Pattaya Diving

[ScubaHawk]

Just did 12 days of diving on the islands off of Pattaya. I wanted to give thumbs up to Aquanauts (Great dive shop and service) and a "Spot On!" to Gary (A Saint). Some of the pics are posted in my gallary - the rest will be posted when they get in. I loved the diving at Koh Rin, Koh Man Wachi (SP?) and on the Khram. Just wanted to give an atta boy to all involved!

 

[jiveturkey]

Just did 12 days of diving on the islands off of Pattaya. I wanted to give thumbs up to Aquanauts (Great dive shop and service) and a "Spot On!" to Gary (A Saint). Some of the pics are posted in my gallary - the rest will be posted when they get in. I loved the diving at Koh Rin, Koh Man Wachi (SP?) and on the Khram. Just wanted to give an atta boy to all involved!

Cool. I've been in the area but never dived up there before. Have to dived other places in T-land and if so, how did the diving compare? I had the chance when I was on Koh Chang but ended up passing it up due to a cold.

 

[ssra30]

Glad to hear you enjoy Pattaya. It is one of those strange place that you either like it or hate it. I think most people who don't like it, don't like it because of the generally poor visibility, in comparison to the rest of the Eastern seaboard and significantly worse than Koh Tao, not to mention the Andaman Sea. However, I find it quite fun to dive there once in awhile because of some of the macro stuff you can find there. I have never seen a slender Seamoth anywhere else in Thailand beside Koh Sak bay. Koh Larn Pier has quite a bit of flatworms and some nudibrach, rumor of saw blade shrimp but I can't find one yet. Koh Rin is probably my favourite with xenocrab, whipcoral gobies, variety of shrimps and critters there but it is a bit unnerving to dive there since the island is officially belonged to the Thai Navy and just because it is the best dive site in Pattaya, they decide to use it as their main battleship target practice site!

 

[ScubaHawk]

This was my first Thai diving site, I had to pass on Koh Chang because my buddy got sick (hungover)
:06: On the dive boat at Koh Rin a lady asked me, "are the shells down there dangerous". I replied that if she was talking about the Cone shells, then yes they were extremely dangerous. she laughed and said. "No, the gun shells laying all over the bottom."

 

[ssra30]

The gun shells definitely are dangerous. Earlier this year someone went mussel collecting around Koh Rin and managed to set off a live shell, according to a news paper, he lost an arm. The newspaper never gave any further update about how he did.

 

[Arizona]

I realize this thread has been idle for some time, but if anyone is thinking of going to Pattaya for diving this may be of some use. I just got back and went diving with Mermaid's Dive School (038 232 219) a full PADI IDC shop. They offer pick up and drop off hotel service for no additional cost. I was staying at the Amari (over rated hotel for the price in Pattaya, other Amari locations are much better) which is a fair distance from the shop.

I went to the Khram and Koh Kroc (reef dive). The vis was about 10 meters (November 2006). The Khram was surprisingly good. Even at 26 meters it was still about 10 meters. The DM said this was the best he had seen thus far. The boat they use is large and serves a good hot lunch. Speed was the only issue. The two dives basically took all day. I left the hotel at about 845am and returned around 500pm.

Arizona