Help with Day Trip in Phuket

[d4jaj1]

Hello,

I will be in Phuket in May and due to scheduling, I will only be able to take a day-trip and dive on Tuesday, May 18th. My question to those familiar with the area is - if you only had a single day to dive - which dive site would you choose to get the most 'picturesque' or quintessential Phuket experience? In my research thus far, Shark Point/King Cruiser 'sounds' the most interesting - but that obviously might not be the case.

2nd question, I will be getting an underwater camera rig and need to know if the waters off Phuket are Blue, Green or it depends on the site.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

[KhunNeal]

Shark Point,Anemone Reef; or Racha Islands are my two favorite day trips
King Cruiser to me is a 'been there, done that' site, not interested in diving it again.

Why would you need to know the color of the water ? ?, are you using a filter.
I'd say blue-green and so variable you wouldn't know until you got there.

 

[d4jaj1]

Shark Point,Anemone Reef; or Racha Islands are my two favorite day trips. King Cruiser to me is a 'been there, done that' site, not interested in diving it again.

Why would you need to know the color of the water ? ?, are you using a filter.

Since I've never been to Thailand, is Kings Cruiser a "been there...." because it looks like every other submerged vessel or some other reason. As for filter, I want to buy a filter and wasn't sure what color I needed - blue or green. Sounds like you are saying both??

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hi There,

If you only have one day - do a three dive daytrip off Phuket.

My personal favorite is Aneamone Reef, Koh Doc Mai and Shark Point. Phi Phi Islands offer great wall dives but are a bit of a hike making it a long day.

I would check with the dive centre when booking to find out which area has recently had the best conditions.

You can buy a blue/green filter for your camera to enhance the true underwater colours by neutralizing underwater blues. You can get different types depending on where you are diving and how deep - maybe talk to your camera shop.

Have a great trip.

 

[Bowmouth]

Don't look any further; do the Sharkpoint 3 dive daytrip.

 

[d4jaj1]

Shark Point seems to be the consensus here, so that's what I'll go with. Now my problem seems to be finding an outfit that offers three dives on Tuesday. I've only been able to find two companies that offer Shark Point on a Tuesday:

Diving Thailand Day Trip discover Phuket’s underwater world
Phuket Diving, Similan Dive, Liveaboard Phuket and Thailand by Diving Thailand.

Has anyone had experience with either of these two companies or know of any other local dive operators that might be a good fit?

 

[Quero]

I agree with the others. Shark Point/Anemone Reef/Koh Doc Mai for three dives, or (if you want to see the wreck, and a lot of people do) Shark Point/King Cruiser/Koh Doc Mai.

 

[BigJeff]

Another vote for Shark Point/Anemone Reef for a single day - of course what you really need to do is change your schedule so you have more than 1 day diving.

I posted a short picture report on the Phuket Day Diving in this Thailand thread, check it out if you haven’t already.

As for the filter, if you need one then for Phuket it's a blue water filter that you need - these are actually a red(ish) colour filter.

There are other ways to get better colour, depending on what your camera is (Still/Video, SLR/Compact etc...)

For video the filter is probably enough, for still there are other options:
1. Shoot RAW (white balance afterward)
2. Shoot JPEG, and Manual white balance underwater
3. Shoot JPEG with a red filter
Both 1 and 2 work better with a flash for closer shots.