Where to go?

[samwize1]

Hi there,
I am flying into phuket mid September and plan on doing my dive masters or DMT but still deciding where to go. I plan on starting end of September or start of October. I want to take my time and learn the most possible and do as many dives in the process maybe over 3 months or even longer, I have no time constraints. I just want some honest advice as to where I should go? Factors being dive site quality, best weather and conditions from October to December, busy enough to be going out multiple times a day and where. At the moment I'm tossing up between koh tao, koh phi phi and koh lanta but i am open to other suggestions. As for actual Dive Centers I can work that out when I get there by meeting the instructors and see what they have to offer.
Any help would be awesome!
Sam

[jaiyen]

The diving in Phuket is crap and has been for many years. Coral is dead, fish have gone, turtles have gone. My last dive was about 8 years ago and that was useless. You won't see anything to impress.  

[Deli]

East coast has bad weather at that time of the year, so fogey Ko Tao. Lanta starts not before November.

PP is full of Chinese, avoid. In the end it's Phuket and it is not as bad as some say. You go to do a course, means to learn something important.

IMO, what you see during the course is secondary, what you will learn is what counts.

If you wanna have great diving + course, than maybe you change destination to Indo or Phils.

[quandow]

I earned my PADI Staff Instructor certification in Thailand. The logic is that the diving is SO bad here, if you can teach in these waters, you can teach anywhere. You don't come to Thailand to enjoy the scuba.

 

The exception to that rule is the Similan Islands. The problems with the Similans is there are only certain seasons you can dive, and it's a minimum 4-day live aboard trip. If you have the time, the money, and the patience, the Similans are well worth the trip.

[Inepto Cracy]

My only experience is with Thailand Divers in Patong, Phuket.

I found them to be highly experienced, great camaraderie and good instructors.

Only other dive centres I have had experience with, have been on underwater clean-ups, mainly the Phuket centres.

Similian islands are great from Nov to March.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Inepto Cracy

[Ajvat37]

5 hours ago, samwize1 said:

I want to take my time and learn the most possible and do as many dives in the process maybe over 3 months or even longer

Koh Tao 100%

5 hours ago, samwize1 said:

Factors being dive site quality, best weather and conditions from October to December

Liveaboard to similans/surin etc... or possibly a mainland company doing daily trips from Phuket or probably better kao Lak.

 

I would say avoid phi phi and Koh lanta, can get a lot done certification wise but you’ll be bored out of your mind on dives.

west coast definitely better that time of year but Koh Tao is so cheap and companies will let you dive unlimited when doing a long term dive master class

 

if your not tied to Thailand check out Indonesian spots like Bunaken, Gilis or raja ampat,, two fish divers is an example of the variety of sites 

Edited July 23, 2018 by Ajvat37
Update

[krabi local]

My suggestion would be Koh Lanta and one of the shops in the Saladan area.

most boats from Lanta  will dive Phi Phi, The Bida’s, Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Koh Haa etc and these are great diving site.

the dates you are suggesting arevthe start of high season so a great time to learn.

[helloagain]

21 hours ago, jaiyen said:

The diving in Phuket is crap and has been for many years. Coral is dead, fish have gone, turtles have gone. My last dive was about 8 years ago and that was useless. You won't see anything to impress.  

Bangla road

[stevenl]

On 7/23/2018 at 2:03 PM, jaiyen said:

The diving in Phuket is crap and has been for many years. Coral is dead, fish have gone, turtles have gone. My last dive was about 8 years ago and that was useless. You won't see anything to impress.  

That is a load of crap you're posting.

 

Lots of really nice corals and many, many fish.

[stevenl]

On 7/23/2018 at 5:25 PM, Ajvat37 said:

Koh Tao 100%

Liveaboard to similans/surin etc... or possibly a mainland company doing daily trips from Phuket or probably better kao Lak.

 

I would say avoid phi phi and Koh lanta, can get a lot done certification wise but you’ll be bored out of your mind on dives.

west coast definitely better that time of year but Koh Tao is so cheap and companies will let you dive unlimited when doing a long term dive master class

 

if your not tied to Thailand check out Indonesian spots like Bunaken, Gilis or raja ampat,, two fish divers is an example of the variety of sites 

"Koh Tao 100%"

Disagree. Phi Phi also lots of diving possible, diversites just as close as on Koh Tao, but much better diving from Phi Phi.

[stevenl]

On 7/23/2018 at 3:19 PM, quandow said:

I earned my PADI Staff Instructor certification in Thailand. The logic is that the diving is SO bad here, if you can teach in these waters, you can teach anywhere. You don't come to Thailand to enjoy the scuba.

 

The exception to that rule is the Similan Islands. The problems with the Similans is there are only certain seasons you can dive, and it's a minimum 4-day live aboard trip. If you have the time, the money, and the patience, the Similans are well worth the trip.

Again, nonsense that the diving is bad.

 

The diving is really nice on the Andaman side, Gulf of Thailand far less. Pattaya has some interesting wrecks though.

[bubblehead]

On 7/26/2018 at 2:25 AM, stevenl said:

Again, nonsense that the diving is bad.

 

The diving is really nice on the Andaman side, Gulf of Thailand far less. Pattaya has some interesting wrecks though.

