PADI in Thailand or Singapore area

[Searcaigh]

As Quero suggests, check the season first and then make your plans.

East coast of Malaysian mainland is good April-September, Borneo is another matter altogether and access to Sipadan from Singapore will require at least 2 flights SIN-KUL-TWU or SIN-BKI-TWU, although I guess you could take the bus / train to KUL from Singapore.

Personally I have not dived in Thailand since the mid 90s, but have dived a lot in Malaysia. Forget Langkawi and the west coast, go to Thailand if planning to travel from October-March, and east coast of Malaysia April-September.

[DevonDiver]

Or jump on an Air Asia budget flight to Tawau (Mabul/Sipidan/Kapalai). Short hop flight and a drive to Semporna... then diving paradise.

Indonesia is another option - not sure of the budget flights to get there.

[pintagruel]

Thanks a lot for your inputs guys!
As Quero rightly pointed out, I forgot to mention when I go there. I'll be in the region from March 4 to March 17, so from earlier posts I get that no Malaysia diving for now.
I've been browsing here and there, and I think I'm between Thailand (Phuket, Phi Phi Island, Ko Tao) or maybe Bali... I know you might think it's too soon for someone without experience, but I'm thinking about combining liveaboard and PADI certification at the same time, I just want to make the most of it.
What do you think? Any suggestion about any liveaboard operators and where should I go, Phuket, Phi Phi Island, Ko Tao or Bali.

Thanks again for your inputs!

[Quero]

As an instructor, I don't think it's a good idea to combine a liveaboard with basic open water certification. You can't take full advantage of the dive sites and you will be spending every minute in class or studying. I do NOT recommend it. There are some recent threads about this here: liveaboard for the OW course?

You could go to Bali to learn, but be very, very careful about your choice of school. Bali is a wonderful place to dive, but there are many schools there that cut too many corners in training to offer the cheapest possible course. Don't fall into that trap as it's your life and physical well-being you are learning to protect in the course (diving is pretty easy, so the course is mostly safety issues). Also, March is monsoon season on Bali as well, so there may be quite a lot of surf and conditions can be difficult through March. Most Open Water courses in Bali are done as shore dives.

[pintagruel]

Quero, you actually gave me a good idea! You see, I arrive to Singapore, so Bali could be interesting option. After I read your references to other threads I decided to no to do the Liveaboard + OW course.
And when you mentioned surf, I though that I might kill two birds with one shot. First week diving and the second week surfing...

Could you recommend a Diving School in Bali? thanks a lot for the idea!

[Quero]

My pleasure. It's my belief that all of our recognised SE Asia destinations are perfect for a particular somebody at some particular time, and it looks like Bali might meet your specific needs at this specific time.

I'll PM you about a Bali dive school--I don't like to name names in the public forum since just as is true for destinations (they are all perfect for somebody sometime), different operations are better for different customers, depending on the customers' specific needs. Let's figure it out together.

Quero, you actually gave me a good idea! You see, I arrive to Singapore, so Bali could be interesting option. After I read your references to other threads I decided to no to do the Liveaboard + OW course.
And when you mentioned surf, I though that I might kill two birds with one shot. First week diving and the second week surfing...

Could you recommend a Diving School in Bali? thanks a lot for the idea!