DiverDave65
Contributor
Just returned from two days of diving in Pattaya. I usually go to Phuket but didn't have the time this trip so tried out Pattaya. I knew Pattaya would not be ideal diving but it was even worse than expected!
Did two wrecks, the Hardeep and the Khram, and I think they are both pretty good wrecks, but the visibility was about 5m at BEST!! Really murky down at 88 feet (deepest for me on both dives) and fairly strong currents on the surface made for challenging dives. The dive shop only allowed AOW divers on these wrecks and I can see why, now.
I dove with Mermaid in Pattaya and they were OUTSTANDING in every way....staff, dive guides and divemasters, boat, hotel pickup, etc. I can't say enough good things about them. Really a good outfit. They apparently do a lot of training, including tech training, divemaster, etc; they say if you can dive in the Pattaya area you can dive anywhere due to frequent currents and low vis. Only thing they don't have is cold water!
I rented all my stuff, seemed like good equipment, Scubapro regs. I brought my own dive computer but think they had them for rent. Water tempts 81-82 F and I used a shorty 3mm...more than enough.
I understand the visibility is better some times of the year, but don't expect anything like Phuket or the Similans. The dive shop staff said sometimes vis on the wrecks can be 15-20 meters.
The dive boats were pretty big, could accomodate 20+ divers and only lightly loaded this time of year; that was nice.
I had a generally good time on the dives, had been a few months since diving so always good to get back underwater.....if you're going to Pattaya anyway, go ahead and try the diving, but I would not recommend Pattaya as a dive destination.
Did two wrecks, the Hardeep and the Khram, and I think they are both pretty good wrecks, but the visibility was about 5m at BEST!! Really murky down at 88 feet (deepest for me on both dives) and fairly strong currents on the surface made for challenging dives. The dive shop only allowed AOW divers on these wrecks and I can see why, now.
I dove with Mermaid in Pattaya and they were OUTSTANDING in every way....staff, dive guides and divemasters, boat, hotel pickup, etc. I can't say enough good things about them. Really a good outfit. They apparently do a lot of training, including tech training, divemaster, etc; they say if you can dive in the Pattaya area you can dive anywhere due to frequent currents and low vis. Only thing they don't have is cold water!
I rented all my stuff, seemed like good equipment, Scubapro regs. I brought my own dive computer but think they had them for rent. Water tempts 81-82 F and I used a shorty 3mm...more than enough.
I understand the visibility is better some times of the year, but don't expect anything like Phuket or the Similans. The dive shop staff said sometimes vis on the wrecks can be 15-20 meters.
The dive boats were pretty big, could accomodate 20+ divers and only lightly loaded this time of year; that was nice.
I had a generally good time on the dives, had been a few months since diving so always good to get back underwater.....if you're going to Pattaya anyway, go ahead and try the diving, but I would not recommend Pattaya as a dive destination.