Biden calls for Trump to be jailed 14 days out from the election

[PatongPete]

Lookiong to get certifed and wantg a good shop. Southend either side OK

[snamos]

Im a dive groupie, because i love diving. And I have never dived professionally.....but I know a few of the dive shop owners. I would recommend the following:

Yellow Submarine Divers "Pop up" John Roberts and David Brooks run this company, they run good trips and have access to all the major dive companies, check out their website, English and Canadian. Great outfit

Offspray, I did most of my courses with them and I would say they have the best speed boat day trips going, you will pay about 40-50% more than most other companies, you save about 3 hours a day on the round trip to Phi Phi.... If you aint on a budget its the way to go. Gyles Howle runs this outfit, real nice bloke

Kontiki Patong, Another one of my friends. Michael Valentine is from Denmark and caters for mostly scandies but i have dived with this mob a lot. Really good

Seafun at La Meridian (between Karon and Patong) is where i did my open water course in 2005. Very professional team.

West Coast divers. Ive done a similans trip with them and it was one of the best 4 days of my life and i will go out with them again and again. Extremely good value for a live-aboard and sensational boats

South Siam divers is another good company. They offer all the courses, live-aboards and day trips. I have dived with them a lot also. Good consistent tours and at a reasonable price.

hope thats been a help, diving will change your life!

[Guest]

I used to work as an padi divemaster/assistant instructor (*) in Colombia, Honduras and here in lovely Phuket.

There are some great dive teachers who do understand psychology of the students and those who should be banned from the practice. There are great divers and those who know nothing how to dive.

While there can be better dive shops, which take care of the quality of the teaching, at the end of the day it all comes to the _person_ who is teaching you to dive.

Take a look at the dive shops and talk to the instructors. If you feel comfortable with the dive teacher, that's where you should go. If you wish to select between two different instructors from different shops, you can ask where they do the confined water practices and how does their dive boat looks like. These are just the environmental things. Trust and good feeling between you and your dive instructor is the most important factor.

(*) I love to dive, not teach beginners.

[PatongPete]

Any members dive professionally or involved with the business?

[stevenl]

Any members dive professionally or involved with the business?

Yes, I do and so does RingO.

Very strange list BTW Snamos, with some accident prone diveshops and others not exactly known for their high quality. Also a good one I must admit.

[Gregory Morozov]

I'll second the Offspray, really nice trip. But don't know about the instructors.

[snamos]

Any members dive professionally or involved with the business?

Yes, I do and so does RingO.

Very strange list BTW Snamos, with some accident prone diveshops and others not exactly known for their high quality. Also a good one I must admit.

A bit unfair to label particular dive centers accident prone...most of the time its one or 2 staff members that come seasonally that are the cause of the accidents, or some muppet boat captains who have been hitting to much pot or drink, the company names are then tarnished unfairly. Out of thousands of dives there are still very few accidents.

Which accidents are you talking about? because I pretty much hear from the horses mouth. One thing Ive noticed about the dive shops here is they are very bitchy and wont work together at all. If they set up some sort of Phuket diving assosiation with some responsible heads from each company a lot more could be acheived, working for a safe sustainable dive industry and protecting the reefs.

BTW which one did you like simon? was it offspray?

[stevenl]

BTW which one did you like simon? was it offspray?

And I thought my username was easy

Offspray has a nice trip on offer, won't comment on their courses.

In general I don't think the diveshops here are very bitchy, I do notice though that at the moment, with business not as good as it once was, standards dropping. Yes, more co-operation and a new DOCT would be nice, don't see that happening though at the moment.

And yes, DC's that do everything on the cheap can be called accident prone IMO. Or maybe simply short sighted, but that is too unfriendly on an open forum IMO.

Edited September 2, 2011 by stevenl

[F1fanatic]

Seabees are the best on Southern Phuket (IMO obviously) and, no, I am not connected to them in any way.

The last I heard, all the other dive companies use the same boat company - SeaBees have their own boat, which makes it far less crowded and professional.

