August 2008 - PADI and liveaboard. HELP!!!

[sarachryan]

2 of us are heading to Thailand for full month of August. Have set aside 2 weeks for diving and plan to certify (total newbie and 1 already certified) then do a liveaboard for about a week.
Open to suggestion - Gulf or Andaman coasts. Looking for best bang for our buck on the Liveaboard. Was hoping to go on the Junk but it's out of commission. We're not loaded but want to see what's the best available. Don't know enough about diving to be picky about the dive sites.
All and any help much appreciated. Hoping to plan something soon

 

[limbo]

You're best off in the Gulf, Koh Tao if diving is your main goal. Weather and dive conditions should be excellent, especially the dive conditions should be as good as it gets.

Due to the rainy season at the Andaman side, a lot of live aboards won't be running to the Similans but you may find some or live aboards in the Andaman in the southern area, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang.

 

[gulfdiver123]

I agree with limbo.

Chek out Thailand Liveaboards - Liveaboard Indonesia, diving Thailand, Similan diving, Andaman dive trips and dive Komodo .They do liveaboards in the gulf over the summer. They tend to visit the divesites when nobody else is there. koh Tao is usually busy in august, so it is a good idea to avoid "rush hour" on the best dive sites.

happy diving

 

[Bowmouth]

2 of us are heading to Thailand for full month of August. Looking for best bang for our buck on the Liveaboard. Was hoping to go on the Junk but it's out of commission. We're not loaded but want to see what's the best available.

The "green-rainy-SW monsoon-low" season on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand is actually quite a nice time to dive the Andaman Sea despite what you may read and hear from so many other (non-West Coast) people on this board.
True, there are days with rain, wind and rough seas but I would say there are MANY more days with fine weather, great visibility and calm seas. Also, dive boats and dive sites tend to be quite a bit less crowded than during the "hot-dry-NE monsoon-high" season.
Just to give you a little example: yesterday at Racha Yai Island we had 35+ meter visibility, sunny weather and calm seas. Those conditions are quite rare to get even in the "high" season. Last Friday there was a whaleshark at Homerun Reef on Racha Yai, the week before that one on the King Cruiser Wreck and a couple of days before that 2 whalesharks at Phi-Phi Island. Unfortunately because of poor information and/or misunderstandings it is still believed by many divers that we only see whalesharks during March-April and only in the Similan Islands and at Richelieu Rock. (Actually already since the year 2000 whaleshark sightings are NOT all that common anymore at Richelieu Rock)
The Similans are CLOSED for diving between May and October but there are still a few liveaboards operating in the Phuket/Phi-Phi/Koh Lanta area that you could join. The Junk is this rainy season in Bangkok on a movie project but boats like Sai Mai, Sea King and others still run cruises throughout the "wet" season.
Even on a "bad" diving day (poor vis, current, rough) I believe the diving is more interesting and colorful on the Andaman side than on the Gulf of Thailand side. That said; I must also admit that I have done plenty of great dives at especially Sail Rock and Chumpon Pinnacles in the Gulf.

I recommend you to go to the Andaman Sea and to do your dive holiday from Phuket. August is a fine month for diving and you will have a great time.

 

[stevenl]

Agree with Bowmouth.

The Andaman Sea offers the best diving, and also July and August are very nice months. We used to offer liveaboards in the Gulf of Thailand as well, but the spoiled divers that tend to go on liveaboards were all too often disappointed with the diving, so we have stopped offering liveaboards in the Gulf of Thailand.

Boats I can recommend: Scuba Adventure and Really Wicked Witch.

 

[sarachryan]

Thanks for that. Much appreciated.

We're in Ko phangan anyway at the start so what about heading up to Tao for the PADI for me and a bit of messing around for him and then heading over the Phuket to jump on a liveaboard?

I've seen pretty nasty reviews of some liveaboards. Does anyone know of any decent ones that will go out in August?

 

[stevenl]

We're in Ko phangan anyway at the start so what about heading up to Tao for the PADI for me and a bit of messing around for him and then heading over the Phuket to jump on a liveaboard?

Sounds good, you can also do the course from Koh Phang ngan of course. Make sure there are no more than 4 people in the course, you feel comfortable with the instructor and divecenter and the rental equipment looks good. Also check the duration of the course, IMO 3 days (with dives from shore) is the absolute minimum.

I've seen pretty nasty reviews of some liveaboards. Does anyone know of any decent ones that will go out in August?

Scuba Adventure is a nice and comfortable boat, where you'll be well taken care of. Really Wicked Witch is a bit more basic, but regarding safety and service on board perfectly ok.

 

[sarachryan]

Thanks for that Stevenl.

Don't know what I was expecting but those 2 boats look pretty grim. I think I got my hopes up looking at the Junk. Are there any very nice boats doing liveaboards ANYWHERE in Thailand in August?

 

[Batfish]

Don't know what I was expecting but those 2 boats look pretty grim.

I wouldn't go so far as to call them grim, but...

Does it have to be Thailand? August is just not liveaboard season. You might look at the Black Manta from Singapore, or a liveaboard from Bali like Komodo Dancer.

 

[goldenbear01]

We're in Ko phangan anyway at the start so what about heading up to Tao for the PADI for me and a bit of messing around for him and then heading over the Phuket to jump on a liveaboard?

I got certified at the Samui International Diving School on Koh Samui back in March. It looks like they're currently running a 15% discount off the usual $16800BHT (exchange rate as of 6/18/08 is $1 USD to $33.26BHT) price if you book a month in advance. When I did the course, I received one-on-one instruction from the shop owner--a British expat named Ben. The shop's located Big Buddha Beach, really close to the ferry landing for ships to/from Koh Phangan.

Happy diving!