Never dove in the Sea, Liveaboard too extreme for beginner?

[Kim]

I'd say do the AOW on the boat. As others have mentioned it gets you a dedicated instructor for a buddy while you are doing it. If you have time then Jamie's suggestion to do a couple of easy day dives before you go on the boat is also good IMO.
Which boat are you planning on?

 

[Jason Ooi]

Congratulation on your new certification!
keep on going AOW and Nitrox ...good luck!

 

[Quarrior]

I just came back to Phuket from a 2 day, 7 dive trip to Phi Phi and other spots. Since you are new to ocean diving the one thing you will have to learn is how to deal with currents.

I had 140 dives before the trip, but most were in fresh water and none were in currents. It was a hell of a learning experience for me, not to mention tiring.

Make sure you tell your dive leader you have no experience with currents and ask him/her if you can buddy with them for safety reasons.

Do not let anyone you put in a family group such as a family of 3 needing a 4th. This happened to me and the 3rd member only cared about his parents and not about his buddy, me.

As others have said, I'd do the AOW on the boat, but that is your choice. Don't worry about depth so much. The deepest dive we did was 30 meters and only spent a very short period at that depth as well.

As for Nitrox, it's pretty much a waste of money unless you are the type of diver that finds yourself out of time before you are out of air. Given you are a new diver, I doubt this is the case.

Bottom line is, relax and enjoy.

 

[stevenl]

As for Nitrox, it's pretty much a waste of money unless you are the type of diver that finds yourself out of time before you are out of air.

Disagree with that one, I feel far better after Nitrox dives compared to normal air, and I know plenty of others who have the same experience.

If you're going on your own though, you may want to think this over, because most boats offering Nitrox are not the cheapest boats, whereas on the cheaper boats you will find in general less couples and more single divers, so more people to talk to and have fun. After all diving is not all you'll be doing on the boat.

 

[tholden1]

I'm having a hard time deciding. I like what I have heard about the Queen Scuba but being a single guy in my mid-30's, I don't want to be on a boat with mostly couples and it looks like that boat may cator to couples.

Someone here suggested the Really Wicked Witch, Carina, and Huntsa as options. I may just wait until I get there an play it by ear. I may just look for the cheapest boat that has availability and appears to be singles-oriented. I may find some good deals closer to the launch dates of the boats, I'm not sure. Hopefully I won't find all the boats filled up. However, since I am looking for the cheaper options that may not be as big of an issue (couples probably stay away from the cheaper and/or high-capacity boats).

Which boat are you planning on?

 

[mase]

The cheapest boats are out of Ranong: A-1 a-one-diving.comand Aladdin aladdindivecruise.de. Accomodations aren't the greatest but I dove with them last year and had a great time. A few couples but most singles. Remember you get what you pay for.