The diving in Thailand is rubbish no matter where you go. Broken coral, no fish, overcrowded dive sites, filth in the ocean. It may have been good 30 years ago but not anymore. It won't recover in our lifetimes. Anybody that says it is good either has a vested interest or has no idea what they are talking about. Sorry mate but that is the reality.

 

The other reality is if you train as a DM all you become is free labor. Eventually after 6 months of working for nothing and you pass you IDC you might get a job that pays peanuts, whilst working without a work permit.

 

There is also the safety aspect. I was on the boat out of Ao Nang a week before that Russian lost both his legs to a speed boat in Phi Phi. It was about 3 years ago. There have been numerous other accidents and deaths. No thanks.

[stevenl]

On 8/13/2018 at 6:23 PM, bubblehead said:

The diving in Thailand is rubbish no matter where you go. Broken coral, no fish, overcrowded dive sites, filth in the ocean. It may have been good 30 years ago but not anymore. It won't recover in our lifetimes. Anybody that says it is good either has a vested interest or has no idea what they are talking about. Sorry mate but that is the reality.

 

The other reality is if you train as a DM all you become is free labor. Eventually after 6 months of working for nothing and you pass you IDC you might get a job that pays peanuts, whilst working without a work permit.

 

There is also the safety aspect. I was on the boat out of Ao Nang a week before that Russian lost both his legs to a speed boat in Phi Phi. It was about 3 years ago. There have been numerous other accidents and deaths. No thanks.

"The diving in Thailand is rubbish no matter where you go. Broken coral, no fish, overcrowded dive sites, filth in the ocean. It may have been good 30 years ago but not anymore. It won't recover in our lifetimes. Anybody that says it is good either has a vested interest or has no idea what they are talking about. Sorry mate but that is the reality."

I wish you happiness with your reality, and am really glad I am living in mine.

[bubblehead]

12 hours ago, stevenl said:

"The diving in Thailand is rubbish no matter where you go. Broken coral, no fish, overcrowded dive sites, filth in the ocean. It may have been good 30 years ago but not anymore. It won't recover in our lifetimes. Anybody that says it is good either has a vested interest or has no idea what they are talking about. Sorry mate but that is the reality."

I wish you happiness with your reality, and am really glad I am living in mine.

Thanks mate!!

[virtualm]

I've been diving a lot in Thailand when I was working in Bangkok for 2 years, I would say Phi Phi is amazing for diving (on par with the Maldives IMO) but it was expensive. And I would imagine prices for DMT are hiked because of tourists. I did my open water & advanced with a dive centre in Jomtien, only because it was easy for me to get to and it meant I didnt have to fly. Yes, I know Jomtien & Pattaya water is crap but it's not bad once you get to Koh Lan and further out, and I saw amazing huge turtles I never saw in Phi Phi.  And I now call my dive shop buddies mates, they are British run and a brilliant bunch of guys - 100% safety always.

 

I would also recommend using a dive centre that has their own speed boat, it's faster to get out, more personal and brilliant fun. And ask them how many dives they do in a day, the dive masters I went with in Phi Phi went out 3 times a day with different groups, they were knackered. And same applies for a lot of the dive shops in Koh Tao and massive groups as well. My dive shop in Jomtien only goes out once a day.

 

Anybody living in Thailand I fully recommend doing the open water & advanced, it's a lot lot cheaper than UK or US prices. I really enjoyed doing my Padi online exam as well.

[bubblehead]

On 8/15/2018 at 8:14 PM, virtualm said:

I've been diving a lot in Thailand when I was working in Bangkok for 2 years, I would say Phi Phi is amazing for diving (on par with the Maldives IMO) but it was expensive. And I would imagine prices for DMT are hiked because of tourists. I did my open water & advanced with a dive centre in Jomtien, only because it was easy for me to get to and it meant I didnt have to fly. Yes, I know Jomtien & Pattaya water is crap but it's not bad once you get to Koh Lan and further out, and I saw amazing huge turtles I never saw in Phi Phi.  And I now call my dive shop buddies mates, they are British run and a brilliant bunch of guys - 100% safety always.

 

I would also recommend using a dive centre that has their own speed boat, it's faster to get out, more personal and brilliant fun. And ask them how many dives they do in a day, the dive masters I went with in Phi Phi went out 3 times a day with different groups, they were knackered. And same applies for a lot of the dive shops in Koh Tao and massive groups as well. My dive shop in Jomtien only goes out once a day.

 

Anybody living in Thailand I fully recommend doing the open water & advanced, it's a lot lot cheaper than UK or US prices. I really enjoyed doing my Padi online exam as well.

?????

[expat1010]

September and October can be a bit of a crap shoot due to bad weather and the resulting rough water and poor visibility

That said Lipe is nice for diving as is Lanta and the stimulants as well as into Burma, the last two basically being live aboard.

Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are all nice as well depending on the location and month. If you have the coin Maldives are very nice come end of October onward


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[expat1010]

September and October can be a bit of a crap shoot due to bad weather and the resulting rough water and poor visibility

That said Lipe is nice for diving as is Lanta and the stimulants as well as into Burma, the last two basically being live aboard.

Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are all nice as well depending on the location and month. If you have the coin Maldives are very nice come end of October onward


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*** avoid the stimulants lol

Go for the similar islands


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[expat1010]

*** avoid the stimulants lol

Go for the similar islands


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** darn spell check similan


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