SoSiouxme
Contributor
Hi all,
I'm a little jet lagged but I wanted to drop a post to give others the blow by blow of my Thailand dive vacation.
First off - WOW - Thailand was every bit as wonderful as I remember. I was certified in Thailand in 2004 and I thought it was fabulous. But then, as a brand new diver, looking at a trash bag underwater would have geeked me out. I decided to go back to Thailand this year after having done some diving in Fiji, Honduras, Belize, Cozumel, and the Caymans just to see if Thailand was really that special or if I just had such great memories because it was new to me.
Thailand is the real deal. All arrangements were made for me by stevenl of scubaboard. He was a great help.
I started with a 6 night liveaboard of the Similans and Hin Muang and Hin Daeng on the Colona VI. This was classified as a mid-priced boat. My main criteria was that it have Nitrox - which it did. It did not have hot water - so if warm showers are a priority, this may not be your boat. The crew was great and the food was tasty and plentiful. The accommodations were not luxurious, but everything was kept very clean and the beds were comfortable enough.
The diving was amazing. First, the DMs were experienced and would show you the cool stuff but also not babysit you. I saw other operations while I was in the Similans and you would see an onslaught of divers following a guide in a single file formation. We were allowed to dive our own profiles and the dive times averaged out to 60 min or so. The briefings were solid - but I was a little spoiled. I was the only English speaking diver on the charter so I got my very own briefing. The guides were also very good about separating the divers into appropriate groups and as divers would get low on air, they were sent up in buddy teams leaving the rest of us to dive our profiles.
As to the cool stuff - we saw it all. Whale shark. Check. Manta. Check. Sea horse. Check. Ghost pipe fish. Check. Leopard sharks. Check, check and check. It was really amazing.
The liveaboard was really fantastic and something that I definitely want to do again.
I also did three days of diving on day boats while I was staying in Phuket. Again, Stevenl arranged these trips as well. I went with Eurodivers, Dive Asia and South Siam Divers. They were all fine and safe but of the three, I would recommend Eurodivers and Dive Asia over South Siam - mostly because it seemed South Siam was more geared toward less experienced divers. (45 min. bottom time limit and if one person in your group got to 50 bar - your whole group had to go up. I came up with at least 1/2 tank on every dive.)
If I had it to do over again, I would do the day trips first and do the liveaboard last. After the liveaboard, the day trips, while still nice, were a wee bit of a let down.
Well, I hope I haven't forgot any salient points. The diving was really top notch and working with stevenl was a breeze.
If you have any questions, PM me.
--Sioux
I'm a little jet lagged but I wanted to drop a post to give others the blow by blow of my Thailand dive vacation.
First off - WOW - Thailand was every bit as wonderful as I remember. I was certified in Thailand in 2004 and I thought it was fabulous. But then, as a brand new diver, looking at a trash bag underwater would have geeked me out. I decided to go back to Thailand this year after having done some diving in Fiji, Honduras, Belize, Cozumel, and the Caymans just to see if Thailand was really that special or if I just had such great memories because it was new to me.
Thailand is the real deal. All arrangements were made for me by stevenl of scubaboard. He was a great help.
I started with a 6 night liveaboard of the Similans and Hin Muang and Hin Daeng on the Colona VI. This was classified as a mid-priced boat. My main criteria was that it have Nitrox - which it did. It did not have hot water - so if warm showers are a priority, this may not be your boat. The crew was great and the food was tasty and plentiful. The accommodations were not luxurious, but everything was kept very clean and the beds were comfortable enough.
The diving was amazing. First, the DMs were experienced and would show you the cool stuff but also not babysit you. I saw other operations while I was in the Similans and you would see an onslaught of divers following a guide in a single file formation. We were allowed to dive our own profiles and the dive times averaged out to 60 min or so. The briefings were solid - but I was a little spoiled. I was the only English speaking diver on the charter so I got my very own briefing. The guides were also very good about separating the divers into appropriate groups and as divers would get low on air, they were sent up in buddy teams leaving the rest of us to dive our profiles.
As to the cool stuff - we saw it all. Whale shark. Check. Manta. Check. Sea horse. Check. Ghost pipe fish. Check. Leopard sharks. Check, check and check. It was really amazing.
The liveaboard was really fantastic and something that I definitely want to do again.
I also did three days of diving on day boats while I was staying in Phuket. Again, Stevenl arranged these trips as well. I went with Eurodivers, Dive Asia and South Siam Divers. They were all fine and safe but of the three, I would recommend Eurodivers and Dive Asia over South Siam - mostly because it seemed South Siam was more geared toward less experienced divers. (45 min. bottom time limit and if one person in your group got to 50 bar - your whole group had to go up. I came up with at least 1/2 tank on every dive.)
If I had it to do over again, I would do the day trips first and do the liveaboard last. After the liveaboard, the day trips, while still nice, were a wee bit of a let down.
Well, I hope I haven't forgot any salient points. The diving was really top notch and working with stevenl was a breeze.
If you have any questions, PM me.
--Sioux
