Phuket recommendations

[F UNit]

Hi,

I'm going to be in Phuket for 2 weeks in march, and will look to get some diving done.

Unfortunately I can't get on a liveaboard, so will just be making day trips.

Can anyone recommend: 1) a good dive shop - budget friendly, but with decent working equipment & 2) must-dive spots!

I'll only be able to get out for 1-2 day trips, so if there are any top sites that can be reached in a days trip, please do let me know!

 

[Quero]

F-UNit, have you booked your lodging? If not, you might consider staying at Khao Lak and doing daytrips to the Similans and Richelieu from there. There are speedboat daytrips available going to some of my favorite sites. If you can only dive on one day, go to Richelieu.

• You should try to make it to Richelieu Rock
• Koh Bon has been the hot place for manta sightings all season long
• I always love the boulder sites like Elephant Head Rock
• Tachai Pinnacle is a place where we may also see pelagics
• West of Eden is lovely this year as a reef dive

For daytrips out of Phuket, I have several favorites. If you can only go on one daytrip, make sure it includes Shark Point.

• Shark Point
• Anemone Reef
• Koh Bida Nok and Koh Bida Nai
• Koh Doc Mai

In terms of dive shops, everybody offers pretty much the same deals on day trips, and the prices depend almost entirely on the selling prices the boat operators charge. Some boats are more expensive and some are cheaper; some have nice breakfasts of eggs etc., while others just offer toast and coffee. If you have the flexibility to dive on whichever day the boat of a particular op is going where you'd like to dive, you can often get a multi-day discount by sticking with one op.

 

[stevenl]

IMO the daytrip diving from Phuket is at the moment better than at the Similans, with many sightings of seahorses, ghost pipe fish, even a manta ray at Racha Noi and Bida Islands.

I would recommend 1 trip to Shark Point, Anemone Reef and Koh Doc Mai, and one to the Bida islands, in combination with e.g. Shark Point.

 

[F UNit]

Thanks both for your messages.

I'm already booked into accommodation on Phuket, and have got a lot of commitments whilst there, so will only be able to get on daytrips- but thanks for the info.

Has anyone got any specific recommendations of who to dive with? If not I'll just see what i find on google

Cheers

 

[stevenl]

Why don't you check out our signatures?
Should give you some good information.

 

[Quero]

Sorry, F-UNit, for the delay, but I've been on a boat for the past several days and didn't have connectivity for much of the time. In terms of who to dive with, I would guess that most agents work the same way--we see what day the customer wants to dive and what sites s/he wants to dive, and then we work on finding the right match of boat and requirements. In other words, we can't just give you the name of an op here since it will depend on what day you want to dive and what the weekly schedules of the various operators look like, whether there's availability on your day, etc. As stevenl says, click on our signatures, write to us, and either one of us will be able to sort out your daily diving for you.

 

[EasyDayThailand]

I would use Sea Fun Divers ... recommend by Lonely Planet...

 

[Quero]

I would use Sea Fun Divers ... recommend by Lonely Planet...

Adriano, it's good to see you participating here in the Thailand forum since you've been a SB member for a couple of years already! And it's understandable that you recommend this particular operator since you have a special relationship with them, listed on their website as one of their instructors and listing them on your agency website as well. Transparency in terms of our status here on the island is a good thing.

 

[NeptunusRex]

I have two trips booked with Scuba Cat with week. I'll let you know how it goes. Looking at Phi Phi and Racha Yai.

 

[NeptunusRex]

Turns out I booked with Sea Fun Divers. I would definately reccomend them to anyone. Good boat crew, didn't leave us hanging in the water too long. Good food too. Not too crowded and guides who spoke nearly every language. Phi Phi was amazing. Alot of Black tips and leopard sharks. Well worth the 3 hour transit. Racha Yai not so much. Still beautiful and full of fish but the reef is showing quite a lot of decay. I did see garden eels at Home Run Reef which to me made the experience. But speaking with the other divers on board Shark Point and Anemone Reef seem to be the more popular of the sites. Hope your dives go as well as mine!