Phuket dive (and other) recommendations needed

[BFEIII]

Sending my son and GF to Phuket from July 3 to 16th as graduation present. The are staying at Woraburi resort. They are novice divers. What dive operators/sites do you recommend? Also, anything else like restaurants, excursions, etc. that are worth a look?

Thanks,

 

[gr8jab]

When I went to Phuket a few years ago, most of the dive shops did not run/manage their own boats. If you booked at Bob's shop or Jim's shop, you could end up on the same boat, run by Joe. This does not encourage much loyalty or concern for repeat business.

I dove with Sea Bees Diving. They were a very tightly organized and run group. I was impressed with how quickly and easily they organized transportation, handled our gear, and made sure that everyone was setup and in the right place. They had two large boats which they owned and managed. The ride is long, so they provided lots of good food. All the diving was drift, and they would drop four divers+DM, then move to a nearby spot and drop another group. This was nice, since there was not a huge gaggle of divers together. Sometimes we saw the other groups, but infrequently. In my mind, this was the best of both worlds; a nice large comfy boat, but small dive groups.

I'm not sure if they still have it, but I did a full day, four-tank dive on one of their boats. We dove half way to Phi Phi island, then twice near Phi Phi, then a night dive half way back.

Hope this helps: Welcome to Sea Bees Diving - Adventure In Good Hands

 

[decompression]

I'll second See Bees.......did a lot of boat dives and a liveaboard with them. Very professional and knowledgable.


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[stevenl]

There are quite a few options, and of course I'd be happy to take care of your son and girlfriend. They'd be diving with a private guide just for the two of them .

 

[Scuba Cat Diving]

There are many dive operators here in Phuket and as others have said not all own and run their own boats, so you can end up on a boat with a large number of people. This is normally the case when you book with a dive center who do not have their own boats. Scuba Cat diving has its own boats and run all year around. We limit the number son board to 20 on the daytrips and we run a liveaboard with just 12 guests maximum.
We run daytrips each day and the liveaboard is doing overnight Phi Phi trips during the time your son is here. If you want more information just contact me and I will be happy to help.
Dive sites are mostly open for novice divers with a couple of exceptions and diving in the green season often give uncrowded sites. There is a mix of reef, wreck and wall sites available. If they wanted all sites then they would need to have the 30m license, but there are enough shallower ones to dive too.
Other things to do on the island are many, snorkeling, boat trips kayaking, waterfalls, temples, big Buddha etc, all can be booked in the resort.
They are based in Kata/ Karon which is included in all transfers etc.

 

[JoJo Armani]

Does anybody know of a good diving operation outside of Patong? Here's the situation. My traveling companion (TC) is not a diver nor is my TC interested in staying in a "party town" like Patong. My TC would prefer somewhere peaceful by the water away from the party crowd. I obviously would like some place that's relatively near liveaboard launch points and day-trip launch points.

As well, we would like to be close to other activities such as shopping, restaurants, and Thai cooking classes.

Any recommendations?

 

[stevenl]

Does anybody know of a good diving operation outside of Patong? Here's the situation. My traveling companion (TC) is not a diver nor is my TC interested in staying in a "party town" like Patong. My TC would prefer somewhere peaceful by the water away from the party crowd. I obviously would like some place that's relatively near liveaboard launch points and day-trip launch points.

As well, we would like to be close to other activities such as shopping, restaurants, and Thai cooking classes.

Any recommendations?

Go and stay in Kata Beach. A really beautiful beach, much nicer than Patong, close to the departure point of the daytrip boats and a few liveaboards (most of these depart from Tap Lamu, about 2 hours away), more peaceful than Patong but plenty of things to do, all you mention you'll find there.

Alternatively look at Nai Harn Beach, but from there it is a bit more difficult to reach Chalong Pier (from where the daytrip boats depart) due to traffic and a bit more out of the way for operators (we do pick up from there as well though).

 

[Zippsy]

Does anybody know of a good diving operation outside of Patong? Here's the situation. My traveling companion (TC) is not a diver nor is my TC interested in staying in a "party town" like Patong. My TC would prefer somewhere peaceful by the water away from the party crowd. I obviously would like some place that's relatively near liveaboard launch points and day-trip launch points.

As well, we would like to be close to other activities such as shopping, restaurants, and Thai cooking classes.

Any recommendations?

if you are there between November to April, consider staying in Khao Lak, just an hour or so north of Phuket. Most boats to the Similans, Richilieau Rock, Koh Bon, Koh Tachi and Boon Sung leave from near there and it is a lot more non-party, non-overly crowded place.

 

[Scuba Cat Diving]

For a quieter area that still has shopping, restaurants and other activities I would say Kata. Nice beach, more relaxed but still things to do. Naiharn is great, but the beach is not as close to the resorts, only a couple within walking distance really and no markets as such.
All daytrips and liveaboards include transfers from Kata, but Naiharn is not always included, you would need to check with the operator you choose to dive with.
If it is the High seaosn so Nov to April Khao Lak is a great option as mentioned above, you are much closer to the Similan departure port for the daytrips. Very few boats leave directly from Phuket to go Similan, (ours is an exception) due to Thab Lamu being closer to the islands, so you have a 2 hour minibus transfer to get to the port.

 

[BFEIII]

Thanks to all that replied. I have now found our that my son's GF needs to do here open water (check out) dives but she is Naui rather than PADI. Anyone know of a good Naui operator?