Heading to Phuket!

[mikall63]

Hello Everyone!

Me and a friend will be heading to Phuket on Janury 8th. We'll arrive at the JW Marriott on the 10th and want to dive from the 11-16th in and around the area. On the 17th, I'll be boarding the MV Queen Scuba for a trip to the Similans. I've got the liveaboard covered, but am wondering what my best options are for diving the 11th - 16th in and around Phuket??? We would like to combine some shorediving with some daytrips, if that's feasible. Any information would be greatly appreciated as we'd like to maximize our diving - 4-5 dives a day if possible.

Thanks

Mike

 

[Quero]

Mike, you certainly can dive at "local" Phuket sites during your stay. There are very, very few shore diving opportunities, and those there are tend not to be really outstanding, particularly in terms of visibility. OTOH, on occasion I have seen some very interesting marine life right off Phuket's beaches--marble rays, bumphead parrotfish, leopard blennies, pipefish etc. Mostly, though, you will want to jump on daytrip boats to go to some sites that are found around neighboring islands and at seamounts/pinnacles in between.

The main difficulty you will face is a long transfer from your hotel to the dive pier. The JWM is in the northernwestern part of the island whereas the pier is in the southeastern part. Beyond that issue, the rest is just a matter of puzzling out an itinerary that suits you. There are over a dozen daytrip boats that offer weekly schedules for dive site visits; In order to do several consecutive days of diving without much repetition, you will most likely use a couple or few different boat ops.

I'll just add that you will be hard pressed to get 4-5 dives a day for local dives from Phuket. There is an op that does a 4-tank daytrip, and I suppose that you could squeeze in 4 dives from shore, but I would recommend that you scale your expectations back to mostly 3-tank days.

 

[Ringo]

Also apart from the usual daytrips a few DC's in the Karon, Kata and Kata Noi areas offer shore dives, night dives and longtail boat dives to sites located 5 to 10 minutes off these beaches. IMO some of these dive sites are better than Koh Racha Yai for example as there are far less divers and more marine life.

Enjoy your holiday!

 

[mikall63]

Thank you both for the information. What are considered some of the must-do dives while on island (I know this is very subjective)?? Also, how long will it take to get from the JW to the pier for the daytrips and also to Kata and Karon beaches?? We have figured out that we will probably need to rent a car.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[Quero]

Mike, as Ringo mentioned, you can do some reasonably good shore dives around Karon/Kata/Kata Noi beaches. My own favorites there are Karon Rock, Koh Pu (off Kata Beach), the coral garden at the north end of Kata Beach, and the south end (around the corner) at Kata Noi beach. Karon Rock and Koh Pu are longtail dives.

Regarding what I consider the best daytrip boat dives from Phuket, my favorites are Anemone Reef and Shark Point (between Phuket and Phi Phi) and then Koh Bida Nok and Koh Bida Nai (at Phi Phi). There are trips that incorporate the first pair and other trips that do the second pair.

Driving time from JWM to the pier--give yourself an hour at least. To Kata/Karon area, 15 minutes more.

 

[MarkH]

I was there in September. I think it was during the "off season". From what I heard, the visibility is better at other times. Here's a link to my photos and site descriptions:index

 

[mikall63]

The photos looked great!

 

[smartecosse]

try a day trip to the new Coral Reef Sqadron thats just been sunk, in your area, just a short longtail ride away.

Was there today and although the 10 planes & helicopters have only been sunk for a couple of weeks there is already quite a lot of fish life plus we found a 1 cm seahorse as well

some photos

some video clips

 

[mikall63]

We may have to give that a try - thanks.

I'm also thinking about Koh Tao, as it looks to be about the same distance from the JW as Chalong??? Any thoughts.

Mike

 

[smartecosse]

eeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr

i think you need to relook at the map. Koh Tao is in the Gulf of thailand

perhaps you mean Khao Lak?

plenty of day trips to the Similans from there, plus the Boonsung Wreck which is nice