Having said that, if they don't get enough divers booking for the trip - they cancel it and refer you to another operator .

Somehow I'm sure that they make enough money to absorb the few 'loss making' trips - rather than just canceling them and moving divers to the other boat.....

[F1fanatic]

Any members dive professionally or involved with the business?

Yes, I do and so does RingO.

Very strange list BTW Snamos, with some accident prone diveshops and others not exactly known for their high quality. Also a good one I must admit.

Please tell us who you work for. Cryptic comments are great amongst 'those in the business' - but makes everything more obscure for the rest of us 'out of the loop'.

My brother used to work in the diving business here, so I know some of the old gossip, but none of the new.

AND, before anyone queries it - no, he did not work for Seabees, but recommended them even though the company for whom he worked did not use them!

[PatongPete]

Any members dive professionally or involved with the business?

Yes, I do and so does RingO.

Very strange list BTW Snamos, with some accident prone diveshops and others not exactly known for their high quality. Also a good one I must admit.

Please tell us who you work for. Cryptic comments are great amongst 'those in the business' - but makes everything more obscure for the rest of us 'out of the loop'.

My brother used to work in the diving business here, so I know some of the old gossip, but none of the new.

AND, before anyone queries it - no, he did not work for Seabees, but recommended them even though the company for whom he worked did not use them!

What would you all say to this.. Many high rangking dive prople and owners think HKT biggest problem is the dive staff......

A very senior member of the community suggested to a Frenchman that the dive staff learn what it is to be a consignier... Not just a dive jockey... I was there at the moment and the gents eye rolled to the back of his head!

[F1fanatic]

Sorry to be thick, but what does HKT stand for?

[katasyd]

Airport code for Phuket.

[F1fanatic]

Airport code for Phuket.

Thank you, now I understand I agree.

There are a few dive instructors out there that haven't become 'jaded' I'm sure - I just haven't met them.

They need to be 'new in the field' so that they haven't lost patience and still enjoy it.

Needless to say, as relatively 'newbie' divers they'll be useless in a crisis. And yes, I do speak from experience, but fortunately lived to tell the tale as a far more experienced (but less 'qualified' ) person was diving with us.

[stevenl]

Please tell us who you work for. Cryptic comments are great amongst 'those in the business' - but makes everything more obscure for the rest of us 'out of the loop'.

My brother used to work in the diving business here, so I know some of the old gossip, but none of the new.

AND, before anyone queries it - no, he did not work for Seabees, but recommended them even though the company for whom he worked did not use them!

I don't think I can mention that here. Why don't you read my profile?

[F1fanatic]

Please tell us who you work for. Cryptic comments are great amongst 'those in the business' - but makes everything more obscure for the rest of us 'out of the loop'.

My brother used to work in the diving business here, so I know some of the old gossip, but none of the new.

AND, before anyone queries it - no, he did not work for Seabees, but recommended them even though the company for whom he worked did not use them!

I don't think I can mention that here. Why don't you read my profile?

OK I did, and it told me little. Although probably its 'cos I don't know my 'way around'.

As long as you're not advertising I don't think you'll fall foul of the rules.

[kenny999]

I have my Master diver cert but have not dived for nearly 3 yrs, with diving you have to be careful, bad dive Masters and dive leaders can change your life for the worst, the one thing you must have in my opinion is the nerve to say no or I am not happy with what you are doing!! a lot of new divers are scared to voice a fear or say I am not doing that, the last time I dived was with a dive company here(Similans live aboard, the diving was great until one particular dive 40 m max depth, I went round this large rock to film some fish, I was gone maybe 30 secs, I looked round and saw no one, my buddy had gone, every one had gone, I looked round again and saw a pair of fins in the distance, lack of experience nearly cost me my life, I chased after the group which was against a slight current, on reaching them the current had picked up and I was caught in mid water struggling, what saved me was my ability not to panic, the dive leader saw me and did nothing, at this point being close to the surface I deployed my SMB and surfaced, the boat was quick to spot me and picked me up a few minutes later, I was feeling sick and dizzy but I was never offered oxygen or even had any one ask if I was okay, I was throwing up and felt rough, it took me quite a few hours to recover, what I should have done when every one fecked off was deploy my SMB from 40 mtrs and surface, it was an experience I will never forget. so I am saying ask lots of questions when choosing a dive company and do not be afraid to say no!!!

