Padi Openwater Diver Course

[BambinA]

Im interested to take a scuba course , Budget around 7-8000 Bht

do you have any place in Pattaya for recommend?

Thanks alot

Bambi

PS. i found one place in BKK , Ekkamai "The Livingsea" 8500 bht .. this course , study in Bkk and have to practise at Patter

[rio666uk]

go to the Padi site

http://www.padi.com/english/common/search/...sp?Country=THAI

search on Pattaya

then browse the dive centres websites to compare prices

all the best - you wont regret learning to dive

[justsignedin]

Im interested to take a scuba course , Budget around 7-8000 Bht

do you have any place in Pattaya for recommend?

Thanks alot

Bambi

PS. i found one place in BKK , Ekkamai "The Livingsea" 8500 bht .. this course , study in Bkk and have to practise at Patter

I hav'nt heard anything bad about any of the local dive centres. Maybe you should venture into a few shops yourself and go with the most helpfull and friendly.

[BambinA]

Thanks alot rio666uk 'n justsignedin

im thinking about scuba course (my friend invites me to go to Angkor Wat , but i went there already , i wanna try to do something new.

I went to Krabi few days ago for a week, my schedule was too fit , and the price of diver course there is pretty expensive (yep .,common for tourist trap..no doubt)

[justsignedin]

Thanks alot rio666uk 'n justsignedin

im thinking about scuba course (my friend invites me to go to Angkor Wat , but i went there already , i wanna try to do something new.

I went to Krabi few days ago for a week, my schedule was too fit , and the price of diver course there is pretty expensive (yep .,common for tourist trap..no doubt)

sounds like you are a lady of leisure, should'nt you be working or something.

[Phil Conners]

PADI (Put Another Dollar In) in Pattaya, absolutely no doubt about it, Mermaid In Jomtien by far. They're a full 5-star PADI dive center.

[gharknes]

Im interested to take a scuba course , Budget around 7-8000 Bht

do you have any place in Pattaya for recommend?

Thanks alot

Bambi

PS. i found one place in BKK , Ekkamai "The Livingsea" 8500 bht .. this course , study in Bkk and have to practise at Patter

Give Peter a ring on 0671357891, they are a great bunch of guys and are some of the very first instructors to work in this area, they are master divers and instructors, tell em you know me Geoff

[irish25]

open water course in pattaya....well i would go with mermaids,they are the only people i have dived with here though....am right now in the middle of doing my idc/ie(instructor exams) with them right now!they have some really great teachers there!!!

[Plus]

I know of a Thai diving school in Ladprao area - theory and swimming pool practice on Sundays and diving in Pattaya. Last year the price was 4,500 for the Bangkok part, I think. They also offer six month long Thai navy diving course or something like that. I'll find you their name and phone number if you are interested.

There was a thread not long ago about diving schools in Pattaya, and it came out rather ugly. Don't simply accept their sales pitches - ask people like Irish for the full report.

[gharknes]

open water course in pattaya....well i would go with mermaids,they are the only people i have dived with here though....am right now in the middle of doing my idc/ie(instructor exams) with them right now!they have some really great teachers there!!!

peter was one of the original instructors with Mermaids, I believe he also trained some of them as instructors.

[wallacern]

Im interested to take a scuba course , Budget around 7-8000 Bht

do you have any place in Pattaya for recommend?

Thanks alot

Bambi

PS. i found one place in BKK , Ekkamai "The Livingsea" 8500 bht .. this course , study in Bkk and have to practise at Patter

Im a PADI divemaster and have dived with Mermaids in Pattaya a couple of times.

Nice experience. Qualified people.

I live in Bangsan now.

Mike

[Totster]

I have dived with Aquanauts in Pattaya and found them excellent.

totster

[irish25]

yeah peter great guy...actualy thaught me some stuff too!!!!

[JohnC]

I have dived with both Mermaid and Aquanauts and found them equally as good! I am back next month and will be diving with Aquanauts only because of personal preferance!

I qualified in Gran Canaria which I know was more expensive than Thailand.

I think I pay 2900 baht for a days diving which includes lunch, two dives plus unlimited soft drinks and they all seeem to charge the same. Enjoy it, the best thing I ever did its what brought me to Pattaya and now settling there!

Edited January 21, 2006 by JohnC

[suegha]

Go for it Bambi, diving is great fun and relatively speaking, cheap in Thailand - also great diving to be had in Thailands warm waters. I once dived in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland. Nearly died of cold, water was 10 degrees C. When I dived in Thailand 30 degrees C, wonderful...

[Joey Boy]

I was taught by a guy called Neil from Mermaids, couldnt have been better, he was saying he'd set up by himself last time we spoke though.

