bit of help for thailand

[waikatoboy]

My girlfreind and i are off to thailand and have about six months to dedicate to alot of diving and sun and the rest, We are wanting to begin with our divemaster and carry on from there depending how that go's maybe our IDC training.
Ive heard the pro's and con's between the andaman and the gulf of thailand as we were suppose to do this a year ago but had to put it off for other reasons than the tsunami. We had decided that even with all the different replies we had from everybody we still didn't have a clue which way to go.
So a couple of questions.
-How bad is the visibility between november and may round koh tao?
-Are the options of divemaster trainning and IDC training round koh phi phi, As so many tourists are still not back is there not over kill with instructers and divemasters at the mo?
-And which visa do i need as a New Zealand/dutch citizen to planing on following these course's?
-Alot of people warned me off doing my trainning on koh tao due to the easier dive sites with little variation, is that the same with koh phi phi?
-is that still the case with koh tao.

Any info would be great,

thanks

 

[ssra30]

Around Koh Tao, viz was generally around 8-12m in January when I was there. Viz progressively got better and was very nice around April. However Nov-April is considered high season for Andaman Sea while Koh Tao high season probably started sometimes in April to August.
Between Nov-April, I would rather go to Andaman side.
Passport wise, most people come on tourist visa which means they need to leave the country every 1 month to renew the visa, easier to do if you are down south around Phuket. I don't know if you can get other special visa that would let you stay longer without having to leave the country.

 

[waikatoboy]

Thanks
but any ideas about koh phi phi , Is the variation of diving good enough for trainning as dive master? I had heard that in koh tao that wasn't the case?

 

[stevenl]

Yes, Phi Phi and also the other places on the Andaman offer very good diving with lots of divesites with different conditions. Some have currents others don't, deep is no problem, etc.
A good DM Training should be no problem anywhere on the Andaman Coast (at least in that respect).

 

[popje]

Hi. As someone who has worked on both sides, here's my opinion.

-How bad is the visibility between november and may round koh tao?

Viz is almost perpetually bad all year round in koh tao. Except for a few nice weeks in the year. This is due to the Gulf being so shallow and any water movement stirs up the bottom.

-Are the options of divemaster trainning and IDC training round koh phi phi, As so many tourists are still not back is there not over kill with instructers and divemasters at the mo?

I personally love phi phi and was about to move over there from phuket to work until this big wave came along and I moved to samui instead. (Bad move but I didn't have much choice. In order to carry on diving, one needs to eat.) Plenty of dm training available (go look for sophie at phi phi scuba) and also IDC from time to time. But doing your IDC in phuket should be equally convenient. That's what most people on phi phi do.

Don't know about the instructor/dm numbers at the moment. I know phuket's pretty empty.

-And which visa do i need as a New Zealand/dutch citizen to planing on following these course's?

Try applying for a 2 month double entry tourist visa. It's extendable for a month at the cost of B1900 (ie. 3 mths total before having to do visa run). Different countries issue different visas so go visit the Thai Embassy. (bring a passport photo.)

-Alot of people warned me off doing my trainning on koh tao due to the easier dive sites with little variation, is that the same with koh phi phi?
-is that still the case with koh tao.

I'll keep my mouth wisely and firmly shut about koh tao dmt's. However, personally I would not do my dmt or idc in koh tao. (or samui for that fact). I would have loved to do my dmt on phi phi though. Phi phi is beautiful. (the diving, I mean). And the only thing that's changed about koh tao is their garbage disposal problem.

Hope that helps.

 

[seandixie]

I was going to start my own thread but I'll join this one for now. I too am looking to do divemaster in Thailand. I'll be there from mid October and have pretty much discounted Koh Tao/Samui. Having dived on both sides of Thailand I think there's more to see on the other side. I'd like to train close to the Similans and I've done liveaboards with Seadragon. A very proffessional German(?) based dive company. However their emailed reply to my course enquieries wasn't the most inspiring!

I tend to judge companies(when I've nothing else to go on) these days very much by the quality of their websites and of course opinions in forums etc. Anyone here have any experience with Planetscuba? I sent them an email and am still awaiting a reply.

Waikatoboy - I'm not sure about New Zealand but from the UK you can apply for up to four multiple entry tourist visa stamps at a cost of £25 per stamp. Having just one stamp allows you to spend up to three months in Thailand without having to leave or getting fined.

http://www.thaiembassynz.org.nz/TRAVELLERS.htm

Try there for info.

Sean.

 

[popje]

As far as I know, Planet Scuba is in Koh Tao. I don't recall a planet scuba on phuket or phi phi.

 

[waikatoboy]

Hey cheers for that,
I have been checking out the Phi Phi web site and things seem to be getting back on track. Are the tourists still staying away? I hope not.
Any other info welcome.
And Maybe see some of you in a couple of months i cant wait.

cheers.

 

[dancingcoral]

I have dived with Planet Scuba, and that was on Ko Tao.
Definitely, there are enough customers if you go to Ko Lanta and do the trainign there - same divesites as Phi Phi, hardly any damage from tsunami and lots of tourists (divers) returning for the coming season, starting end of November.

 

[Ringo]

Hey cheers for that,
I have been checking out the Phi Phi web site and things seem to be getting back on track. Are the tourists still staying away? I hope not.
Any other info welcome.
And Maybe see some of you in a couple of months i cant wait.

cheers.

There is generally a more positive feedback re:tourists returning to both Phi Phi and Phuket. Presently there are more tourists around than earlier this year. Judging from email bookings, hotel reservations etc the figures are definitely up. So enjoy your stay in Thailand!