Looking for slightly older divers in thailand

[marinediva]

Hi
I was 45 when I did my rescue, DM and Instructor course.
I spent 9 mths on Koh Tao and had the best time.

Would head over to Buddha View way, that is where I did my DM and IDC. Yes would agree that there are lots of young backpackers, but I find the majority of Instructors 30+.

During my DM training, of fifteen or so, a quarter were over 40.
During my IDC of four three were over 30.

Koh Tao is a great place to learn, yeah all the cliche stuff, cattle boat etc etc,
but really, that is not true for the majority.

Buddha has a great bbq at night and close to some very nice beach bars.
There are free movie screening, and generally a very friendly and inclusive enviroment.

 

[Bowmouth]

I am thinking of moving on in several days, but to where?

I suggest you come to Phuket.

Phuket is GREAT!
The diving is great, the beaches are great, the food is great and there are plenty of cheap and great hotels and guest houses.
Phuket is really GREAT!

There are lots of "slightly older" divers here who all try to look young and handsome in Scubapro wetsuits and with Mares regulators.

You will have a GREAT time in Phuket...

 

[Batfish]

He's right you know, it's great! Many of the people involved in diving here have been here a long time and plenty of them (us) are "older". You won't feel like a grandpa gatecrashing a teenage party here. It's summer hols for all the university students and gap year students, and Koh Tao is the place to go for a party.. and some diving.

 

[jamiemac]

I suggest you come to Phuket.

Phuket is GREAT!
The diving is great, the beaches are great, the food is great and there are plenty of cheap and great hotels and guest houses.
Phuket is really GREAT!

There are lots of "slightly older" divers here who all try to look young and handsome in Scubapro wetsuits and with Mares regulators.

You will have a GREAT time in Phuket...

You're right , they're loads of 'slightly odder' divers over your side!

 

[Bowmouth]

You're right , they're loads of 'slightly odder' divers over your side!

There are lots on Koh Tao too....
They're fairly hard to spot though because they try to blend in with the young crowd by wearing over-sized beach-shorts with flower patterns, pony-tails and white shiny dentures to throw dazzling smiles to the Swedish girls.

The trick to find them is to look for high ground and look down on top of their heads.
Then you will see true age....

 

[vladimir]

I am happy to dive with 18-21 year olds

They certainly make for more pleasant scenery between dives.

I am thinking of moving on in several days, but to where? Bali, Sipidan, Philippines. I am looking for great diving that is not too expensive, with a more mixed age group and not too touristy. I have a month, having just trekking in Nepal for 20 days.

Thanks again all!

If I were you, I'd go to the north shore of Bali--laid back, cheap, and no night-life so it doesn't attract the party set. Me, I'm booking a trip to Koh Tao.

 

[jamiemac]

There are lots on Koh Tao too....
They're fairly hard to spot though because they try to blend in with the young crowd by wearing over-sized beach-shorts with flower patterns, pony-tails and white shiny dentures to throw dazzling smiles to the Swedish girls.

The trick to find them is to look for high ground and look down on top of their heads.
Then you will see true age....

Good advice, I'm getting my teeth done this week, beware Swedish birds, I'm coming

 

[Bowmouth]

Good advice, I'm getting my teeth done this week, beware Swedish birds, I'm coming

 

[WhiteRhino]

Thank you again to everyone. I switched from Bans to Big Blue and the improvement is enormous.


I like bright blue water that allows you to see for a good distance. I like bright coral and tropical fish. It's fun to see larger reasonably exotic creatures like turtles, cuttlefish, sharks and so forth. I really enjoyed the dive in Cozumel Mexico where the wall goes down and down and keeps going. The dive master descended quickly and we had a really exciting experience. The canyons in Puerto Galera the Philippines is another dive that is extremely exciting because it has a lot of current. I also like customer friendly dive centers to take care of the divers well, but are not too expensive.

If I did not like South Africa because they put us in this rubber boat and went really fast to get out into the ocean, causing us to go up and down and making me vomit almost continually. The dive master and my buddy descended rapidly without worrying about whether I was following, well you get the idea. So it's a balance between not liking places that are too commercial on one hand, but also wanting dive centers that are used to dealing with Americans and can do the right things to keep us happy.

I don't know if this helps. I'm now thinking about Indonesia since I've never been there. I understand there is a boat and train combination from Koh Tao Thailand to Bangkok, where I think I could take Air Asia to Bali.

 

[vladimir]

Thank you again to everyone. I switched from Bans to Big Blue and the improvement is enormous.


I like bright blue water that allows you to see for a good distance. I like bright coral and tropical fish. It's fun to see larger reasonably exotic creatures like turtles, cuttlefish, sharks and so forth. I really enjoyed the dive in Cozumel Mexico where the wall goes down and down and keeps going. The dive master descended quickly and we had a really exciting experience. The canyons in Puerto Galera the Philippines is another dive that is extremely exciting because it has a lot of current. I also like customer friendly dive centers to take care of the divers well, but are not too expensive.

If I did not like South Africa because they put us in this rubber boat and went really fast to get out into the ocean, causing us to go up and down and making me vomit almost continually. The dive master and my buddy descended rapidly without worrying about whether I was following, well you get the idea.

Okay, I follow all that.

So it's a balance between not liking places that are too commercial on one hand, but also wanting dive centers that are used to dealing with Americans and can do the right things to keep us happy.

This I'm not so clear on. What should one do to keep us Americans happy? I mean, besides speak English and feed us fatty food all day?