Experiences with Pattaya DCs

[donalbain]

I've searched and seen some general negative comments about dive centers in Pattaya, but without the actual names of the dive center.

Assuming one had to take deep/nitrox courses in Pattaya, who would you recommend using or recommend staying away from?

 

[stiggy]

There are plenty of good operators in pattaya.

PM Jamie Mac he has good knowledge of that kind of course and will point you in the right direction up there.

unfortunately there are a few that had a bad day on a boat once in Pattaya and seem stuck in a scuba type ground hog day ,Ignore them and have fun enjoy your course.

 

[lord khram]

Simply just avoid Pattaya if you are serious about diving. There are far better places to dive in Thailand and everywhere else in the world.
I dive regularly in Pattaya because generally I live there. If I was considering a diving holiday pattaya would not be on the list.
The diving here is 'less than spectacular', the service you receive is generally quite expensive and poor - mediocre at best.
But if as I do and you find yourself staying in the area for other reasons, give it a go, but if you spend a lot of money and time coming to Thailand just to dive, best to find another destination to avoid disappointment.
Select your DC with care, I suggest trying them out before you consider handing larger sums of money for courses to them. There are many bad boys in the area that in my mind should not be allowed to operate in the manner that they do.

 

[lord khram]

I've searched and seen some general negative comments about dive centers in Pattaya, but without the actual names of the dive center.

Assuming one had to take deep/nitrox courses in Pattaya, who would you recommend using or recommend staying away from?

Yes I think we should name and shame bad dive centres, and of course praise the good ones to help others make their choices.

 

[penguintom]

There are plenty of good operators in pattaya.

PM Jamie Mac he has good knowledge of that kind of course and will point you in the right direction up there.

unfortunately there are a few that had a bad day on a boat once in Pattaya and seem stuck in a scuba type ground hog day ,Ignore them and have fun enjoy your course.

Please read point 70 on my divemaster thread it is not a bad day on a boat once in Pattaya.
They are 5 very real experiences at 5 different shops very recently.
I think I know the posts you are refering to and I myself dismissed a lot of what I read as mindless ranting. This to my cost I since found out to be not the case, you should give it a try yourself sometime and you may find out how close to the truth a lot of what is written on this forum actually is.

 

[penguintom]

I've searched and seen some general negative comments about dive centers in Pattaya, but without the actual names of the dive center.

Assuming one had to take deep/nitrox courses in Pattaya, who would you recommend using or recommend staying away from?

I am not posting shop names on the public forum, but if you think it will assist and you want to PM me I will let you know which shops apply to the points I made (post 70 divemaster course thread).
On condition you dont make the names public as this only seems to cause arguments on here.

 

[stiggy]

Penquin Tom

I'm sure you had more than a unsatisfactory experience Im not doubting you at all, So do the Op a favor and PM him with your recommendations.Last time I was there I counted a lot more than 5 stores.

The point im making is you cannot write off diving in Pattaya in its entirety based on some people experiences.

My advise to the OP remains the same as in my original post.

Once again enjoy your deep and Nitrox course.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Hi Donald,

Pattaya is definitely a place anyone interested in wreck or even later progressing into tech needs to visit. Three wrecks in the 26-31 meter range. Yes, teh viz and currents are better in some places, but the area has unique attributes that bring people back time and time again.

Tom, in his post, has described some bad experiences he had. Some we think may indeed be chronic problems, but others can be classified as isolated incidnets that can happen at some point anywhere. As for Lord Khram, if you research them, you'll find all 436 posts of his are pretty much alike. He is Stiggy's "groundhog day" example.

Pattaya is a great place to dive, but we also tell people its just one of many places they should experience.

Just an FYI: you can start your Nitrox course through PADI eLearning now. Will save you some time in a classroom better spent under water!

 

[lord khram]

Penquin Tom

I'm sure you had more than a unsatisfactory experience Im not doubting you at all, So do the Op a favor and PM him with your recommendations.Last time I was there I counted a lot more than 5 stores.

The point im making is you cannot write off diving in Pattaya in its entirety based on some people experiences.

My advise to the OP remains the same as in my original post.

Once again enjoy your deep and Nitrox course.

How can you expect what you are writing to have any credibility when you quite clearly have not read / understood the posts you are commenting on.
It is not Tom that wishes to do the deep and nitrox course.
Just listen to real experiences of my own and others that actually live there, and admit that the whole Pattaya dive industry is rotton to the core.

 

[lord khram]

Hi Donald,

Pattaya is definitely a place anyone interested in wreck or even later progressing into tech needs to visit. .

As for Lord Khram, if you research them, you'll find all 436 posts of his are pretty much alike. .

Pattaya is a great place to dive, .

Yes pattaya is a great place and well worth a visit. But how can anyone making such clearly untrue statements expect to gain any credibility.
This sort of dross is typical of the sales pitches used in the area for so many years. the ones of us that live there know better than to listen to it any more.