In Phuket right now. PADI??? Phi Phi maybe..

[sarachryan]

Hi

2 of us are in Phuket right now and we're leaving our hotel tomorrow to go do a PADI. Probably in Phi Phi Don. We're looking for some recommendations and recommendations for somewhere with decent air con accommodation as well. Maybe somewhere in Phi Phi, with a bit of life without being Patong.
From there we were hoping to get on a liveaboard to the Similians.
All and any recommendations very gratefully received.

 

[stevenl]

If you want to go to the Similans afterwards, it makes more sense to stay on Phuket and do your course here and go to the Similans, or go to Khao Lak for both your courses and liveaboard.

 

[katdiver]

Nice idea, do your PADI in Similan. Last year on a liveaboard, I saw a young couple doing their check out dives then joining the rest of us once qualified.

 

[stevenl]

I would not recommend to do the course in the Similans. That is quite expensive, the best divesites are out of your reach and because you will be focussed on yourself and not so much yet on the surroundings you won't be able to really enjoy the Similans the way a certified diver can.

 

[Bowmouth]

I agree with Stevenl and don't think the Similan Islands should be a place where people do entry level scuba diving courses.
Imo the Similan Islands should be kept for certified divers only and preferably with a minimum of 20 logged dives or so.

 

[katdiver]

Then what would be your opinion of those companies that offer training in that beautiful setting? Surely any good instructor can find many sheltered sites for training, and it's more choice for the customers.

 

[stevenl]

If you look at coral reefs used for student training, you see that those reefs are damaged more than others.

Si IMO there should be no student training at the Similans.

 

[Bowmouth]

Then what would be your opinion of those companies that offer training in that beautiful setting? Surely any good instructor can find many sheltered sites for training, and it's more choice for the customers.

The Similans is a very special place for diving. So special I think that beginner divers, divers with buoyancy problems, divers who haven't dived for longer than a year and underwater photographers should be properly evaluated before being granted access to these islands.
Too many boats, too many (poorly trained) divers, too many ignorant "experienced" divers have left/are leaving their mark on the reefs here and have attributed to damage to the reefs and other marinelife.
Unfortunately the word "quantity" and not "quality" has been year after year the slogan of the people who "run, rule and ruin" the Similan National Park.

If you think the Similans is great today than you never dived it in the early ninetees I'm sure.

It has happened in an accelerated way in the Gulf as well and I remember diving Chumporn and Koh Tao in 1991. There were actually healthy reefs just off the beaches at Koh Tao and look what they have today. Rubble, dead coral, sediment and sewage problems, garbage and very-very little fishlife.

Divers and tourism do leave their impact and not always in a favorable way for the eco-system if it's not properly managed and protected.

 

[katdiver]

Thanks guys, that's just the kind of qualification I was looking for.