Virgin Diver in Thailand!

[Greg D.]

IMHO I wouldnt get certified on vacation, you need to get in class and get a open water dive under your belt.. then you will see how much fun this diving stuff is and want to dive your vacation away, coming up only when the tables require and only as long as they require Not doing skill checks and such but just my 2 cents

 

[Blox]

Hi everyone, (man...there is a forum for everything!)...ok here is the issue.
I am going to southern islands in Thailand for 1 week in middle of Feb2006. I have never been there nor ever have done scuba diving before (basically virgin!). It was suggested to go to Koh Tao/Koh Samui as good location. I want to definitely get my OW and maybe the advance as well. Here are my options,
Option 1:
Theory in Canada (2 days, $200(special right now))
Referral dives in Thailand (2 days, $200)
Advance level in Thailand (2 days, $250)
Total cost: $650 – Vacation time spent: 4 days

Option 2:
Complete OW in Thailand (4 days, $300)
Advance level in Thailand (2 days, $250)
Total cost: $550 – Vacation time spent: 6 days

Which option should I take?? Is it more fun to take it all there than theory in Canada (what else am I going to do in islands during the days!)? Someone said you lose quality if you do it there, is that true? How many hours do I have to study outside of classroom?? (I hope I don’t have to go to Library in my vacation!)

Please help. Thanks in advance.

I'd do the Open Water course in Canada - not because the instructions available in Thailand are not good (they will be as good as the instructor and DS you chose, but that'll be just the same in Canada), but because I would hate having to sit in class room and having to do skills while on vacation - I'd rather arrive certified and get as many fun dives in as I could. I also agree with others who have suggested that getting the basics in in "your natural habitat" would be beneficial in the future if you intend to dive back home too.

I do not agree with those who say that you should wait with your AOW until you have a (considerable) number of dives under your belt after OW - I think that AOW is beneficial mostly to new divers and there is very little that seasoned divers will be able to take home from it. I ofcourse agree that taking the AOW course will not make you an advanced diver - the name is misleading because it's an advance in eduction but does not make you an advanced diver (but that topic has been argued to death on this and other boards). The AOW does not require a lot of studying (in classroom), so I'd be willing to consider the AOW and the dives involved as "supervised fun dives".

Bottomline: My advice would be to do your OW cert at home and do the AOW on vacation (right after you have arrived and gotten past the jet lag) and spend as much time diving as you possibly can. Have fun.

 

[KMD]

Hi everyone, (man...there is a forum for everything!)...ok here is the issue.
I am going to southern islands in Thailand for 1 week in middle of Feb2006. I have never been there nor ever have done scuba diving before (basically virgin!). It was suggested to go to Koh Tao/Koh Samui as good location. I want to definitely get my OW and maybe the advance as well. Here are my options,
(Snip)

I recently got back from Phuket Thailand where I completed my OW and AOW. I would very much suggest that to maximise your enjoyment to take your classwork at home and then completing your water work in Thailand. Wait to do the coursework close to your trip so it is fresh in your mind. If you are a little unsure or nervious, talk to your instructor to see if you can also do the pool work at home. It might be a bit more expensive but you would be able to get in some double instruction before jumping directly into the big blue by doing pool work at home and on vacation.

If you are intersted in information on some of the dive sites on the east side of Phuket go to this link: http://www.marinadivers.com/phuket_marina_divers_dive_sites.shtml

Finnaly just as an FYI when you quote total vacation time in, please make sure to account for your no-fly time after your last dive. The quoted regs say at least 12 hours, but most people (including DAN I think) recommend to wait a least 24 hours.

Kevin

 

[flyhigh123]

i did a dive on koh phangan which is a small island off of koh samui... the company I went with is the one right by the lockers... lol...

koh samui has some of the best dives... their coral formations are awesome.... anyways, try to make the full moon festival if u can... that is one killer party....

i hated the mainland, but the islands were paradise....

 

[flyhigh123]

btw: most of the dive ops on koh samui and kohphangan are owned by foreigners like germans, italians... etc... they know their stuff....

