Pattaya

[okamiotoko2004]

Just got back from trip to Thailand. I spent a week in BKK seeing the city and sites. Then headed off to Pattaya for some diving. Headed to Pattaya because it is on average a 2 hour drive from BKK and after 17 hours of planes and layovers I didn't want another leg to my trip. Plus I know Pattaya well enough.
The diving in Pattaya is decent enough. I believe there is all kinds of diving not just blue water and 100+ feet of vis and each place has its perks and downfalls.
I did 4 days of diving in Pattaya on the wrecks and reefs. The wrecks are good, vis is limited at depth there but there is a ton to see on the wrecks and on everyone of the them we descended through schools of fish, which always amazes me. The wrecks are in good shape and penetration is possible, but I did not. Average vis on the wrecks was about 20 feet or so. But like I said there was a lot to see and look at on the wrecks. And they were good wrecks dives.
The reefs are in really good shape and I would say better than the ones I am used to seeing here in Oahu. There is also a ton of life on the reefs. Little to no whitening of the coral that I saw and there was tons of fish and other critters to take pictures of. Vis was around 30-40 feet. There was some current but not bad at all. For me the reefs were different as I am used to almost all hard coral, so seeing different coral and fish was something new to me. The part that amazed me was the amount of reef fish around, at times we would just swim through fish. Also if you stopped for a minute or two and hung out, alot of the little critters came out of their hiding spots. The reefs were teaming with life.
I dove with Real Divers out of Jometien, mostly because of the quality of service and the personal touch. Nothing like checking into your hotel with a note from them welcoming you, and stopping by once I got all settled to talk diving. They also showed me around town after diving the one day. The DM's were excellent, knew the sites well, and were very safety conscious. I also had my own personal DM for every dive, and every dive with them was leisurely and easy going. Basically they went out of their way for me. They were a bit more expensive than others. But considering the service it was well worth it and they were only when it came down to it just a few bucks more.
All in all the diving I did in Pattaya was great. I had a good time, got some good dives in that were not rushed, and had some good surface time with the divers I met along the way. What else is there. This is just my experience in Pattaya.

 

[Arizona]

Thanks for the great report and pics! I agree good diving can be found in Pattaya. For vis and coral, IMO you can't beat the other side of Thailand (Andaman) or further south in the Gulf. Good days, bad days but the discussions and dive books will tell you about regular weather patterns that make each side seasonal with regard to best diving conditions. I dive Pattaya year round because of the proximity to BKK, but can't wait to dive the Phi Phi area in a few weeks. Tis the season to dive the Andaman.

AZ

 

[Makhno]

I was in Pattaya for a couple months and I enjoyed the diving. Yeah, the viz often sucks -- by tropical standards -- but I've dived in plenty of places with poor to moderate viz and still had fantastic dives.

The corals and other reef denizens tend to be in good, healthy condition -- especially at the far-away sites like Koh Rin and North Rock, but even the closest reef, Koh Krok, has great coral life, 3 or 4 resident turtles, some bamboo sharks, and if you know where to look you can find harlequin shrimp etc. Just don't pay a dive center any money to take you to Koh Larn, as it's no good (well, OK, maybe you'll find some seahorses off in the sand, but otherwise don't waste your time and money). The dive centers with a lot of divemaster trainees/interns go there a lot, so make sure before booking the day's diving that you won't be going to Koh Larn Vac or some similarly boring site.

But the real reason for diving Pattaya is the wrecks -- indeed, that's why I went there for so long, because I just love wreck diving. The World War II wreck Hardeep is very nice (if your air consumption is good, you can get a bottom time of about 48-50 minutes on nitrox 34 ... but be careful of the many scorpionfish if you penetrate the wreck!), and the recently-scuttled Kood and the Khram also great fun; the Kood in particular is great for practicing your penetration skills -- although truth be told you don't even really need to run a line with a a reel because before they scuttled it they cut plenty of holes so you're never very far from direct access out of the wreck.

And no, Aquanauts and Mermaids aren't paying me to say that I like Pattaya diving (although Aquanauts will probably chime in soon to agree with me that there's some good diving there ...)

The problem with Pattaya is that when they day's diving is done and you're back in Pattaya, if you're male you will be constantly accosted by sex workers. Many of them are perfectly nice people who are just trying to make a living, but the constant harassment gets old very quickly ...

 

[red_barbarian]

I also go to Pattaya/Jomtien Beach and dive w/ Real Divers because it's close to BKK. That means I can fly over from India and get 2 days of diving in on a 3 day weekend. Real Divers can put you up in a local hotel away from the sleeze of downtown Pattaya. I've actually never been acosted maybe because I'm usaully there with my wife, but I think if you stay in the Jomtien Beach area it's not the same. If anyones going to be around after the first of the year send me a PM I'll be diving there Jan 2-4 again, and be in and out for some weekends for the next 6 months. Always nice to meet up w/ a scubaboard diver to dive w/.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Hey, thanks to both you guys for a positive and fair writeup about Pattaya. Great photos too! Neil & Co. are good guys at Real Divers. But if you make it back our way, please drop by and we'll give you a day out with us to see some other things you might have missed.

 

[Ringo]

Great trip report and thanks for sharing the lovely pics. Have heard that Real Divers are a good operation.

 

[jdfmail]

Pattaya is probably the worst diving in all of Thailand. But I do it cause it's close. You would be amazed at the difference in Pattaya and Similan or Ko Tao, Chumpon etc...

BTW for anyone going to Pattaya to dive the real rate per day with two dives is 1,200 total. This includes weight two tanks lunch and all water and soda. Nothin extra unless you need to rent equipment which should be 300-400bt per day.

 

[CHDiver]

Would be nice to know witch Shop in Pattaya is selling Daytrips for this price.

 

[smartecosse]

BTW for anyone going to Pattaya to dive the real rate per day with two dives is 1,200 total. T

the real rate as opposed to what?

 

[jdfmail]

As opposed to the rate quoted to tourists which is around 2000 or more. Same dive sites. I live in Bangkok so I book through the dive shops here. If you want a contact number just send me a private message.