Traing in Thailand ... any experience/advice?

[Nemertes]

Hello,

I am looking to do my Divemaster course in Koh Tao between mid-september to end of october 2005. Any advice on diveshops, which beach to go to (Sairee vs. Mae Haad vs. Chalok Baan Kon). Backpacker style, quiet, safe but with facilities and Internet access woudl be nice.

Thanks for the advice!

Emma in Canada

hey
i would advise you son to do his instructor course somewhere else. diving in pattaya is not great and from what ive heard pattaya is just like bangkok. very dirty and full of prostitution. tell your son to go to the islands. whether it be phuket, phi phi, koh tao, or koh lanta. i did my divemaster course in koh tao and it was nice. depending on the time of year should be a critical aspect as well. right now around until october phuket would not be the ideal choice because it is monsoon season on the west coast. koh tao would be great though. the gulf of thailand is in its peak diving season right now. your son could also check out ko phi phi. i was just there and diving was great. real laid back. personally i have never been to pattaya because i try to stay away from large cities but i have heard it is horrible. i know what bangkok is like and i would never want to live in a place like that. if your son is looking for a laid back island approach with good diving pattaya is definately wrong. if he wants to party every night and doesnt care about the diving then pattaya just may be for him. shoot me a pm or post again and ill answer any other questions about thailand you may have i was just there traveling for a very long time, and plan on going back to live there and malaysia in a couple of years. good luck with your decision.

 

[thien]

Hi Emma,

Crystal Dive Resort offers a very good & professional program. Email Matt Bolton through his website and ask your questions about life in ko Tao. He'll assist ya a bit.

http://idc.crystaldive.com/

Happy Diving!

 

[RSdiver]

Yes, LOL, nevertheless he really markets his name. His promo t shirts for IDC candidates says " Yes, I got Bent." :lightbulb By the way next time you come to Phuket Hamburger, you should pop in and have a drink with him...and us for that matter. Beer o' clock is at 5:00pm!

I have been with John Williams and Bent Posejpal diving on 3 vacations to Thailand since 1996 and they are top notch.
Can't say enough about their standards and morals.

Keep in mind that many dive shops in Thailand come and go quickly, so 9 years is truly exceptional.

 

[save-money-diving]

koh tao is the better place to go to learn to be an ins. there r many good places to go on tao. but ask around on tao people will soon tell u who is the meat market's and who is not.(WE ALL NO WHO THESE R) but in general tao is very nice.i live there for 18 month.

 

[bubblemonkey]

DiveAsia has a very good reputation. Did my Divemaster with them on Phuket and experience how they train instructors. Looked very good and like a lot of fun - but I was to lazy to go for the OWSI by myself and did a liveabord to the Similans instead

Never have been to Pattaya (to much sex-tourism for my taste) but I guess diving is better around Phuket as well.

Had we not dedided to do our IDC in Malaysia Dive asia is the only company we would have done it with in Thailand.