Pattaya dive report

[lord khram]

From my experience they were the best I dove with. The only point is that their mindset is 100 % PADI-religion. But as everything is shallow in Pattaya this isn't a problem.

This is getting to be quite a habit.
Good reports about a pattaya dive shop, and it seems to be the same shop at the centre of things every time. Again well done Real Divers.
I must pay them a visit and see this for myself.

 

[h90]

This is getting to be quite a habit.
Good reports about a pattaya dive shop, and it seems to be the same shop at the centre of things every time. Again well done Real Divers.
I must pay them a visit and see this for myself.

please share your experience.......
And keep in mind: It is a excellent dive shop in compare with the other dive shops in Pattaya, in compare with what I have seen elsewhere it is just medium.

 

[lord khram]

I certainly will share my experience and I most definitely will go and do a days diving with these guys.
From all the positive reports that are going on here about Real Divers, lets hope some of the other shops in the area aspire to the same. That can only be good for Pattaya diving as a whole.
Hopefully the good shops will prosper and the bad boys will either change their ways or get left behind and fade into insignificance.

 

[Apecks]

Yes that was previously my understanding of the situation.
But within reason who cares about the boat, they are getting positive feedback from several people so they must be doing something right. Thats more than can be said for the others in the area.

Can't really agree with you about the boat but do agree that they are getting some well deserved positive feedback.

For my money some of the smaller boats and operators are the best. They tend to have more flexibility than the larger operators and let people push the dives to the limit of there training (i.e solo diving, deco dives, advanced wreck penetration etc). This is nearly impossible on some of the larger boats with a numbers of inexperienced divers onboard purely to from the numbers at times.

I have never dived with RD's but they do come on the boat I use very regularly. Nice set of guys, who do try to give there customers value for money.

 

[Guido wreck junkie]

Hi guys - have just returned home from a quick visit to catch up with my brother in Bangkok. Keen to get wet, went out for the day with Mermaid from Pattaya to the Kham - nice guys. Chatted to some interesting people from all over the globe - had a great lunch.
Diving okay - would I go back again? Wouldn't be in my top ten - but hey any dive you finish with a smile on your face is a good dive.
Recommendation - I like wrecks - Port Villa and then 7 days at Santo on the Coolidge and Million $ point - absolutely mind blowing.

 

[lord khram]

Hi guys - have just returned home from a quick visit to catch up with my brother in Bangkok. Keen to get wet, went out for the day with Mermaid from Pattaya to the Kham - nice guys. Chatted to some interesting people from all over the globe - had a great lunch.
Diving okay - would I go back again? Wouldn't be in my top ten - but hey any dive you finish with a smile on your face is a good dive.
Recommendation - I like wrecks - Port Villa and then 7 days at Santo on the Coolidge and Million $ point - absolutely mind blowing.

The Khram is one of the better dives in Pattaya, certainly infinitely better than the other wreck of the kood. but the kood is around half the distance to travel on the boat.
The Khram has now been sunk for around 6-8 years I think and has quite a lot of life on it now.
Just one thing to watch when diving here, as Pattaya shops dive to a time schedule rather than diving at a time to suit the tides, it is well worth doing a little research and selecting a day to go when the tide is favourable.
This will make for a much more enjoyable dive as the currents can be quite strong at times on this wreck.

 

[jamiemac]

LK,

Do you enjoy diving? It is a great site with some good coral. Consider the distance from BKK and quality dive operations & it is a great value. I don't think the cost is out of sync with other places in Thailand. Sorry to hear you had bad experiences. I dive it regularly and frequently bring fun divers and students that enjoy it. Again, location and ease of access is very good. It is not practical to dive the Similans or Phuket any weekend I want, but Pattaya is great for BKK based divers.

It is a serious dive destination and fantastic for training divers IMO. I did not like in the beginning, but as my skills improved I began to appreciate it much more. Think of all those unlucky people that just have quarries or cold lakes to dive. Everything is relative.

The whole point about diving is doing and seeing new things.Even if the fish aren't as bright as Similan fish and not so many of them, a new place is ALWAYS good, even Pattaya.

I learnt there, did three full years working there , really cut my pro teeth with hundreds of DSDs before moving south. Then went back up there to work in Bkk, taking expats down to Pattaya three weekends a month and something a bit further the last weekend. Worked well, and I had loads of repeat divers, you just need imagination and keep things interesting. Bought me a Range Rover anyway!

My best dives for ages were in Lake Michigan this year, 4degrees C, 60m, no fish no coral, just wrecks , the diver who took me kept apologising, for what? it was BRILLIANT.

It's esy to forget how visiting divers feel about our regular sites, I love to see them banging tanks, rushing about when they see a blue spotted ray, when they 've done it 10 times in 10 mins they realise they're quite common........

I know open minds aren't common on SB, but that's what you need to enjoy your work/diving

 

[Arizona]

Agreed! No Range Rover, but I have similar experiences.

 

[lord khram]

I agree entirely. Pattaya could be an ok place to dive, not somewhere that I would recomend someone go out of their way for, but if you are in the area give it a go.
My only gripe is with shops, but now it looks like we have a good one. I am planning to go see for myself soon. I only hope all the good press is true, and further hope that some of the others aspire to the same good service. This can only benefit all concerned including the shops themselves.
You no doubt are aware of my feelings, but also recently h90, scuba harry, penguin tom and owen butler have all had reason to complain about issues of poor service with Pattaya shops, but obviously as I have been told numerous times, these other guys got it wrong also, we all really had a wonderfull time diving in Pattaya.
I live near Pattaya and nothing would give me greater pleasure than having a good reliable shop that can supply me with the diving I want and not give me reason to complain.
Lets hope real divers fit the bill.

 

[Apecks]

Just one thing to watch when diving here, as Pattaya shops dive to a time schedule rather than diving at a time to suit the tides, it is well worth doing a little research and selecting a day to go when the tide is favourable.
This will make for a much more enjoyable dive as the currents can be quite strong at times on this wreck.

Not all of them do that. I know one in particular that varies the schedule to get on the wrecks at the best time of day according to the tide charts. Real divers are regular customers on there boat