Diving with a short timline due to flights

[josephc]

Hi everyone,

I got sent out to Bangkok for work and will be done on Friday June 5th and have a flight booked to fly out of Bangkok the late evening Tuesday June 9th. That gives me roughly 4 days to have a mini scuba diving adventure. I was wondering if anyone had any tips/recommendations for doing a multi day scuba diving course for a certification that I can get to Friday night and will also be close enough that I can get back to Bangkok on the 9th. It seems most courses are 3 - 4 days long and far out such as at Koh Phi Phi which seem to take too much time to get to and from for me to do a course.

Any tips or recommendations is greatly appreciated!!

 

[MikkelBC]

I think your best bet would be to fly to Phuket on the 5th and back to BKK on the 9th. There are lots of dive operations there. That will give you 3 days for your course (June 6,7,8). Remember that you should wait at least 18 hours after your last dive before flying, so that means that you cannot dive on the 9th.
If you take your theory online with PADI eLearning in advance, you can save some time there. It is a bit of a waste sitting in a classroom doing theory when you only have a couple of days in Thailand.

Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, etc. have cheap flights to Phuket.

It has been many years since I took my PADI Open Water course, but for other trips I have had very nice treatment from Scubacat. One important quality, in my opinion, is that they respond promptly and thoroughly to inquiries. If I were you, I would contact them. They can also help you with information about transportation and accommodation close to the dive center.
Here is their page for the Open Water course: PADI Open Water Diver - Scuba cat diving - phuket : Scuba cat diving

Happy diving!
Mikkel

 

[stevenl]

Yes, you should be able to do this.

I would strongly recommend you to do the e-learning in advance. Should not cost you anything extra and will make sure you can do the course in 3 days since all theory will be finished. If not e-learning some DC's will still offer you the course in 3 days, but that will be a certification course only, you will not learn how to dive properly.