Diving

[percy2]

i feel hijacked. maybe i'll try the Maldives instead

Sorry!

I was just trying to bring some honest advice and perspective.

Where ever you dive and whoever you dive with I am sure you will enjoy it.

Cheers

[percy2]

Dive supply is a good retailer of dive gear http://www.divesupply.com/

I'd agree with Chantal about Ocean Rover being an excellent boat/outfit.

Cheers

[BKKDUDE]

percy2,

Now you are revealing your stingy nature ....

[percy2]

percy2,

Now you are revealing your stingy nature ....

Sorry thats too cryptic for me.

What do you mean?

Cheers

[H2oDunc]

i feel hijacked. maybe i'll try the Maldives instead

Kiakaha,Come to Chumphon and have a relaxed no hassle dive. You can do either PADI or SSI. No dive shops here so just buy your kit there then head here. Better beaches, Cheaper accom and some excellent diving, normally just us in the water.

You tell em Percy2 Take no prisoners.

Oh by the way Im a dive instructor, PADI and SSI and run my own diving snorkling and fishing business but it doesnt make me a bad person, come and try it??????

[kiakaha]

i feel hijacked. maybe i'll try the Maldives instead

Sorry!

I was just trying to bring some honest advice and perspective.

Where ever you dive and whoever you dive with I am sure you will enjoy it.

Cheers

i was being facetious. i am coming to Phuket for a bit of diving and i have received some good info on this thread.

[kiakaha]

aside from the similans, what are the better day trip dive sites out of phuket ?

[kiakaha]

i feel hijacked. maybe i'll try the Maldives instead

Kiakaha,Come to Chumphon and have a relaxed no hassle dive. You can do either PADI or SSI. No dive shops here so just buy your kit there then head here. Better beaches, Cheaper accom and some excellent diving, normally just us in the water.

You tell em Percy2 Take no prisoners.

Oh by the way Im a dive instructor, PADI and SSI and run my own diving snorkling and fishing business but it doesnt make me a bad person, come and try it??????

Maybe i'll pop in for a dive on the drive down to Phuket.

[smartecosse]

Dive supply is a good retailer of dive gear http://www.divesupply.com/

I'd agree with Chantal about Ocean Rover being an excellent boat/outfit.

Cheers

Dive Supply on Phuket is not a retail outlet. Unless you have a company, dive boat or are a retail dive shop owner or CD then you are not allowed in. Dive Supply in other areas are retailers however and do offer an excellent range of items, even if they are heavily weighted towards certain manufacturers that they are the master distributor for.

As for saying that steel liveaboards offer better service and more space than wooden counterparts thats not always the case. Of course if you look at Ocean Rover versus an 18 meter ex fishing boat then the cabins may be better but not necessarily the service. Likewise owner operated vessels do not necessarily give good service if the owner is a muppet

Just off the top of my head the Aggressor Fleet are renowned for the service they give. They are a franchise operation and not that many of the owners are on the boats. I can also think of a couple of small liveaboards that are wooden that give excellent service and have guests coming back many times.

You may not be in the dive business but by your snide remarks you have obvioulsy been around it a while - why the "newbie instructor" comment at the BKK guy? Its got nowt to do with it whether the guys done a 1000 certs or none as to his opinions. Its not an agency bashing thread it was about diving.

ANYWAY,

to the OP there are plenty of nice daytrips that can be taken from Phuket. Phi Phi, Racha Noi, Shark Point and Koh Doc Mai etc all have there good points. The trips are normally two or three tanks ones and with the variety of boats available you could pretty much do any site any day of the week.

[percy2]

aside from the similans, what are the better day trip dive sites out of phuket ?

hin muang, hin deang are well worth visiting.

Cheers

[percy2]

PERCY 2

Some of your points are valid, some are not

There are people contributing to the thread that have thousands of dives rather than hundreds yet you appear to give their opinions no weight...............

