Mermaids or Aquanauts?

[Bowmouth]

Even the stupid, ignorant comment about sex tourists.

It wasn't all that stupid.
Sex tourism and "sex for sale" can be found anywhere in the world and is a solid part of our society. Although in many countries it's tucked away in dark corners of our cities or dedicated streets, even the most developed countries have a thriving sex industry.
In Thailand the sex industry is much more visible than in most other countries. Girls and katoeys can be seen on the street in open-air bars and the whole atmosphere is in general very mellow and friendly. One does not have to be a pervert or "sex-tourist" to enjoy the scene, have a drink and chat with the girls.

 

[TimA]

For someone to assume that (the only) a reason needed for doing a course in Pattaya is its close proximity to Bangkok or because they are a "rampant sex tourist" is an ignorant statement. I know Pattaya is a major world wide party town, but also I know that Pattaya has alot more to offer than that. After living 20+ years in Phuket, 5 of which was in Patong..Well I don't even want to be there anymore...but I also know its got its good points otherwise a lot of people I know wouldn't stay there and none of them are "rampant sex tourist" There are a lot of reasons why I would choose not to do any courses in Pattaya or Phuket without having to throw "sex tourism" into the equation.
I agree with Aquanauts, its a petty and ignorant statement even if it is flippant.

 

[jdfmail]

Was it implied that Pattaya alone has good training? Or that it's the only place that has challenging conditions? I'm sure you can find both in several other locations. I guess we should agree to disagree.

 

[Arizona]

Was it implied that Pattaya alone has good training? Or that it's the only place that has challenging conditions? I'm sure you can find both in several other locations. I guess we should agree to disagree.

Good training can be found all around Thailand IMO. For my 2 cents, Pattaya routinely offers less than desirable holiday conditions making navigation and general supervision a bit more challenging. Good divers are always learning and as one experiences different diving environments it will only add to your knowledge base.

"I guess we should agree to disagree." Divers choice As suggested to the OP, visit and look around a bit if you can, or think about even splitting your training up in different locations. I went that route and found it useful for me.

 

[lord khram]

I fail to see How people can say the diving in Pattaya gives chalenging conditions.
Yes, there is sometimes currents. but no stronger than many places I have dived in the world, and certainly a lot less strong than we get in many places around the Uk.
yes the visibility is usually crap.
But most coral dives are only at a depth of 3-12 m, with the exception of a couple of sites.
The deepest dive of any worth is the HTMS kood max approx 32 m to sea bed at high tide.
And in the winter the water gets as cold as about 26c.
Why not try some Uk diving if you want challenging conditions. Pinpoint the wrecks yourself, put your own shot line on to the wreck, in rough seas. first having determined when the usually short (about 45 min) window of slack water is, then carry out the dive in cold water and sometimes extremely low viz and dark conditions.
I trust all the qualified pattaya interns are capable of doing this if they ever decide to work in the UK dive industry.

 

[lord khram]

It always mystifies me when people use the strong currents as a reason for pattaya being challenging diving.
Unless you are planning a drift dive, in which case the current assists you. Is it not the job of a good dive leader to arrange diving when the water is slack. This is how I have learned to dive through BSAC over the years to give divers the best dive possible.
Why can this not be done in Pattaya?
Or maybe the diving is done to a daily time schedule so the dive leaders and instructors can be back in town ready for an evenings drinking and chasing girls??
And of course god forbid one morning they may even have to get up before 8:00 am to give their customers a good days diving.

 

[Arizona]

Sorry to read about your bad experiences, fortunately it has been pretty much the opposite for me over the last 3 years. We obviously go to different dive sites as the depths are deeper on average as well. I also prefer the Hardeep. Perhaps we will dive together sometime and your experience may be different. Time to move on... Safe diving to you LK

 

[Bowmouth]

Time to move on... Safe diving to you LK

Completely agree with Arizona.
Time to move on and end this (now boring) thread.

 

[lord khram]

Completely agree with Arizona.
Time to move on and end this (now boring) thread.

If you are bored with the thread feel free to move on and look at another yourself, nobody forces you to log on and read. But please dont be so ignorant/arrogant to tell other people what to do in this manner. I will move on when I am good and ready thank you.

 

[lord khram]

Sorry to read about your bad experiences, fortunately it has been pretty much the opposite for me over the last 3 years. We obviously go to different dive sites as the depths are deeper on average as well. I also prefer the Hardeep. Perhaps we will dive together sometime and your experience may be different. Time to move on... Safe diving to you LK

I have done hundreds of dives around Pattaya over the last number of years, please tell me where these deeper dive sites are, I am very interested to learn if I have been missing something.
I am aware of some of the better dive sites in Pattaya, not including the 2 wrecks, near Islands shark point, far islands koh rin north/south rock. As far as I am aware the rest of the dive sites if you go much deeper than about 12 metres I have generally seen only sand and rubbish.