai around august, and i got excited about what i saw

 

[squeegy]

Yep I'm aware of the 200m test, I used to swim regularly so this isn't a concern. Sorry if it sounded like I wasn't a swimmer.

 

[Batfish]

Phuket or Phi Phi would be fine. The weather is never that bad in July, and Racha Yai is a better dive site in the low season, as you can dive the east coast more easily - the east coast has better visibility and better corals. Racha Yai is dived from Phuket, which would certainly be the quickest place to get to. 8 days is plenty to complete an Open Water course, and there are plenty of flights to Bangkok. When planning, please try to allow 24 hours between diving and flying.