Also very important make it very clear to your dive buddy that you want him to be by your side 100% of the dive time, if he does wonder then deploy your SMB and get out of there, you do not get a second chance in diving for obvious reasons!! my buddy saw me go but decided it would be okay to leave me, it caused quite a few arguments between us I can tell you!!

My favorite diving was at Stoney Cove in the UK(Gravel pit) loved dry suit diving loved not having any currents.

Edited September 2, 2011 by kenny999

[F1fanatic]

I have my Master diver cert but have not dived for nearly 3 yrs, with diving you have to be careful, bad dive Masters and dive leaders can change your life for the worst, the one thing you must have in my opinion is the nerve to say no or I am not happy with what you are doing!! a lot of new divers are scared to voice a fear or say I am not doing that, the last time I dived was with a dive company here(Similans live aboard, the diving was great until one particular dive 40 m max depth, I went round this large rock to film some fish, I was gone maybe 30 secs, I looked round and saw no one, my buddy had gone, every one had gone, I looked round again and saw a pair of fins in the distance, lack of experience nearly cost me my life, I chased after the group which was against a slight current, on reaching them the current had picked up and I was caught in mid water struggling, what saved me was my ability not to panic, the dive leader saw me and did nothing, at this point being close to the surface I deployed my SMB and surfaced, the boat was quick to spot me and picked me up a few minutes later, I was feeling sick and dizzy but I was never offered oxygen or even had any one ask if I was okay, I was throwing up and felt rough, it took me quite a few hours to recover, what I should have done when every one fecked off was deploy my SMB from 40 mtrs and surface, it was an experience I will never forget. so I am saying ask lots of questions when choosing a dive company and do not be afraid to say no!!!

Also very important make it very clear to your dive buddy that you want him to be by your side 100% of the dive time, if he does wonder then deploy your SMB and get out of there, you do not get a second chance in diving for obvious reasons!! my buddy saw me go but decided it would be okay to leave me, it caused quite a few arguments between us I can tell you!!

My favorite diving was at Stoney Cove in the UK(Gravel pit) loved dry suit diving loved not having any currents.

You were doing a 'normal' dive from a dive boat on Phuket?

They would not expect you to go down to 40m and the dive guides, diving twice a day every day, would not want to go this deep.

If you want to go to 40m you need to have a buddy who is as experienced as you. I'm assuming that YOU have hundreds of dives under your belt.

[kenny999]

I have my Master diver cert but have not dived for nearly 3 yrs, with diving you have to be careful, bad dive Masters and dive leaders can change your life for the worst, the one thing you must have in my opinion is the nerve to say no or I am not happy with what you are doing!! a lot of new divers are scared to voice a fear or say I am not doing that, the last time I dived was with a dive company here(Similans live aboard, the diving was great until one particular dive 40 m max depth, I went round this large rock to film some fish, I was gone maybe 30 secs, I looked round and saw no one, my buddy had gone, every one had gone, I looked round again and saw a pair of fins in the distance, lack of experience nearly cost me my life, I chased after the group which was against a slight current, on reaching them the current had picked up and I was caught in mid water struggling, what saved me was my ability not to panic, the dive leader saw me and did nothing, at this point being close to the surface I deployed my SMB and surfaced, the boat was quick to spot me and picked me up a few minutes later, I was feeling sick and dizzy but I was never offered oxygen or even had any one ask if I was okay, I was throwing up and felt rough, it took me quite a few hours to recover, what I should have done when every one fecked off was deploy my SMB from 40 mtrs and surface, it was an experience I will never forget. so I am saying ask lots of questions when choosing a dive company and do not be afraid to say no!!!

