I'm planning on doing the PADI Open Water course this spring time in Thailand, but not exactly sure where. I've spent a great deal of time searching for which dive shop to go to and at which location...with so many dive shops at different locations, I'm at lost. I have narrowed it down to Kao Lak and then to a liveaboard that will provide me the OW course as well. But as a newbie wanting to learn the basics of scuba diving, is it better to do the PADI OW course on a liveaboard in terms of intensive learning and quality time? If so, what liveaboards that offer the OW course can you guys recommend?
liveaboard for the OW course?
- Thread starter chocoloca
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I'm not local to you, so I can't advise on boats. But I can see a bunch of reasons why I wouldn't suggest doing an OW class on a liveaboard.
To begin with, do you get seasick? If you do, realize you may be trying to get through a class where you are ill during the class time AND outside of it.
Second, if you have any problems with your ears, for example, you do not really have the option of taking a day or two off, or joining a later class. The same is true if you have any problems mastering skills. And you could face trying to learn to dive in pretty challenging conditions, if the weather turns against you.
If you end up having to sit out a day or more, you are sitting on a liveaboard, with little to do but sit.
Me, I'd get the OW done from a land-based operator, and then consider a liveaboard trip later on. But maybe things are different in Thailand.
To begin with, do you get seasick? If you do, realize you may be trying to get through a class where you are ill during the class time AND outside of it.
Second, if you have any problems with your ears, for example, you do not really have the option of taking a day or two off, or joining a later class. The same is true if you have any problems mastering skills. And you could face trying to learn to dive in pretty challenging conditions, if the weather turns against you.
If you end up having to sit out a day or more, you are sitting on a liveaboard, with little to do but sit.
Me, I'd get the OW done from a land-based operator, and then consider a liveaboard trip later on. But maybe things are different in Thailand.
I would suggest, at minimum and if it is at all possible, doing the theory and pool work in your home town. It's called a referall course. Leave the boat for diving and relaxing. Personally, I would not be too worried about doing the open water dives in Thailand but an instructor who works with you on the first part of the coursee would be in a much better position to evaluate how ready you are for the dives from a boat.
lord khram
Contributor
I agree with the last two posts. for many reasons there are far better environments than a liveaboard to take your OWC.
stevenl
Contributor
Agree, do the open water course land based.
TSandM has some very good and valid points...
I would definitely investigate the Liveaboard operator and operations prior to doing a certification on a Liveaboard. I have taken a couple and for the most part, to me they should be reserved for “fun dives”. By design they go to really cool and spectacular locations...if you want to train IMO you should train in an enviornment that is nice but were you can concentrate on the training and not the Charismatic Mega-fauna…
Now with that said, I would like to relate a very pleasant and enjoyable learning experience that my brother and I had in Phuket last September doing some training on a Liveaboard.
I found that I had to either use or lose a vacation 10-day vacation with my work. And if I didn’t take it I would not get another one until possible as late as June (Contract Work). So I chose to return to Thailand as it is fairly inexpensive and the diving was great in the Similan Islands (via www.thejunk.com ) last March. As a gift I bought my brother an Open Water course in Denver, Colorado and then he was to join me in Thailand. However, due to time constraints he was not able to complete the course but just needed the Open Water Phase. So we decided to look for a dive company where he could finish his open water and I could take a course or two myself.
Based upon a recommendation from a work colleague, we looked at Scuba Cat in Phuket ( www.scubcat.com ). And we could not have been any happier with our experience. They have a Liveaboard especially set up for training in a great harbor (I don’t have my logbook with me, but I think it was Rachi Yai).
Here is what “we” experienced:
I completed course work for my Master Scuba Diver Cert (PADI).
