Malaysia/Thai water temperature?

[mudguppy]

I'm looking at diving the 7 skies 2day 2 night package deal. Also looking at the Tioman Island dive.

In fact, if I had it my way......it would be fun to do both!
The other place I've looked into is Phuket in Thailand...which I guess requires a plane flight. Would love to do that dive.

It's a little challenging to me to try to book ahead and pay in advance and all. I've not ever done it before, so I kind of don't know where to start.

My instructor here told me to just go and visit the dive shops when I get there and see who was going where and see if I could go along.
Does it work that way?

I guess I'll see what happens when I get there.

Mudguppy

 

[keralucu]

Mudguppy

In Phuket you can go to any of the dive shops and find out what their schedule is and just sign up for a trip. I'm talking about day trips. Liveaboards are a different story, unless you really want to risk not getting on a trip. You could be lucky and fill a last minute spot for a discounted price too.

If you need any recommendations for Phuket diving, let me know.

 

[Zept]

Mudguppy, maybe I'm confused, but... I thought you were worried about diving in the sea? If so, the Seven Skies is a lot to take on. The wreck is out in the open ocean, in quite deep water (top of the funnel is at 24m at low tide). Currents can be strong, too. Way beyond my comfort level, so I'm not speaking from experience -- just what I've read/heard.

More info here (scroll down).

Phuket is a (short) plane flight away. Lots of info at Phuket dot com, including contact and Web-site details for lots of dive companies.

You could also consider islands in the Gulf of Thailand, such as Koh Samui and Koh Tao. I don't know much about that area, but Keralucu might be able to help.

Zept

 

[savant]

Mudguppy,
dive trips at phuket with packages taken from singapore can come up to quite a lot simply becoz most of them offer liveabords. if you do dives in phuket itself that are affordable, i believe they offer days dives and quite easy to squeeze in. As for the quality of diving there, i really am not sure.
But from phuket, you cd easily get to phi phi and do diving there, and if still unsatisfied, just take a ferry to Koh lanta and dive that region. from what i remember, krabi and phi phi dive quite similar locations unless you are referring to the dives within short distances of the island.
I am planning to go with several friends and just move from dive site to dive site and if the price is right, dive. an average flight ticket to phuket from singapore will cost about S$300 which is about the same price for a dive trip to tioman.
hope this helps

 

[mudguppy]

Hey...Thanks for the post. That would probably be my first choice...to hit Thailand.
Thanks.
We'll see how it works out.

Mudguppy

 

[keralucu]

If you're used to diving lakes with poor viz, I don't think you will be disappointed by any of the diving that Thailand has to offer.

I've just checked out some of the Phuket dive shops - a lot of them have special offers on during what they call "Green Season" meaning the Similans are not good to go to due to rough seas and strong winds... they do 2/3 day trips to some of the surrounding sites for very reasonable prices.

Check out ScubaCat which offers offseason deals or go to phuket.com as mentioned by Zept. I dived with Scubacat in February and found them to be very professional and well-run while at the same time offering really fun dives and great service.

If you don't want to stay in Phuket, the diving on the other side (in the Gulf of Thailand) will be much better in May. The water is very calm, and generally pretty good viz (20-30m depending where you are.) Koh Tao has some very good diving, although rather overcrowded, Samui I am not an expert on unfortunately, but I can tell you that the area where I dive regularly has some lovely sites and NO OTHER DIVERS! PM me if you want to know more.

 

[Zept]

Another useful Thailand Web site is:

http://www.siamdivers.com/sites/introduction.htm

It contains excerpts from 'Diving Southeast Asia', a guidebook that describes the most popular sites in the region. It covers the popular day trips from Phuket and also some of the sites in the Gulf.

If you're willing to shell out for a real book, I like 'Lonely Planet Diving and Snorkelling Thailand'. More info here.


Zept :tree:

PS: IMO it's a good idea to know something about the local dive sites before you go into any of the dive shops.

 

[mudguppy]

Diving the ocean does worry me a little...mostly because it's something I haven't done. My instructor here tells me I worry too much.
I have been e-mailing a couple of shops there in Singapore and printing out info on some of the dive sites that they go to. The one dive shop told me on the 7 Skies dive, that they do a couple of ocean dives before they do the wreck dive and by the time we did the wreck that I should be fine. I question it a little and that is why I have not booked ahead....I'm still nervous about it. I'd almost like to get out there and do a day trip dive before I took on the 2d 2n deal. I would also pay to have a dive master to dive with me.
Hey....thanks for the websites! I will check them out when I get time. They look great. I've been trying to collect as much info as I can so I will have a good idea of what dives there are and if they fit my diving limits and comfort. (to progress so far, I've always had to get out of my comfort zone tho).
I'm off to collect more info
Ciao

Mudguppy

 

[Welshman]

Water off Phuket in Jan/feb was 27/28. Wore a full 3mm wetsuit which was just right. You can get away with less if you're just doing one dive but for day trips with 2 or 3 dives i'd strongly recommend at least a full 3mm rather than a shorty. You know what they sat - a warm diver is a safe diver! Also point about stingy critters is good - I saw a lot of small jellyfish.

 

[SaltyWhale]

All around Malaysian waters (including East Malaysia).

Temp varies from 26C - 32C.

At most times : 28C-30C

Skin is fine. If it gets too cold, you can rent suits in most dive destinations. Unless you are an XXXL by size, then you might want to bring along what you can.