Going to Phuket to do my first dive after getting my open water in Koh Tao 6 months ago. The prices of diving in Phuket seem to be about 3000 baht for a day trip which includes lunch and 2-3 dives depending on the company/itinerary. However I see many dive shops also offer reef dives for 1200 baht. They claim the trip is short - a hour and up to 10-15 metres depth.

I am on limited funds and wondering if I should just splurge and go on the 3000 baht dive trip. Any advice?

Without seeing what they are offering for 1200 baht it's hard to say. Sounds like it may be beach dives. There is some fairly nice beach diving to be had off of Karon and Kata Beach. Phuket Scuba Club probably does the most beach dives there as they have a shop literally on the beach at the south end of Karon, and their Kata shop is a short walk to the reef on the south end of Kata Beach. If you don't want to fork out for the daytrip, I recommend Karon House Reef or doing a longtail boat dive on Karon Rock or Koh Poo, all accessible from Karon Beach.

Without seeing what they are offering for 1200 baht it's hard to say. Sounds like it may be beach dives. There is some fairly nice beach diving to be had off of Karon and Kata Beach. Phuket Scuba Club probably does the most beach dives there as they have a shop literally on the beach at the south end of Karon, and their Kata shop is a short walk to the reef on the south end of Kata Beach. If you don't want to fork out for the daytrip, I recommend Karon House Reef or doing a longtail boat dive on Karon Rock or Koh Poo, all accessible from Karon Beach.

Ko Poo...is that where the outlet pipe for the Phuket sewage plant ends