I took the National Geography Course
I took the Deep Diver Course
I took the EAN Course
I took the UW Photography Course
I took the Wreck Driver Course
My brother completed his Open Water Referral (PADI)
My Brother also took his Advance Open Water Cert (PADI)
We had a couple of night dives
We had a couple of “fun” dives
What made all of this special was by doing the training on the Liveaboard we were not rushed in the morning. All of our gear was handy and well maintained by the crew and us. We got as many as four dives per day as oppose to the normal two dives per day (we thought this was a great time/cost value). One day my brother had problems with his ears…no worries. He took a few dives off and rested. In the evenings we read our training manuals and enjoyed the other guests / instructors’ company. I know that in September is the off season that could be why I had an instructor dedicated to me…he was great and I now consider him (Thai neamed Chart...highly recommended) a friend. By diving the same harbor we could concentrate on learning the skills and not being taken in by the scenery, still be overjoyed with the dives.
All-in-all, our training experience with Scuba Cats in Phuket was fantastic and would highly recommend them. The next day we took a three-dive daily excursion to some other islands that were much more spectacular than Rachi Yai…but those were “fun dives” where we could put our training into good use. We booked our trip for those dives through Thailand Divers ( www.thailand-divers.com ) and these guys were awesome too.
I hope that my take-away from this is whether Land –based or Liveaboard-based training, please research your training program. Contact the operator and discuss with them their business operations and training methods. I would even recommend once you narrow your choices down but a feeler out on Scubaboard…I have been given great advice before. I based my on recommendations from friends who know both of these Phuket operators and the Junk Liveaboard was highly recommended on Scubaboard.
Good luck and enjoy the diving…:scubadive:
~Michael~
P.S. The hotel Seven Seas charged us $17 per night…nice, clean and very basic. ( www.phuketsevenseas.com )
Thanks to you all that did reply. 
I have thought about the things you have mentioned that could possibly be a problem while on a liveaboard when I'm just learning the basics of scuba diving. Although, I don't get seasick but who knows maybe I'd have problems with my ears.
I live in Hong Kong and the dive industry here practically almost don't exist. For what it has to offer, I would rather get my diving certification in a place that isn't murky or almost no living marine creatures. I'll prolly do the theory online and the rest in Phuket, Thailand.
I have thought about the things you have mentioned that could possibly be a problem while on a liveaboard when I'm just learning the basics of scuba diving. Although, I don't get seasick but who knows maybe I'd have problems with my ears. I live in Hong Kong and the dive industry here practically almost don't exist. For what it has to offer, I would rather get my diving certification in a place that isn't murky or almost no living marine creatures. I'll prolly do the theory online and the rest in Phuket, Thailand.
Chocoloca,
There are many really good operators in Phuket...the water is great, and there is quite the night life if that is of interest to you.
I did my PADI Advance Open Water and Rescue Diver courses online. I enjoyed them. My recommendation though is to make sure your actual Live Instructor does a good review of the on-line information and does not just rushes you through the required checklist. The Open Water Cert and its knowledge base is the foundation that you will build the rest of your diving education on. The better the foundation the more sound the structure.
Good choice on Phuket...and the spring is a fantastic time of year to go there. After your OW...take some "Fun Dives"...you will love the experience.
BTW...
There is a kid selling sunglasses in Phuket; if you see him tell him he owes me 50 Baut, my glasses fell apart within a week.
~Me~
There are many really good operators in Phuket...the water is great, and there is quite the night life if that is of interest to you.
I did my PADI Advance Open Water and Rescue Diver courses online. I enjoyed them. My recommendation though is to make sure your actual Live Instructor does a good review of the on-line information and does not just rushes you through the required checklist. The Open Water Cert and its knowledge base is the foundation that you will build the rest of your diving education on. The better the foundation the more sound the structure. Good choice on Phuket...and the spring is a fantastic time of year to go there. After your OW...take some "Fun Dives"...you will love the experience.
BTW...
There is a kid selling sunglasses in Phuket; if you see him tell him he owes me 50 Baut, my glasses fell apart within a week.
~Me~
I've been up at Kuraburi diving Richelieu for the past few days so am coming late to the discussion. I agree with the others in regard to not doing the basic Open Water course aboard a liveaboard. I'd like to add a few reasons, though.
Standards restrict the depth and the number of dives during a training course, and when you aren't certified yet, you are not able to do "fun" dives, so doing four dives a day during the Open Water course isn't an option. Most liveaboards do offer four dives a day, so that means while you pay for all of those dives, you don't actually get to do them all.
