Buying equipment on Koh Tao?

[kya79]

Hi all,

First post here!

I'm planning on heading to Koh Tao in December to do my Divemaster certification and need to put together a set of gear as I don't yet have my own equipment. I could use a little advice... I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy my gear beforehand (i.e. cheaply online) or pick it up on the island.

As I understand it, prices are reasonable but slightly higher on Koh Tao, but I would gain the benefit of warranty and service from a shop on the island. Some of the gear packages from Scubatoys and Leisurepro are *very* attractively priced, however. Unfortunately, there's a decided lack of online pricing available for stuff in Koh Tao, so it's hard to tell how much I would be saving. Online it seems that I could get a decent set of regs that could stand up to heavy use, a reasonable BCD, and a nitrox-capable computer for 30,000 baht or less... while some of the dive shops on Koh Tao list 30,000 baht as the price of a 'starter' package which I don't think even includes a computer.

Anyone on Koh Tao at the moment have a good idea how much a decent (not totally low-end) set of gear would set me back?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

~K.

 

[lord khram]

Generally speaking dive equipment is significantly more expensive anywhere in Thailand than it is in Europe. I would look at your options in your own country first and I dare say it will be the cheapest option.
Personally I dont buy any equipment in Thailand unless I have to, I either bring it back with me when I visit the UK or get a friend to bring it to Thailand for me if they are coming here.

 

[richdrogpa]

If you know what you need/want, get it home... On Koh Tao you will seriously overpay. Expect to pay more than 30-80% when compared to US online/discount places (i.e. leisurepro.com), depending on brand. AFAIK, the 30,000B is usually basic entry-level stuff, that you could put together for less...

I brought my own stuff and didn't bring my SPG. I thought I can rent one with metric scales. No way, had to buy one. The cheapest one I could find here was 3,300B (approx. US$110), for a the simplest one I could find, a small mini SPG. I could get the same thing back home for US$55...

 

[marinediva]

My experience is very different.
I bought my gear there
and it was very cheap, for the expensive gear. In fact, I paid nearly $2000 AUD for my gear which in Australia the exact gear was priced in total at $ 3700 Aud.
I did get instructor discount which was 20% was well.

 

[stevenl]

Since you seem to know more or less what you want, why don't you ask a few dc's on koh tao, including the dc you plan to do your dm with, for a quotation?
Make sure the equipment you buy is 'international', so common all over the world and not typical for a certain area, especially reg and computer.

 

[marinediva]

Just tried to find the link to Scuba Revolution, which is where I bought my equipment, can't seem to find them.
lol
maybe things have got more expensive there.
Maybe they went broke giving good prices.

This is another supplier but they did not sell Aqualung

Koh Tao Dive Supply | Scuba Diving Equipment

 

[lord khram]

Typical example on the price differences between Thailand and the UK. i recently lost a small knife that I have fixed to my BCD, and the cheapest i could find the same knife in Pattaya was 1100bt which is around £23. The same knife I could have bought at home for £11.95, I find such comparisons to be the norm rather than an exception.
Also beware of buying cheap entry level equipment with your course it will usually be the most basic of equipment and if you end up diving a lot you will find it may soon need replacing.
Another example of my experience is a BCD (Buddy Commando) which I purchased in the UK many years ago whilst it now looks a little worn after several thousand dives it is still functioning perfectly. A friend in Thailand purchased one of the 'cheaper' Scubapro jackets and after around 2 years it was worn out and had to be replaced. May have been less expensive in the short term, but if you are planning to continue diving there is no substitution for quality when it comes to equipment, cheap equipment is exactly that. Remember your life can depend on it.

 

[chrisinthailand]

The only way you'll get cheap gear in Thailand is if you get a huge discount from the Dive Center where you do your course. I'm not familiar with equipment prices in Canada, but I'd imagine that they're similar to Us which makes it a LOT cheaper than buying in Thailand. Same goes for decent wine, nice cars and good bikes. Import tax sucks.

Don't forget to take your luggage allowance into consideration if you're gonna buy gear in Thailand to take home.

 

[marinediva]

just did some price compares with UK US Aust and Thailand on Apek Txt 200 with octupus.
Don't buy in Thailand.
UK price was the best, by round 3000 baht round 10/15 percent cheaper.
Aust and Thai prices were within $30.
Hate to see what the price would be at local DS.
so I stand corrected. things have obviously changed.

 

[richdrogpa]

K.

I found my email from DLJ with the DMT price list. For a basic package, they charged 46,000B. Mostly Aqualung stuff, no computer. If you bring your own stuff, they'll give you discount of 30,000B. Even with that it was still worth it to shop around in the U.S. Also, the US dollar took some beating in the last two years, so it was even cheaper to buy it home. An example:
-- Aqualung Calypso set (unbalanced piston 1st, 2nd stage, octopus, SPG) = 20,900B

I wanted to get a balanced, cold water setup, so I can use it home too:
-- Apeks XTX50, Apeks XTX40 octo, SPG = US$580, after discounts.

That was just a deal I couldn't refuse

BTW, I can email you PDF list with DLJ's 2009 prices for DM equipment... Let me know