Marina Divers Phuket

[Buford of Arabia]

I'm taking the family to Phuket this coming February and wanted to see if anyone had opinions about this operation. We will be staying at the Marina resort attached so obviously Marina Divers seems like the logical choice but I'd love to hear opinions from those who have been to Phuket before (first time for us...)

I'd like to book three days of diving-
- One day trip to someplace kind of local- not particular where so long as it is pretty
- One day trip to the Similans. Willing to negotiate on this one as I know it is an awful long way. Would be willing to change this to another 'local' trip upon recommendations of those in the know. The Similans sound legendary but it'd be a huge day and perhaps left for a different trip?
- One day of snorkeling with the non-diving family. It'd be with wife and 8 yr old and six yr old.

So any thoughts on this operation? Or recommendations of other operations close to the Marina resort? And do any operations give any sort of discount if I book all three trips through them in advance?

 

[Quero]

Marina Divers' shop is right next to the resort fronting on the street, but any operator can pick you up at your hotel, and it doesn't much matter where the operator's main office is located. The boats all leave from the same place (Chalong pier) which is on the other side of the island. Marina's divers mostly are not guests at the resort, from what I've seen, though I rarely use this operator for my clients.

Marina does not have trips to the Similans, so they would put you with a different operator anyway even if you booked through them. You're right that it's a long day to go to the Similans, but it's doable. If you think you will be able to return for a dedicated trip up there, I'd recommend doing a second local trip instead.

Marina also does not run dedicated snorkel trips, though they will allow non-divers to go along on most of the dive daytrips and snorkel near the dive sites.

Most operators will give you a discount of some sort for multiple days of booking. Many agents will also offer discounts for multiple days, even if you end up using different boat operators onthe different days.

 

[stevenl]

Personally i think similans is far for a daytrip.

What i would recommend you to do: snorkeling trip to racha yai, daytrip diving with 3 dives to shark point, anemone reef/king cruiser (depending on your preferences) and koh doc mai and the third trip to bida islands with either 2 or 3 dives.

Have fun.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Diving in Phuket.

I agree with stevenl - the Similan Islands are too far from Phuket to just do a daytrip.

Snorkelling with youngsters, I would look at a boat that is dedicated to snorkelling. There are some professionally run trips on speedboats from Phuket to Phi Phi that include a picnic on the beach and snorkelling at a variety of locations. Get dive operator advice to find the best one.

You should get a discount if you book multiple days in advance for your Phuket daytrips.

Have a great trip.

 

[Buford of Arabia]

Thank you all for the advice. I'll give the Similans a miss (sigh....). I like your advice to find a dedicated snorkel operator and stevenl's itineraries seem pretty reasonable. I've been doing more homework and think I've narrowed the field down some. Thanks again- Buford