Pattaya for..... photography???

[Uli Kunkel]

I need help! I am drying out over here in Bangkok and I need to get back in the water soon or else it's curtains for me!

Now, I've never been to Pattaya- and have never been diving there but I reckon thats the closest place to go for a short weekend trip? My primary interest is photography and brushing up on those skills. I need to be able to get in the water and just worry about taking photos and not following a group.

Are there any recommendations for dive sites to go to or operators to choose? Keep in mind I am strictly doing macro photography, no wide angle.

Thanks for the help!

 

[AleG]

Pattaya is good for muck diving... not in a good sense though.
You can try going to some of the farthest islands though, hmmm, Koh Rin I think it's called, a tiny island that was used by the navy as a target for shooting practice. It can be quite good all things considered, fair visibility, lots of soft corals, some nice shallow areas but nothing beyond 18 meters or so. Don't fiddle with the bombs, shells and rockets around the bottom though.

 

[lord khram]

I agree with Aleg. Koh Rin can be ok current permitting, Koh Rin north rock in particular. In my mind this is one of the best dives in the pattaya area.
The Samae San dives are generally a little better than Pattaya, but personally if I were in Bangkok, if it were possible I would make the extra effort and go to South Thailand for a few days. Particularly if my motivation to dive was based around photography.
A lot of the dive shops in Bangkok organise trips to Samae San at weekends on a Thai run boat there, it may be worth doing a little research into this and save yourself some money (expect to pay less than half what you would pay at a Pattaya dive shop). I have always been more than satisfied when I have dived from this boat, despite what some other dive shop owners / 'profesionals' might say about it.

 

[Uli Kunkel]

Thanks for the information so far!

Hmmm... Swimming with the bombs, eh? Doesn't sound so attractive to me. There's nowhere else to go for some practice? Any sandy bottom divesites at all?

LordKhram, do you have any contact info for those Thai boats? I dont really have the time to make it down south for a while (even my planned trip to Khao Lak fell through! ...just not enough time!)

 

[brianto]

the mermaid dive boat goes to samaesan every other day to dive the Hardeep wreck and a coral dive which is a very worthwhile and enjoyable trip, the diving off pattaya IMO is crap and mostly akin to snorkeling.

Scuba Diving in Pattaya - Dive Thailand diver training

 

[lord khram]

the diving off pattaya IMO is crap and mostly akin to snorkeling.

Scuba Diving in Pattaya - Dive Thailand diver training

Sounds like a fair description to me.

 

[lord khram]

LordKhram, do you have any contact info for those Thai boats? I dont really have the time to make it down south for a while (even my planned trip to Khao Lak fell through! ...just not enough time!)

The name of the company at Samae San is Ray Divers. With your own kit expect to pay about 1200 bt for a 2 dive trip, if you book direct with them (better than around 3000 bt from the Pattaya shops). The only down side is you have to get yourself to the boat at Samae San, without your own transport can be awkward.
I know some of the Bangkok shops organise trips at weekends, so maybe it would be a good idea for you to contact some of these shops to arrange the transport etc. I am unable to help you as to which shops do these trips. I will find the telephone number for Ray Divers and send you a PM, maybe they can point you in the right direction.
Usually the customers on the boat are all Thai people, I have always had a great time when I have dived from this boat.
Dont expect too much from the diving but it is much better than Pattaya, and in general a much more pleasant environment, without all the jet ski's and speedboats etc. One of my favourites of the dive sites and probably the most photogenic is sharks fin. A small outcrop of rock and the dive goes down to around 25m with some nice coral and a reasonable ammount of fish life.

 

[Uli Kunkel]

Great! Sounds like it might be the right price too!

Thanks