How Bad Is Marine Life In Pattaya Diving?

[cleung]

I already heard that diving around Pattaya is not the best in Thailand and if I go there, I will not bother with the wrecks as I'm more of a marine life diver anyway. I understand that the reef dives are not that deep but wondering just how bad is the marine life on such dives?

Is the marine life quantity and quality about the same as average Caribbean diving? I won't be surprised if these waters are not great for big animals but if there is still plenty of small colourful fish, I would probably still go.

 

[lord khram]

The standard of marine life and the reefs in general around Pattaya are about as bad as it gets, that doesn't mean that occasionally you will not see something worthwhile.

Doesn't even compare closely to the poorest of dives in the Caribbean, if you are looking for a dive specific holiday, just forget Pattaya it will only lead to disappointment.

 

[RussBKK]

Hi Cleung,
Don't be put off by negative comments regarding Pattaya diving from certain individuals here on Scubaboard who clearly have an axe to grind. True, the visibility in the northern gulf isn't the best and you are very unlikely to see any big stuff. However, if you enjoy an abundance of turtles, barracuda, rays, porcupine fish, sea horses, lots of small colourful reef fish, octopus, cuttlefish and (if you're extremely lucky) even a dolphin or two there is some good diving to be had. I agree that it would not be the best choice in Thailand for a diving holiday but if you're in the area it's well worth a visit IMO.

 

[cleung]

Hi Cleung,
Don't be put off by negative comments regarding Pattaya diving from certain individuals here on Scubaboard who clearly have an axe to grind. True, the visibility in the northern gulf isn't the best and you are very unlikely to see any big stuff. However, if you enjoy an abundance of turtles, barracuda, rays, porcupine fish, sea horses, lots of small colourful reef fish, octopus, cuttlefish and (if you're extremely lucky) even a dolphin or two there is some good diving to be had. I agree that it would not be the best choice in Thailand for a diving holiday but if you're in the area it's well worth a visit IMO.

Thanks. I guess the strategy if I were to dive from Pattaya is to take the furthest day trip that one of the scuba operators would go? I assume that the further the islands from Pattaya but still accessible via a day trip boat, the better the dive site would be compared to the ones closest to Pattaya beach.

 

[RussBKK]

Certainly the visibility around the Far Islands is usually better than that at the Near Islands. Be sure to check with the dive operator as to where they will be diving before handing over any monies. Mermaids would be my choice as weather permitting they run a boat out to the Far Islands most days.

 

[stevenl]

If in the area, sure, go for a days of diving. But don't go there for the diving.

 

[lord khram]

Hi Cleung,
Don't be put off by negative comments regarding Pattaya diving from certain individuals here on Scubaboard who clearly have an axe to grind. True, the visibility in the northern gulf isn't the best and you are very unlikely to see any big stuff. However, if you enjoy an abundance of turtles, barracuda, rays, porcupine fish, sea horses, lots of small colourful reef fish, octopus, cuttlefish and (if you're extremely lucky) even a dolphin or two there is some good diving to be had. I agree that it would not be the best choice in Thailand for a diving holiday but if you're in the area it's well worth a visit IMO.

Russ. I assume you were referring to my comment as mine was the only one prior to your contribution to the thread. After making such a bold statement, maybe you could enlighten us all as to exactly what the 'axe is I have to grind??

---------- Post added May 7th, 2014 at 02:09 PM ----------

Certainly the visibility around the Far Islands is usually better than that at the Near Islands. Be sure to check with the dive operator as to where they will be diving before handing over any monies. Mermaids would be my choice as weather permitting they run a boat out to the Far Islands most days.

The OP made a comparison to the Caribbean, I reiterate what I put in my last post, there is simply no comparison to make. Yes I agree what you say regarding the visibility, the far islands are usually better than the near islands as are the sites at Samae San. Having said that I was diving at Koh Manwichai, and Hoo Chang last week. yes at the second site we saw a turtle and quite a few fish, but Manwichai was virtually devoid of any life.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2014 at 02:12 PM ----------

If in the area, sure, go for a days of diving. But don't go there for the diving.

You are quite right Steven, there are a couple of dive sites worth any divers time if they are in the area and fancy a dive, but personally I would not be making a recommendation for someone to travel from Canada to dive in Pattaya, particularly someone who is looking for something comparable to Caribbean diving, I think the OP would do far better to talk to you about diving the Andaman Sea where he will be much more likely to find what he is looking for.

 

[RussBKK]

LK, I have no desire to get into a 20 page 'tit for tat' argument. I'm sure that regular visitors to this forum are well aware of your 'axe'. I agree with you that it would not be wise to plan a diving holiday to Pattaya (I think I said something similar in my original post) but I do think it is worth a day out if you find yourself in the area. I have around 300 Pattaya dives under my belt, some great, some OK and some not so good. No offence intended. I just wanted to offer a balanced opinion.

 

[cleung]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I think for me if I was to travel all the way to Thailand again, I would want to see Pattaya but also get in some 'good' diving. So I would likely go to Pattaya and then fly down to say Phuket to dive out of there in order to get the Andaman Sea diving. In such a trip where I would dive in the Andaman Sea for sure, I am wondering if I should even bother to do one day of diving when I'm in Pattaya. What would you do in such a case?

 

[red_barbarian]

I'd say some of the dive sites out of Sammae San are worth doing. I had the pleasure of having too many fish for good visibility off one of the rock pile dive sites last Christmas. Certainly you can have bad viz days, and poor dive site choices. High current dive times around the inner islands tend to be pretty poor. The Hardeep at slack water and decent viz can be a very nice dive, it's really too collapsed at this point to inside very far so it's more of a reef dive now. The outer islands can yeild some nice small creatures, glass shrimp, pygmy sea horses etc. I think folks who dive the area a lot start to see more negatives, partly I think due to the degradation of the area for diving. 15 years ago bamboo sharks were very common, can't remember the last dive I saw one on. Pick a dive op that will take you a little farther afield either to the outer islands, or fairly far from Sammae San and you should be pleasantly surprised. If you are passing through and would like to get wet anyhow, you might contact the folks at Dive Tribe and see if you can help out with on of their restoration projects.