Going to Thai. in 10 days need, some info

[PAPD]

I wanted to know, are all the dives done in and around Phuket going to be escorted by a divemaster? Are their any sites or dive trip operations that allow for just you and your buddy to dive your own plan?

Also any recommendation for dive operators will be helpful.

thanks

 

[Batfish]

All boats will provide divemasters, usually at a ratio of 4 : 1, but if you are reasonably experienced and prefer to dive as a buddy team, just talk to the tour leader or the office where you book your diving. If you decide to dive without the local guide, please listen to the briefing, particularly with regard to local currents, entry and exit techniques, maximum dive time and take a look at the map! You should have and know how to use a surface marker buoy (SMB). Most dives are drift dives and the boat will pick you up wherever you finish, so you should inflate the SMB before you surface. This is also important since at some sites there is boat traffic overhead.

Hope you have a good trip.

 

[scubadudee]

Try Scubacat.com located in Karon but can pick you up from Patong Phuket. Or islanddivers.com located in Phi Phi if you plan to go there. diveparadise.com located just behind patong beach resort Fantasea.com, Marina divers.

Actually you can simply walk in to almost any shops there. Unless you plan to look at their schedules...etc. price wise is almost just about the same...they are rather competitive.

Happy Diving my friend!!

 

[Lemonade]

On Genesis 1 during initial briefing/orientation we were told that buddy teams are more than welcome to dive without being guided by a divemaster.

Naturally, those who choose to do so do not get to see ghost pipe fish, seahorse, etc. that hide in a certain hole under a certain rock and were found by the dive staff couple months ago…

 

[PAPD]

thanks for the help guys/girls. Any good beach dive locations that you know of?

From what I've read, Phi Phi looks like a place you can do some of that....?

 

[RSdiver]

Shore diving in Phuket?
Prices are cheap and the dive sites a bit far out to swim that far.

Just show up and walk down Taweewong road (adjacent to the Ocean) in Patong and ask the several dive shops.

 

[theslyfox01]

I went to Thailand (and Laos) for 2 months recently, got back at the end of Jan. Did a reasonable amount of diving in Pattaya and on Phi Phi, a couple of my friends also got there open water on Ko Phan Yang (or however its spelt)

Overall we found it was very difficult to hire gear from LDS's they always wanted you to come out on their boat for the day and pay for the group package - divemaster, lunch, the boat etc.

As for shore dives we didn't come across many, certainly the more spectacular dive sights are out in open water, if you go too thailand there are 2 dives I highly recommend, the first is Hin Muang which is south of Phi-Phi and can be reached from Phi-Phi by speed-boats (the relative expense of the dive is well worth it, the speed boat itself is so much fun it would be worth going on even if you didn't dive, ours in particular had twin 200 horsepower engines) :mouth:

The second is the Hardeep, a Jap freighter sunk by the Allies in WW2 close to Pattaya (which is 2 hours south of Bangkok) it's a great wreck dive that's very open and easy to penetrate, you don't even need a reel really, might as well use one though I suppose to be mr. safety

The dive shops I went through were 'Phi-Phi scuba' on Phi-Phi who were reasonably professional, and Larry's dive in Pattaya who were very good. Best thing about Phi-Phi scuba is they always take a cameraman with your dive group and film everything and you can buy the footage on VHS or VCD for about $US40 I think, not a bad way to capture a dive with heaps of Mantas.. we personally didn't run into any whale sharks

The only trouble with Phi-Phi and Ko Phan Yang was the hire gear, especially the BC's were nasty:holycow: they looked like they were as old as I am but you get that on remote islands I suppose, they did function ok at least. If I could of I would of brought my own BC and regs.

If you have any more questions about it let me know, otherwise enjoy the holiday, especially the cheappppp food!! Phi-Phi's food is awesome.

PS we all stayed clear of Phuket because its so expensive accommodation wise but the diving sounds awesome around there.

Have fun

 

[The Hamburger]

Larry's dive I think has closed down in Pattaya.

It moved locations , but I think its now given up the ghost.

It's still going in BKK but the two instructors from Pattaya are no longer with them.

Kevin returned to his job in the UK and Peter is running PJ SCUBA

Cheers

 

[neilstewart]

Hi I was in Phuket over christmas, did a couple of day boats out of Phuket but by far (factor of 10) the best diving is to be had is in the similan islands. Two choices either take a 4 day cruise in which case you will probably get to surin, koh bon and Richleiu as well which are all terrific. I went on the Junk www.thejunk.com really good boat excellent food, terrific crew. big big mantas. yey!!! Mick, Jay, Kay and Martin all first class bods.

I also transfered to the scubacat which stays in the similan islands (although the dive operation has another boat which does the 5 night 4 day tour). The convenience of this is you can transfer to it every other day, more fantastic diving, great people and comfortable big platform dive boat, food good standard but after the junk, well no-one would top that chef. Patrik's in charge on board, he's a really nice guy, will let you buddy up and do your own thing no problem. I teamed up with Nils because we were both taking video/stills and we spent our 5 days usually going so slow we didn't see other divers much. I think they charge around $100 a day but that is 5 dives(if you want them), food and accomodation and well worth it.

I really really strongly suggest that you do go liveaboard in the simlians even if its just for 2 days on the cat, if you stick to day boats out of Phuket you will surely miss the best diving Thailand has to offer.

Let me know if I can give you any more info, I do have a photo album of my trip and would be happy to gve you a link. If you end up on Scubacat please remember me to Patrik and ask him to email me about meeting up in South Africa this summer.

Neil
Team Professional
New Year 2002

 

[Albion]

I would also recomend getting in touch scubacat, i did two trips last year on their Scuba adventure boat (the one that isnt like a brick) and it was spot on. the second trip started with a whale shark in the first minute of the first dive. Would try and spend as much time as possible at Richelieu rock and Koh Bon / Tachai best sites for whale sharks, leopard sharks and mantas. The other sites are good but these three spots are superb.