You may not be in the dive business but by your snide remarks you have obvioulsy been around it a while - why the "newbie instructor" comment at the BKK guy? Its got nowt to do with it whether the guys done a 1000 certs or none as to his opinions. Its not an agency bashing thread it was about diving.

"kettle" meet "pot"

BKKDUDE had made some silly and also rude posts. He had it coming.

It seems the only people who have taken discomfort from my remarks are dive pro's.

Are you a dive pro?

I'm all for giving people good advice.

In hindsight the Put Another Dollar In quip was a mistake. It was a reaction to BKKDUDE stating he was a PADI intsructor and then giving poor advice.

I had no intention of agency bashing.

I've made my points and they can now stand on their own merit.

But from the overly defensive reaction from the Phuket dive pro's it seems my comments maybe uncomfortably close to the mark.

Cheers

[stevenl]

PS the superior attitude doesn't suit you.

Only towards you, because the comments you made earlier really don't make sense, but still you continue.

You're right with Hin Daeng and Hin Muang BTW, excellent diving. Also possible on a daytrip, albeit a bit far.

[Chantal]

aside from the similans, what are the better day trip dive sites out of phuket ?

Kiakaha

My favourite daytrip sites from Phuket are Anemone Reef and the Racha Noi South Point (can have seriously strong currents here). Otherwise Sharkpoint and the Phi Phi dive sites.

[PhuketBlogger]

Oh, I do love a good argument.

The old "choose an operator, not an agent" argument is a classic .. I have worked for both. At the operator, we basically had to tell everyone "our boat is the best, fastest, safest, most comfortable, has the most experienced crew etc...". I now work for an agent, though I think the rules of this forum don't allow me to say who, so I can't 100% declare my interests! As a (good, I think) agent we find the best boat/trip to suit what the customer asks for. Not just trying to sell the most expensive thing, and not "just selling anything that floats". We try to choose the best in their price range and the selection changes every year. I know that Steve and Chantal apply the same principal - reason is simple - sure, as a business you want to make money, but in this dive business there is so much competition that you want to have happy customers, so you try to choose the best products to offer - customers come back happy and hopefully come back again and/or tell their friends. If I sell the MV Garbage to a customer just to make money, that customer will come back complaining, will not book with us again and might tell people to avoid using our service.

So, the argument that agents "just sell" is not correct. Agents tend to know about many boats, know the operators, take a lot of time and care to offer a good selection of good boats and take a lot of care to help customers with more than just the diving - answer lots of questions, help with hotels, airport transfers etc...

There are even some operators who view agents as people who take their money for no work! That is well out of order! The agent does most of the work to help the customer, all the operator has to do is take them diving (note: smiley face means light hearted comment)

Have a nice day! Fact is that 99% of the time you will have a good dive trip here no matter what boat you use or who you book with. Just be sure to get all the information.... Boats that I describe as crowded and low budget are described as "luxury" on other websites, I kid you not!

Jamie

Phuket

[smartecosse]

jamie

you are assuming that its a dive shop acting as an agent.

all the "tourist booths" that sell all the trips and liveaboards etc could give a flying what the boats like. Whatever the customers ask the answer will be "yes - have". Its a one time thing for them they, unlike your sunny shop, dont care about upset customers they just want the cash. (in most cases)

[LadyinRed]

I'm a big fan of them.

[PhuketBlogger]

jamie

you are assuming that its a dive shop acting as an agent.

all the "tourist booths" that sell all the trips and liveaboards etc could give a flying what the boats like. Whatever the customers ask the answer will be "yes - have". Its a one time thing for them they, unlike your sunny shop, dont care about upset customers they just want the cash. (in most cases)

I would recommend people not to book diving at street side booths and tour agents. It can be tempting as they do sometimes offer discounts to tempt you, but unless you are sure they know exactly what they are talking about, avoid. I have been on trips with divers who signed up for "dive trip" and did not know which dive sites they were going to, had not had any chance to try rental equipment etc..

Go to a dive shop to book diving. Much of the time does not matter TOO much which one. But do shop around a bit and see if people give you honest information etc...