Also very important make it very clear to your dive buddy that you want him to be by your side 100% of the dive time, if he does wonder then deploy your SMB and get out of there, you do not get a second chance in diving for obvious reasons!! my buddy saw me go but decided it would be okay to leave me, it caused quite a few arguments between us I can tell you!!

My favorite diving was at Stoney Cove in the UK(Gravel pit) loved dry suit diving loved not having any currents.

You were doing a 'normal' dive from a dive boat on Phuket?

They would not expect you to go down to 40m and the dive guides, diving twice a day every day, would not want to go this deep.

If you want to go to 40m you need to have a buddy who is as experienced as you. I'm assuming that YOU have hundreds of dives under your belt.

The dive was in the Similans from a dive boat, briefing was 40m max depth for those qualified, at that point I had approx 80 dives my buddy in excess of 200, obviously I have my deep dive cert, looking back we was not at 40mtrs maybe round the 32 mark, not dived since that incident but I also decided I hated any currents!!

Sorry the dive was 30m max, but I had asked the dive leader if I could go down to 40m very briefly, but never got there as they all fecked off!

Edited September 2, 2011 by kenny999

[F1fanatic]

The dive was in the Similans from a dive boat, briefing was 40m max depth for those qualified, at that point I had approx 80 dives my buddy in excess of 200, obviously I have my deep dive cert, looking back we was not at 40mtrs maybe round the 32 mark, not dived since that incident but I also decided I hated any currents!!

Sorry the dive was 30m max, but I had asked the dive leader if I could go down to 40m very briefly, but never got there as they all fecked off!

O.K. Reading your post again, whilst your buddy should have been keeping an eye out for you - you too should have been keeping a watchful eye on your buddy.

It sounds as if currents picked up and you were a bit slow realising that your buddy had been carried away.

[kenny999]

O.K. Reading your post again, whilst your buddy should have been keeping an eye out for you - you too should have been keeping a watchful eye on your buddy.

It sounds as if currents picked up and you were a bit slow realising that your buddy had been carried away.

Even when I first started diving I was always concerned about dive Buddy's, I was never confident with any one which in diving is not a good thing, I considered myself to be an above average dive buddy, before a dive I would always make it clear, "if you want to go some where indicate to me and it's no problem" I did this on that dive but he just went off with the group, any way I am still here and I do miss my Stoney Cove diving so much..

In the UK I was never with out my Pony bottle which was of great comfort considering my lack of confidence in dive buddy's

[F1fanatic]

O.K. Reading your post again, whilst your buddy should have been keeping an eye out for you - you too should have been keeping a watchful eye on your buddy.

It sounds as if currents picked up and you were a bit slow realising that your buddy had been carried away.

Even when I first started diving I was always concerned about dive Buddy's, I was never confident with any one which in diving is not a good thing, I considered myself to be an above average dive buddy, before a dive I would always make it clear, "if you want to go some where indicate to me and it's no problem" I did this on that dive but he just went off with the group, any way I am still here and I do miss my Stoney Cove diving so much..

In the UK I was never with out my Pony bottle which was of great comfort considering my lack of confidence in dive buddy's

Except you found yourself alone and blame your buddy...

I can honestly say that with over 800 dives I have never 'lost' my buddy.

One time off Africa we were warned that the currents are v bad - if you don't get down quickly, you won't make the dive. My buddy didn't make it but neither did many others. We all had hundreds of dives under our belt so knew they would be fine. Otherwise we would have followed the 'golden rule' and surfaced.

Have to add that buddy and the rest had the final laugh. Whilst hanging around at 6m they saw a Marlin!

[kenny999]

O.K. Reading your post again, whilst your buddy should have been keeping an eye out for you - you too should have been keeping a watchful eye on your buddy.

It sounds as if currents picked up and you were a bit slow realising that your buddy had been carried away.

