Khao Lak (similan islands) liveaboards adviced needed

[gwklein]

My opinion: don't do (even part of) the open water course on a liveaboard, do it in full landbased.


I don't know who told you this, but none of it is correct.

When I was in Thailand last, the English news had coverage similar to the following: Similan Rangers and Navy to Enforce Rules & Regulations

 

[stevenl]

When I was in Thailand last, the English news had coverage similar to the following: Similan Rangers and Navy to Enforce Rules & Regulations

Thanks.

That refers to making sure captains and tourguides are licensed.

There is no law or rule to make sure divers are diving according to their certification depth or similar, even stronger, just like in many countries there is no law or rule divers must be certified when going diving. These decisions are up to the operator, and the last few years operators are more often saying: open water diver can go to 18, want to go deeper need at least advanced deep diver dive.

 

[charlier]

+1 for getting OW before the trip. It might be a good idea to get a bit more experience before your trip, so why not go diving another day or two before your LoB. Additional experience will help with making your AOW class experience. Many boats have excellent instructors for the AOW class while onboard. If possible, a few LoB's go to the Similian and Surin Islands as well as Hin Daeng and Hin Muang in the southern Andaman Islands. ;~)

He should get certified before the trip. On most boats he will not be allowed to dive, on some he will but it will be much more expensive plus very limited. On top of that, many boats these days require to have at least the AOW deep certificate. This can also easily be done on board though.

Do a trip of minimum 4 days/4 nights, which is the standard really. Since you mention '4-7 days', you could use the remaining 3 days to get your husband certified