First trip to Phuket... HELP!

[Divealpha]

Any particulary reason to not dive from the beach,or longtail? I have done it for several years.....and yes, I've been both to Similians and Phi Phi on daytrips& liveboards,but for these,you gotta have the time and money...
You also should pay attention to tides, so you can avoid the strongest currents to get the most out of you trip.

I can dive almost every day from the beach,if conditions allow it,and take daytrips/liveabords in addition. I know the competion is hard between DC's here, but adivising against shore dives does not ring well in my ears...
And, I am a regular customer, not a pro. ?....

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[Quero]

I've seen lots of sweet stuff on shore dives and longtail dives off Kata, including marble (saron) shrimp, robust ghost pipefish, sponge crab, big marble rays, leopard blennies, cuttlefish, sexy shrimp, anemone shrimp, all sorts of reef fish, etc. The visibility is often not so great, though, and there's a lot of boat traffic, plus the surface swim out can be pretty long, particularly if there's a rising tide (I usually return underwater to the shallows following a compass and towing a float so as not to be run over by a boat, and even so, I've had some close calls).

 

[stevenl]

Any particulary reason to not dive from the beach,or longtail? I have done it for several years.....and yes, I've been both to Similians and Phi Phi on daytrips& liveboards,but for these,you gotta have the time and money...
You also should pay attention to tides, so you can avoid the strongest currents to get the most out of you trip.

I can dive almost every day from the beach,if conditions allow it,and take daytrips/liveabords in addition. I know the competion is hard between DC's here, but adivising against shore dives does not ring well in my ears...
And, I am a regular customer, not a pro. ?....

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Strange conclusion, "I know the competion is hard between DC's here, but adivising against shore dives does not ring well in my ears...", as I said, we offer shore dives and longtail dives. So nothing at all to do with competition, just with that IMO at the moment the full daytrips are better value for money for certified divers, especially compared to the longtail dives.

 

[Divealpha]

Whooyeah advised against the shore dives....
Oh, and there Are a lot of DC's here.....same on Malta , competion can be fierce on all the popular divesites around the world

For myself, I feel good as long I'm under water...always something to see, the viz where I come from i s best in the winter and spring...
Nice divin without my drysuit

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[Ringo]

The longtail boat and shore dives are ideal for those who dont want to go out the entire day on a daytrip. The beauty of these dive sites is that there are hardly any other divers around. Also these sites are not indicative of the best diving that Thailand has to offer but they certainly are very pleasant easy relaxing dives.

For variety I would recommend doing some local dives with a couple of the daytrips.

Whatever you decide, have fun!

 

[Scuba Cat Diving]

The beach dives here are nice and means a much shorter day, but it is a much lower viz usually, I have dived many times at Kata and Paradise house reefs and seen some good stuff there, the dives are shallow, which can be a good thing, but the surface swim at Kata is a bit long at times. They have put buoys up around the reef but you still have to be careful.
Daytrips are better value, but it depends what you want from your diving. Phi Phi is a long way, you wont be back til around 6 or 7pm, depending on the operator you choose.
The Racha Islands can be great dives depends again who you are diving with, they are used for dive training a lot but there is some nice stuff out there. Shark point, Anemone reef Koh Doc Mai are great dives, as is the King cruiser if you get it when there are not too many people on it.

Check out the dive centers, send them mails and see who you like the sound of. We all offer a variety of trips to different locations on a weekly schedule.

Good luck with your diving and enjoy wherever you decide to go.

 

[Oldbear]

I did the Master Diver Challenge (5 dive specialties) and my brother did his OW Referral and AOW in Sept 2011 with Scuba Cats on their "training liveaboard" the MV Scubacat at Racha Yai...great experience. If you want to get away for a few days and combine diving with some additional training...their set-up was awesome for that. The diving was good, not Similan Island great, but good. On one of our fun dives we did a drift dive and got some amazing video of us flying over a reef. On two different mornings we had dolphins visit us. Just a truely great time for us.