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Looking to go diving in Thailand 2009 maybe do some Liveaboards and maybe my divemasters certificate. Was looking for a good diving information site that has info on liveaboards, diving schools and resorts does anyone have any good recommendations.
Found the site below but not sure if there info was up to date.
http://diveandtrekthailand.com/scuba..._thailand.html
Paging Quero! Quero our member here lives and dives in Thailand.....
Hi,
I lived and worked as a diver in many parts of southern Thailand. The best live aboards go to the Similan and Surin Islands. When I lived there two plans were generally offered: 1) 3 day/2 night and 2) 4 days/3nights. The latter was better since the first option typically only did Similan and did not go to Surin. Option number 2 did both. And Surin is definitely a must as this will include Richelieu Rock. You want to make sure you also go to Koh Tachai. Both these sites are good for whale sharks and mantas. There are other sites too like Koh Bon that is good for mantas although I neved did see any there. I did at Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.
You can do live aboards either from Phuket or Khao Lak (in Phang Nga province). It is further and more costly from Phuket. Avoid day trips from Khao Lak as it is a better deal to do live aboards by the time you factor in number of dives, food and lodging, and dive sites you can get too.
A good dive company in Khao Lak is Sea Dragon (good service and very accommodating with many different packages) see www.seadragondivecenter.com. Coral Grand www.coralgranddivers.com is also a good choice. Equipment is in good shape and they treat their divers very well. Personally, I would avoid Similan Diving Safaris and Easy Divers.
Many people leaving from Phuket like Dive Asia. Their equipment was good and the management staff friendly but the guide that I had was quite pushy and it really took away from the enjoyment of the dives. Felt like I was on a military boat. For example, I have reverse block at times and was at a safety stop about 2 m below the rest when the head DM (Andreas from Germany) reached down and roughly yanked me up by the BCD neck to his level. Then on surface gave me a reprimand about my bad buoyancy. That was one ocassion out of a few. The other DM Itchiko from Japan was really awesome and friendly and was enjoyable to be around. If she is still around recommend her.
Another company I went with from Phuket that I liked was White and Blue as the staff and boat crew was really friendly and laid back. I felt at ease and relaxed and the crew was willing to accommodate divers even at times pulling up anchor at a dive site we just arrived at and going to another at the request of the divers. Their dives were only 45 minutes long as opposed to Dive Asia with 60 minute dives. Don't forget to ask each company about dive time.
You should just book when you get there after you get a feel for what the companies are like and what condition the equipment is in, etc.
In the Gulf of Thailand you don't really need a live aboard. Just base yourself out of Koh Tao. Everything is close and this is the cheapest place to dive. Coral grand is a good choice here too.
Hope this helps.
Rick
Nemo, some useful gen there for me too. O want to go work out there end of 2009 or beginning 2010.
Diving in thailand can really be a hit or miss venture. Especially with the new 15 day visa reguations it's making it harder and harder to dive here. However i would strongly recommend Koh Tao for Divemaster and Similan Islands for Livaboards.
A friend of mine owns Wicked Diving, they're friendly, warm and inexpensive. They're worth a look and they have a blog so it's fresh daily.
As for Divemaster, my company has currently about 15 dive masters going through the internship process. Having a large group of people makes a big difference so you're not the only one lugging cylinders around :)