New Here from Singapore! Getting Certified in Thailand - Where to Go?

[gnojoey]

Hi everyone in Scubaboard.com! A diver-to-be here from Singapore!
I'm going to do my Open Water and Advanced Open Water in Thailand around mid-April. Where should I go? Towards Andaman Sea side or Ko Tao side? Is the waters getting choppy around Andaman already?
Which dive center would you guys recommend in both areas?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nitronarc]

Hi everyone in Scubaboard.com! A diver-to-be here from Singapore!
I'm going to do my Open Water and Advanced Open Water in Thailand around mid-April. Where should I go? Towards Andaman Sea side or Ko Tao side? Is the waters getting choppy around Andaman already?
Which dive center would you guys recommend in both areas?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi gnojoey

I did both my Open Water and Advanced Open Water in Thailand. By mid-April the water can be a little choppy at times around Andaman side (I was based on Phi Phi or my course), but not enough to cause any concern, and it can vary from day to day. I did some fun dives on Ko Tao around the same time and did not notice a great difference in visibility, although as the water round Tao was more settled at this time it probably averaged slightly better.

Things to take into account when choosing:

Tao is a little cheaper for the courses, and prob accomodation (which you can often get cheap as part of the dive package)

Tao is extremely busy and so are most of it's dive sites, which can be a little off-putting as a learner. The class sizes on your course can also be large (check max class size)

One (the only?) positive outcome of the Tsunami (& b4 people have a go at me for being cynical, bear in mind it is important to the local business for people to go back to support them now) is that most of the Dive shops on Phi Phi have all new dive equipment (regs, BCD's etc), which can certainly help you feel safer as a learner. Some of the kit belonging to operators on Tao is shoddy to say the least!!!

If you pick Phi Phi I can highly reccommend Hippo Divers.

Which ever you choose, have a great time!!! You can always pop over to the other side for some fun dives. Bear in mind if you head to Koh PY for full moon there is some great diving accessible by boat from there too.

Best of luck and enjoy.

 

[gnojoey]

Hi Nitronarc,

Thanks for the tips. It's getting awfully quiet in this thread, that I thought I won't be getting any reply soon. Thanks again

 

[Jason Ooi]

welcome to scuba board

 

[Traminer]

I did my open water and advanced over 1 week in Phuket. Chose Phuket because of its mix of nice dive shops.. and nightlife. And the beaches in Patong are always fun anyway.

Are you planning to go over Easter from Singapore? Good luck getting flights. BKK airways is charging ridiculous prices to fly up to Samui right now. For the price they were offering, I could have gone to HK or Perth..

 

[gnojoey]

Thanks Jason and Traminer!
I would agreed that the price is ridiculous, but they are the only one flying there, so...
Anyway, is it going to be Easter already? All I know, I want to hit Thailand for their New Year, just to take a look at their celebrations.
If the flights are really booked out by then, I could always do the long way up by train or coach. Not a sweet choice, but an option nonetheless...

 

[pinklizard]

Hi there welcome I'm from singapore too. Tioman/Aur season with lots of courses and trips is just opening...so that's another option.

I'd go with Andaman Sea over Koh Tao/Gulf anytime Have fun with Songkran!

 

[gnojoey]

Thanks pinklizard! Saw over some post that you loved pink, so that's how you got your nick? Wonder what kind of pink coloured scuba gears you have?

 

[Batfish]

Phuket - easiest to get to from Singapore and good diving. If you are looking at flying over Songkran, book now, if its not too late already.

 

[gnojoey]

Thanks Batfish!
I'm trying to organise the trip as fast as I could too, but I'm totally new to scuba diving, so am asking around where to go to get my certification. How's the water visibility over Phuket right now? And the weather?