The first time we did an openwater dive, there was 1 instructor and 4 trainee divemasters who were also acting as instructors, + a friend and I who were doing the open water course.

[irish25]

yes neil is also very good he has a shop down near the end of jomtien beach road now

[gharknes]

yes neil is also very good he has a shop down near the end of jomtien beach road now

Neil is Peters brother. like I said = they where the original instructors with mermaids

[edh]

I know of a Thai diving school in Ladprao area - theory and swimming pool practice on Sundays and diving in Pattaya. Last year the price was 4,500 for the Bangkok part, I think. They also offer six month long Thai navy diving course or something like that. I'll find you their name and phone number if you are interested.

There was a thread not long ago about diving schools in Pattaya, and it came out rather ugly. Don't simply accept their sales pitches - ask people like Irish for the full report.

open water course in pattaya....well i would go with mermaids,they are the only people i have dived with here though....am right now in the middle of doing my idc/ie(instructor exams) with them right now!they have some really great teachers there!!!

peter was one of the original instructors with Mermaids, I believe he also trained some of them as instructors.

Irish?? What's wrong with other nationalities?

Bambi, you should go for the experience - not the dive it self.... Go west coast of Thailand and get it all...

50 bar - tap chest

Edh

[britmaveric]

Aquanauts - always dive with them. Great lads and prob best in Thailand. Pricing is bit more than you are budgeting, but remember cheap isn't worth your life, especially when it comes to diving. 13K is more a reasonable price for open water. (4days -1day pool, 1 day classroom, 4dives other 2days)

I just did my advanced open water a couple weeks back. (now on to deep/wreck diving)

Edited January 24, 2006 by britmaveric

[johnh101]

CJ's on Soi 1 Beach Road give you a free trial in their swimming pool to make sure you are up for it.

[Plus]

Edh, Irish as in Irish25, the poster. I don't know where he is actually from. Is Bambi still reading this at all? I won't be surprised if she is hunting for paragliding school deals already.

[BambinA]

Edh, Irish as in Irish25, the poster. I don't know where he is actually from. Is Bambi still reading this at all? I won't be surprised if she is hunting for paragliding school deals already.

yep .. im reading and still thinking .. i will try to manage my work schedule, and jump on PADI asap

thanks alot for information, you guys

(my friend just got tattoo from Jimmy Wong yesterday , so we have to escape from pool/sea/sun atleast 7-10 days)

[richb2004]

We were planning on doing a beginner course on Koh Chang. Any recommendations for a centre there. Also, what is the diving like for a beginner on Koh Chang?

I checked the directory and there seem to be many but there is little information about each.

[britmaveric]

Hmmm dived off Koh Chang w/Aquanauts few weeks back. It wasn't bad - freighter wreck out there. Not sure of dive centres actually in Koh Chang - ring ones in Patters they might know.

[buadhai]

I dove with Ploy Scuba on Koh Chang a while back. I'd go with them again. They have a decent dive center out on the pier. I didn't take any course from them, so I can't comment on that. However, they did seem to have decent facilities for their students.

There are plenty of spots around Koh Chang that would be fine for a beginner; especially, I think, at this time of year.

BTW - I was thinking of making a quick trip to Pattaya (from Korat) this week or the next. Do either Mermaid or Aquanauts do regular trips to the far islands, or am I likely to get stuck with a bunch of tourists in the murky waters close to shore like the last time I dove Pattaya?

[alexth]

Sea Duction Dive Center down in Bali Hai Pier, highly recommended, owned by an american and a brit, great service

[britmaveric]

I dove with Ploy Scuba on Koh Chang a while back. I'd go with them again. They have a decent dive center out on the pier. I didn't take any course from them, so I can't comment on that. However, they did seem to have decent facilities for their students.

There are plenty of spots around Koh Chang that would be fine for a beginner; especially, I think, at this time of year.

BTW - I was thinking of making a quick trip to Pattaya (from Korat) this week or the next. Do either Mermaid or Aquanauts do regular trips to the far islands, or am I likely to get stuck with a bunch of tourists in the murky waters close to shore like the last time I dove Pattaya?

Buadhai - I know Aquanauts has their boat up near Rayong that travels near Koh Chang for a few days then travels back to patters around Fridays. Hence you have to take a baht bus for roughly an hour to catch the dive boat. Call them 038-361-724

[skippybangkok]

Local price for Thai's generally is about 7000-8000 Baht for Open water. Average price for a trip around pattaya is around 1500 baht, and if you really bargain, can get for 1200 at times.

For those who dont know, a few years back, the prices used to be about 1200 baht, and then all the dive shops formed a cartel, and now charge about 3000 baht. If you look around, you can still find some that will give a good rate.

And for those who slag off the cheap ones as " lowe quality", in many case they are trying to justify their exhorberant prices.