 

[Bruciebabe]

Your dive qualification is only valid for the conditions you trained in or better, so the worse the conditions you learn in the better for your future diving. I did my OW in Scotland in a dry suit, my wife did hers in Latvia. The skills you learn in the OW are the fundemental skills to keep you alive and to make you a good diver so don't rush them. If I were you I would take advantage of being in Canada and do the complete OW course there. You can then take your time over it and hone your skill levels.
I am a firm believer in doing the AOW immediately after the OW. These are more fun dives than the OW and it is good to be doing these early dives with a mentor who can develop your skills more quickly. Also you are going to go deep anyway so it is a good idea to learn how to do it properly first. With the AOW it is far less important where you do it, Canada or Thailand makes little difference.
Try not to think of the money side too much, the most important thing is to get good skills and really understand the theory, these are the foundations for all your future diving. Work at having excellent buoyancy, not using your hands, finning efficiently, managing your depth and air etc. Don't just be a diver, be a better diver.
However if you are just getting into this in a casual manner to give it a go then go the referral route with your theory and poolwork in Canada and your open water dives and AOW in Thailand. It will be easier and cheaper but you won't be as good a diver.

 

[Ringo]

Hi everyone, (man...there is a forum for everything!)...ok here is the issue.
I am going to southern islands in Thailand for 1 week in middle of Feb2006. I have never been there nor ever have done scuba diving before (basically virgin!). It was suggested to go to Koh Tao/Koh Samui as good location. I want to definitely get my OW and maybe the advance as well. Here are my options,
Option 1:
Theory in Canada (2 days, $200(special right now))
Referral dives in Thailand (2 days, $200)
Advance level in Thailand (2 days, $250)
Total cost: $650 – Vacation time spent: 4 days

Option 2:
Complete OW in Thailand (4 days, $300)
Advance level in Thailand (2 days, $250)
Total cost: $550 – Vacation time spent: 6 days

Which option should I take?? Is it more fun to take it all there than theory in Canada (what else am I going to do in islands during the days!)? Someone said you lose quality if you do it there, is that true? How many hours do I have to study outside of classroom?? (I hope I don’t have to go to Library in my vacation!)

Please help. Thanks in advance.

You could do your Open Water Referral (academics and pool work in Canada) and continue on with your 4 Open Water dives in Thailand over a further 2 days. The average cost for the referral is around 6 900 baht or 172 US. Thereafter on to the Advanced course as this program is specifically designed to improve your diving skills therefore giving you more confidence with your own abilities in the water. I disagree with those who do not recommend going into the Advanced course straight away. It is a really great course and you would not be doing much classroom work;you would do 5 dives (2 core dives and 3 elective dives) and complete knowledge reviews. Average cost for the Advanced in Thailand is around 10 000 baht or 250 US.

Also a lot depends on whether you want dive in tropical waters only or if you want to dive in both cold and warm waters. Either way enjoy your course and diving!

 

[Hooked-Again]

I agree with damsel. Quality is of utmost importance. My wife and I got ow certified and then went to Aow but didn't have any dives in between. We then tried to cram all five aow dives into one weekend. I am not saying it can't be done, but it was sure a killer trying to do it and I didn't really enjoy the experience--too much pressure to succeed. IMO it would be better to get OW and then have some fun dives before undertaking AOW. Diving is supposed to be fun!!!!!! Enjoy!

 

[mac_diver]

Although I agree that taking your OW locally (including check out dives) would be the better option, given the time of year (mid october) this may not be an option. The dive shops in your area may have stopped running checkout dives or will be stopping soon. Based on this my recoomendation would be to take your class and pool work locally and do your check out dives in Thailand. Then just enjoy the rest of your vacation diving (no advanced course). Next spring, do your advanced course in Canada. This will give you a good introduction to diving locally. Depending on what part of Canada you live in, there are some world reknown diving locations (Vancouver, St Lawrence Seaway, etc.)

IMO it is better to have 10 - 20 dives after your open water check out dives before taking the advanced course. This gives you a chance to fine tune your bouyancy control and relax in the water before adding task loading such as navigation. In my advanced class, the people right out of OW had trouble with compass skills and search and recovery because they were still working on bouyancy. Also, not being completely relaxed in the water, led to higher breathing rates and shorter dives.

 

[Damselfish]

I do agree you shouldn't wait 100 dives to take AOW and it doesn't have to be that many given what AOW is, it really depends how you're doing. But I think something more than 0 dives (and 0 days to digest everything) is better.