Courses In Asia

[Japan]

Hello - I'd like to get some suggestions on where to go in Asia and when, in order to start working towards my Advanced Open Water certification.

I live in Japan and can only afford between 5-7 days between Oct.1 - Nov.10.

Any help about operators, destinations and dates or URLs would be great.

Thank You.

 

[Jonathan]

I think the cheapest options from Japan are probably Guam, Phillipines or Thailand.

From your profile I am not sure if you are a Japanese teacher or an English teacher in Japan. Why does this make a difference? If you are Japanese you may prefer Guam as everything is ramped up for the Japanese there.

I have not been to the Phillipenes but colleagues at work go to Cebu which is cheap.

It is also a good season for Thailand.

Flight to all 3 at the moment are pretty cheap - golden week this year flight were down over 50% this year compared to last which was a quiet year also....

Jonathan

 

[WaterDawg]

Why not do it in Japan? How about Okinawa?

 

[Jonathan]

it's cheaper to travel outside Japan than go to Okinawa from the mainland.....

3 work collegues went to cebu for a long weekend and it was cheaper than doing o/w in Japan - iclu flights and hotel.

Jonathan

 

[bakpakka]

Malaysia does have a good variety of dive sites, and many do cater for the Japanese crowd, though I don't see why you'd have any trouble mixing with Malaysians, as a majority speak english. Perhaps not the queen's english, but good enuff, I'd say.

Sipadan which is on Borneo is one of the top dive destinations in the world. You may want to consider that. There are lots of places to sign up for an advanced course, and you can definitely do it in 2-3 days. After all, you only need 5 adventure dives to qualify.

Tioman may be a good place too. I recently did 2 out of 5 adventure dives for my Advanced certification there. I stayed at Panuba and dived with the Bali Hai Divers shop there. They're nice and friendly people. (Lynn, has the cutest baby ever. Not even 2 yrs old and she can snorkel already! Amazing!)

Hope this helps. Cheers...

 

[ssra30]

You can certainly do it in Thailand but Oct-Nov is probably the worse time to do it in Thailand in my opinion.
Pattaya is convienient and you can do it year round but depends on what you like, many people find it absolutely boring to dive while if you work hard enough, there are some strange, unusual and rare creatures there. However visibility is not that great there. The plus side is that if you are into night life, there are plenty to do there on the shore.
Koh Tao is also pretty much an all year round dive site with lots of dive center/training center. However Oct-Nov is kind of the end of their high season so visibility and current and sea condition may not be optimal. South Andaman Sea around Phi Phi island also offer almost all year round diving but Oct tends to have the worse weather. November is considered the first month of diving season on Andaman sea but the sea can get a little rough still.
I did some diving around Krabi (little south of Phuket) last November and we had some rain but diving was pretty decent.
Thailand is still doable but definitely not the most ideal time to dive in Thailand.

 

[andibk]

Japan,
I am a Instructor who lives in Pattaya Thailand. I do know of a Female Japanese instructor in town if you are interested. PM if you would like more information.

Bruce

 

[sunfish]

If you can only have five to seven days, I would recommend either Guam or Saipan. Both are only three hour flights from Narita, and are affordable compared to Okinawa. As Jonathan said, Okinawa can be quite pricey, and the best dives are to be found well away from the main island, and just getting there can take up the better part of the day. If you can afford it, well, you're lucky, because Okinawa diving is fabulous.

It depends on whether you plan to take the course in English or Japanese. If you are a fluent Japanese speaker, I would suggest Saipan. It's my understanding that the visibility is a bit better than that found in Guam. I had great fun with Aqua Del Rey www.aquadelrey.com The instructor, Teru, speaks English quite well, but I don't think it's his first language.

Since Guam has a large US military base, I am sure there are more than enough dive shops catering to English speakers. Come to think of it, I think there are quite a few Scuba Board regulars in the area.

Keep in mind, Octobeer 13th and November 3rd are Japanese holidays, and many schedule their vacations around those three-day weekends (though nothing like Golden Week and Obon and the New Year holidays! Although Golden Week was rather muted by SARS this year...)

 

[jiveturkey]

Phi Phi Island in Thailand has a large Japanese client base. I know for sure that Moskito Divers has 3 Japanese instructors alone. Miako has been on the island for 15 years or something and she's a fantastic instructor. The island isn't cheap but the diving is great.

If time is an issure for you, why don't you order the adventures in diving manual (assuming you're going with padi) online and start the reading and knowledge reviews ahead of time. There's not much theory with that course. It's mostly just doing the 5 required dives.

 

[Japan]

Cheers y'all.

That definately gives me some food for thought and a good basis for which to start some research. I have heard about Saipan already as a possible destination. Thank you.

Out of curiosity and instead of starting another thread for now, what's the deal with wreck diving? I have never been but it seems like something I'd like to do. Where do people recommend, in Asia especially, but also elsewhere?

Just an aside, the few times I've been on this site have shown me the friendly and helpful nature of those who belong. Cheers.

Japan - the quiet Canadian.