Say, for example, that you jump on a four-day-four-night liveaboard to the Similans out of Khao Lak (which you state is your preferred locale)--this is the most common trip length, though there are shorter and longer trips on a few ops. So your first day is devoted to theory and "confined water" training, which by definition is not on a regular dive site, but rather in "swimming-pool-like" conditions. From a liveaboard this means a shallow, sandy bay rather than the reef the fun divers are diving on. It's possible, depending on how the instructor formats the course, that you will get one open water training dive on this day. Your second day might be the same as the first day, or if you have rushed through all of the theory and confined water training in a single day, you may progress to the open water dives on the second day (though in my opinion, three-day courses only shortchange the students). At any rate, no one day can have more than three open water training dives, so whether you do one or three dives on that day, you will still need at least one more day of training with at least one more dive. This means you have spent more than 50% of your time on the liveaboard not doing the dives you paid for. I don't personally think it's a good deal.
Do it land-based, and if possible, request a private instructor. You will make better progress when your instructor doesn't have to divide his/her attention amongst a bunch of students, and you are more likely to be ready for the liveaboard experience after a course like that than if you are in a group class.
(And as an aside, Racha Yai, where Oldbear's brother did his OW course is our usual training site out of Phuket, and as such, it isn't really what we think of when we discuss a liveaboard trip. Yes, students sleep on the boat, but it stays pretty much in one place for long periods, and during these periods it doesn't travel like a typical liveaboard does. It's more like a floating hut resort, so it's really more similar to a land-based option than it is to a regular liveaboard option.)
Standards restrict the depth and the number of dives during a training course, and when you aren't certified yet, you are not able to do "fun" dives, so doing four dives a day during the Open Water course isn't an option. Most liveaboards do offer four dives a day, so that means while you pay for all of those dives, you don't actually get to do them all.
Say, for example, that you jump on a four-day-four-night liveaboard to the Similans out of Khao Lak (which you state is your preferred locale)--this is the most common trip length, though there are shorter and longer trips on a few ops. So your first day is devoted to theory and "confined water" training, which by definition is not on a regular dive site, but rather in "swimming-pool-like" conditions. From a liveaboard this means a shallow, sandy bay rather than the reef the fun divers are diving on. It's possible, depending on how the instructor formats the course, that you will get one open water training dive on this day. Your second day might be the same as the first day, or if you have rushed through all of the theory and confined water training in a single day, you may progress to the open water dives on the second day (though in my opinion, three-day courses only shortchange the students). At any rate, no one day can have more than three open water training dives, so whether you do one or three dives on that day, you will still need at least one more day of training with at least one more dive. This means you have spent more than 50% of your time on the liveaboard not doing the dives you paid for. I don't personally think it's a good deal.
Do it land-based, and if possible, request a private instructor. You will make better progress when your instructor doesn't have to divide his/her attention amongst a bunch of students, and you are more likely to be ready for the liveaboard experience after a course like that than if you are in a group class.
(And as an aside, Racha Yai, where Oldbear's brother did his OW course is our usual training site out of Phuket, and as such, it isn't really what we think of when we discuss a liveaboard trip. Yes, students sleep on the boat, but it stays pretty much in one place for long periods, and during these periods it doesn't travel like a typical liveaboard does. It's more like a floating hut resort, so it's really more similar to a land-based option than it is to a regular liveaboard option.)
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To piggyback on what Quero said, my brother did only his OW "Referral" at Racha Yai. He did his classroom and confined space training in Colorado thru a LDS. And I could agree anymore...the training, while called a Liveaboard experience, was in fact an anchored boat that offered a great training environment... After my brother completed his OW (2 or 3 dives the first day and the rest on the second), then he started the AW with "fun dives" mixed in after lunch on the second day. This particular operation fill the bill for his OW Referral and AW course and my five courses for my Master Diver. We could not have had a better time for our money...
But overall...I still am a firm beleiver that Liveraboards are no place for OW training...i.e. the Similans with their depth and currents. Looking back I am glad I waited until I had a few dives and my AW before I took my first true Liveaboard excursion. I was developmentally further along and thus able to enjoy more on the dive.
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