For my part, I will conclude this discussion by reiterating some of the facts that I stated in my original review, and which the replies in support of this deplorable organization failed to address specifically. Statements such as "I cannot recognise any of it" or "I must reject all what pipefish wrote" are easily made, but do not resolve any of these issues, as some of you have already noted. For those who followed this discussion, here are the plain facts once again:
1. We would normally have taken M-sized wetsuits, but found that the ones in the dive shop were too small. We were explained that they were "Asian sizes". There was only one L-size wetsuit in the dive shop, which did not properly fit either, but was more comfortable than the too small M. All the wetsuits were ripped at the bum (we sewed one of the big holes ourselves).
2. AIDC operates the MV Thai Sea, which has 2 upper deck and 6 lower deck cabins accommodating 2 people each. All are the same price, despite considerable differences in comfort. We were assigned one of the lower deck cabins directly above the engine. The cabin stank of diesel fuel, and one could actually look at the engine through cm-wide slits in the wooden boards below our mattresses. The boat was full, so we could not change to another cabin. It was not possible for us to sleep in our assigned cabin due to the bad smell and noise. We would spend the nights outside, on the upper sun deck, but the maximum time of sleep we could catch was 5 hours per night due to winds, and waves splashing on the deck. During the day, unfortunately, there was no place to retreat to for the so much needed rest between dives. We were promised to have engines and generator shut down for the nights when the boat was anchored and not moving to the next dive site, but after the first night other customers complained about the heat without the generator-powered fans, so the generator was never swiched off again at night. We were boldly told that we could rest after our return to Ranong.
3. The instructor was assigned to lead us and two other divers. On our first dive, my wife found that she required an additional weight, so we resurfaced after seconds. The instructor did not check for us until he reached 10 meters depth. Although he apparently resurfaced to look for us, he failed to locate us.
4. During some of our dives, we also heard the sounds of close-by dynamite fishing, and we found most reefs in a deplorable state, being heavily damaged (broken and dead) by the devastating dynamite explosions.
5. For night dives, we were handed one torch each, and when asking if this was considered sufficient, the instructor joked about how we would be unable to handle 5 torches. One of our lights promptly failed underwater and one of us was handed the instructor's torch. Now we had a dive guide without a light... We had one more torch in our group on the next night dive, when, funnily, two of them failed.
6. In the evenings, some of the divers on board showed their dive videos, some of which contained scenes like forcefully pulling a distressed moray out of its hiding place, or cutting off a starfish's leg to feed a harlekin shrimp, all to the great amusement of many including the AIDC management and staff.
7. The boat was delayed for 2 days due to engine problems. Of course this can happen. However, there was no apology from AIDC, and no offer of a compensation for lost holiday time.
Note that my wife is a divemaster with over 200 dives, and I am a rescue diver with over 150 dives. We are diving regularly together, since 2002. I would not consider us as beginners.
The discussion of diving Shark cave is interesting. We opted not to dive the cave as we did not feel that cave diving should be done without proper preparation and gear. We were told the swimthough was optional. I have not problems with this aspect of the trip, it's up to the individual divers to decide if they want to take that risk.
I do have a problem with the 7 points above, which were not specifically addressed in any of the replies. These are facts, and for this organization to be considered reputable, these issues should be taken care of. Thus, it is not me who is aiming to ruin a dive operator's reputation, although I would certainly strongly advice against diving with AIDC. AIDC does not have a good reputation. There were no reviews of AIDC to be found on the internet before we went. Dive operators are earning their reputation over time. AIDC has managed to earn a bad one, and it's up to them to change this now. Given the operator's replies, it appears that they are not going to make efforts to improve. So once again: You have been warned, but if you feel lucky, do take your chance and dive with AIDC.
