Thailand (Dive Sites)

Advantages: Cheap, brilliant dive sites
Disadvantages: A bit of a pain to get to, but worth it

I first went to Thailand in early October 99 to visit a mate who was training to be a divemaster on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. Whilst I was there I decided to learn to scuba dive - (this was mainly to protect my liver from all the partying that I was doing!). I did an PADI Open Water Diver (OWD) course which consisted of an introduction to the equipment, an explanation of the physics involved, the rules we must follow, the signals ...
...for novice divers) and 4 dives in pairs with an instructor. The first dive was in shallow water (5m) in a sandy bottomed bay, to familiarise ourselves with what is basically an alien environment. We had to perform various acts underwater including removing our mask and retrieving it, to prove we were capable of dealing with problems, then we went for a little swim. The first proper dive to 18m (the OWD limit) was awesome and hooked me for life! The ... Read review

Advantages: One of the top dive sites in the world
Disadvantages: diving is seasonal

...have spent 8 months in Thailand recently training to be a Scuba instructor in Pattaya (I will submit another review for these dives). Part of my course included the opportunity to go on a liveaboard to the Similan Islands in the andeman Sea. While in Thailand I actually I went on 2 trips to the Similan Islands, one before the Tsunami and one after. The trip was organised by a company called seaking but was all dealt with through the dive school ...
...really good, only £250 for 4 days diving. Because we were based in Pattaya we flew to Phuket from Bangkok airport, there are many budget airlines operating in Asia so it only cost us £20 for a return flight. All other transport was arranged by the liveaboard company. Once we arrived in Phuket we were taken to a large supermarket to stock up on any snacks or drinks we wanted to take then we boarded the boat, The Really Wicked Witch! Once on board ... Read review

Advantages: Superb corals and colourful fish.
Disadvantages: A long journey

Staying at Kata beach few years back, I booked a two dive package from Phuket Aquatic Safaris in Phuket town. At £50 it seemed a bit steep, but I by the time I returned I was amazed at the value. An air conditioned coach picked me up from the hotel on Kata beach and took me to the harbour some 20 miles away. I was met by the divemaster and transferred to an air conditioned express boat for very comfortable one hour journey to Phi Phi. Travelling ...
...It was only when we arrived that I saw my gear, carefully stored on the foredeck. Whilst the other daytrippers boarded a launch to take them ashore I boarded a long tail boat crewed by a couple of local guys. The gear was transferred and I didn't have to lift a finger. I found this hard to believe - I was the only diver, yet here was a boat and three guys at my service. We journeyed to Phi Phi Li, the smaller of the two islands, before they helped ... Read review

Advantages: nice aquatic senery
Disadvantages: poor visability

...on a dive trip in thailand to koh-larn just past the island that tourists call "coral island",i booked this trip at a local dive centre nearby to where i was staying in pattaya town,the centre was called aquanaughts i booked a dive trip for myself and a passenger that cost me in total about 40 pounds.It was winter at this time so the visability was poor, about 4-6 metres visability. The aquatic life was facinating though it was a whole new world. ...
...to be careful about ,their spines are capeable of poisoning its enemy.My opinion is the best time of the year to go to thailand is their summer time which can be found out by your local travel agent the visability in summer time there, is a good clear 10-16 metres. ... Read review