Even when I first started diving I was always concerned about dive Buddy's, I was never confident with any one which in diving is not a good thing, I considered myself to be an above average dive buddy, before a dive I would always make it clear, "if you want to go some where indicate to me and it's no problem" I did this on that dive but he just went off with the group, any way I am still here and I do miss my Stoney Cove diving so much..

In the UK I was never with out my Pony bottle which was of great comfort considering my lack of confidence in dive buddy's

Except you found yourself alone and blame your buddy...

I can honestly say that with over 800 dives I have never 'lost' my buddy.

One time off Africa we were warned that the currents are v bad - if you don't get down quickly, you won't make the dive. My buddy didn't make it but neither did many others. We all had hundreds of dives under our belt so knew they would be fine. Otherwise we would have followed the 'golden rule' and surfaced.

Have to add that buddy and the rest had the final laugh. Whilst hanging around at 6m they saw a Marlin!

It was agreed before the dive we would stay together even if one of us wanted to do something, I indicated to him I wanted to take some video and expected him to follow as he gave the thumbs up, except he didn't so who is to blame?

My mistake for not surfacing, my mistake for chasing the group, his fault for leaving me!!

Correct me if I am wrong.

You are saying you have never been separated from your buddy yet you say you were separated from your buddy? in that case you should have surfaced once you had searched for 1 minute.

you assumed these other divers were okay purely by the number of dives they had done?

Edited September 2, 2011 by kenny999

[F1fanatic]

It was agreed before the dive we would stay together even if one of us wanted to do something, I indicated to him I wanted to take some video and expected him to follow as he gave the thumbs up, except he didn't so who is to blame?

So you were separated from your buddy, the rule is if you can not find your buddy within 1 minute you surface!! so you assumed these other divers were okay purely by the number of dives they had done?

Actually yes - we had a few dives on this trip so had realised that our 500+ dives each actually meant we were OK. It had been assumed some of us would not make it, so told (obviously) to deploy an SMB.

Meanwhile you had lost track of your buddy and blame your buddy .

Edit - sorry was mistaken.

Hubby and I were least experienced and only had 400+ dives.

Edited September 2, 2011 by F1fanatic

[kenny999]

I think 50/50 blame is fair... I hope you are not saying that just because a diver has hundreds of dives he can be considered safe even if you can not see them, try telling that to my mate who was killed last yr with many many dives to his name, he had a problem at his safety stop panicked and disappeared in to the deep, his Buddy's were probably thinking the same thing, he was experienced so no need to worry!!

Following many recent threads where posting has descended in to insults(I think this could be heading that way, but not yet of course as so far it has been interesting, I have decided not to get drawn in to this situation again, I want to be a good boy from now on and avoid getting suspended yet again. happy days and safe diving to you!!

[F1fanatic]

I think 50/50 blame is fair... I hope you are not saying that just because a diver has hundreds of dives he can be considered safe even if you can not see them, try telling that to my mate who was killed last yr with many many dives to his name, he had a problem at his safety stop panicked and disappeared in to the deep, his Buddy's were probably thinking the same thing, he was experienced so no need to worry!!

Following many recent threads where posting has descended in to insults(I think this could be heading that way, but not yet of course as so far it has been interesting, I have decided not to get drawn in to this situation again, I want to be a good boy from now on and avoid getting suspended yet again. happy days and safe diving to you!!

Your friend has how many dives to his name and where?

YOU lost track of your buddy - could it not be a result of currents that swept your buddy away? Your buddy was probably paying attention even though you was only concentrating on getting a 'good' depth...

[kenny999]

I think 50/50 blame is fair... I hope you are not saying that just because a diver has hundreds of dives he can be considered safe even if you can not see them, try telling that to my mate who was killed last yr with many many dives to his name, he had a problem at his safety stop panicked and disappeared in to the deep, his Buddy's were probably thinking the same thing, he was experienced so no need to worry!!

Following many recent threads where posting has descended in to insults(I think this could be heading that way, but not yet of course as so far it has been interesting, I have decided not to get drawn in to this situation again, I want to be a good boy from now on and avoid getting suspended yet again. happy days and safe diving to you!!

Your friend has how many dives to his name and where?

YOU lost track of your buddy - could it not be a result of currents that swept your buddy away? Your buddy was probably paying attention even though you was only concentrating on getting a 'good' depth...

He was my dive Buddy's very good friend, I met him the once and such a lovely man, I Can not tell you how many dives he had but I think it was many, I would have to ask my mate, I am sure it was in the Farne Islands but again I would have to confirm this, his body was found some weeks later... again not sure about this, if you are interested I can find out the dtails and let you know..

My opinion of diving is, you can never be sure any one is a great diver even if they say they have 10,000 dives, when you book your diving trip quite a lot of the time you will dive with someone you have never met before which is a disaster waiting to happen, you don't know him, would you be confident that at say 20 mtrs he would give you air should you have a problem? I know I never was which is why I always used a pony bottle set up, the ability to help your self is a great feeling.

[snamos]

BTW which one did you like simon? was it offspray?

And I thought my username was easy

Offspray has a nice trip on offer, won't comment on their courses.

In general I don't think the diveshops here are very bitchy, I do notice though that at the moment, with business not as good as it once was, standards dropping. Yes, more co-operation and a new DOCT would be nice, don't see that happening though at the moment.

And yes, DC's that do everything on the cheap can be called accident prone IMO. Or maybe simply short sighted, but that is too unfriendly on an open forum IMO.

The difference here is I am a customer, you work in the industry. . Ive done over 130 dives around the place (i would have to check my computer) with a lot of different companies. I paid my way up to divemaster, and bought enough diving gear to take up substantial space in my spare room.

And I would say that I would be a bit unique as not many people would have paid and dived as much as i have in Phuket. Lets say Im a repeat customer, and I didnt just choose the budget brands....I went on as many different boats and companies as i wanted. So I would say Im a good repeat customer as i plan to go diving again in the next couple of weeks.

So my opinion as a repeat customer would hold a bit of merit would it not? Your statement that my opinions are a bit strange (or words to that effect).....but my opinions are of good experiences...if you work in the industry you should be asking me specifically what I liked about the trips ....that way enhancing your own business or work practices. Instead of rubbishing most of the dive companies i recommended and being a secret squirrel type character about the one i liked. I think my statement about the dive industry being bitchy is spot on

Edited September 2, 2011 by snamos

[stevenl]

So my opinion as a repeat customer would hold a bit of merit would it not? Your statement that my opinions are a bit strange (or words to that effect).....but my opinions are of good experiences...if you work in the industry you should be asking me specifically what I liked about the trips ....that way enhancing your own business or work practices. Instead of rubbishing most of the dive companies i recommended and being a secret squirrel type character about the one i liked. I think my statement about the dive industry being bitchy is spot on

Yes, of course your opinion holds merit. But for quality courses you're simply mentioning quite a few of the wrong companies. It becomes a lot easier to realise the quality of course once you're an experienced instructors, and see the instructors in action on a regular basis.

Regarding the bitching: I told the accident prone company exactly what I think of them. So maybe bitching, but directly to the guy himself and not behind his back.

Edited September 2, 2011 by stevenl

[PatongPete]

I think 50/50 blame is fair... I hope you are not saying that just because a diver has hundreds of dives he can be considered safe even if you can not see them, try telling that to my mate who was killed last yr with many many dives to his name, he had a problem at his safety stop panicked and disappeared in to the deep, his Buddy's were probably thinking the same thing, he was experienced so no need to worry!!

Following many recent threads where posting has descended in to insults(I think this could be heading that way, but not yet of course as so far it has been interesting, I have decided not to get drawn in to this situation again, I want to be a good boy from now on and avoid getting suspended yet again. happy days and safe diving to you!!

I'm not talking about people who have been recreational divers but managment in the various training associations!