Pattaya dive report

[nkped]

Sure about that?

Short answer--no. If it was a manta, it was the fourth one (max) I had ever seen. It was above me and, as I said, the vis was bad. But it was big and it was impressive so it did make for an interesting dive.

 

[lord khram]

Just returned from two days of diving in Pattaya. I usually go to Phuket but didn't have the time this trip so tried out Pattaya. I knew Pattaya would not be ideal diving but it was even worse than expected!

Did two wrecks, the Hardeep and the Khram, and I think they are both pretty good wrecks, but the visibility was about 5m at BEST!! Really murky down at 88 feet (deepest for me on both dives) and fairly strong currents on the surface made for challenging dives. The dive shop only allowed AOW divers on these wrecks and I can see why, now.

I dove with Mermaid in Pattaya and they were OUTSTANDING in every way....staff, dive guides and divemasters, boat, hotel pickup, etc. I can't say enough good things about them. Really a good outfit. They apparently do a lot of training, including tech training, divemaster, etc; they say if you can dive in the Pattaya area you can dive anywhere due to frequent currents and low vis. Only thing they don't have is cold water!

I rented all my stuff, seemed like good equipment, Scubapro regs. I brought my own dive computer but think they had them for rent. Water tempts 81-82 F and I used a shorty 3mm...more than enough.

I understand the visibility is better some times of the year, but don't expect anything like Phuket or the Similans. The dive shop staff said sometimes vis on the wrecks can be 15-20 meters.

The dive boats were pretty big, could accomodate 20+ divers and only lightly loaded this time of year; that was nice.

I had a generally good time on the dives, had been a few months since diving so always good to get back underwater.....if you're going to Pattaya anyway, go ahead and try the diving, but I would not recommend Pattaya as a dive destination.

I have to agree, Pattaya is not a serious dive destination. I have done hundreds of dives there over the last few years just for something to do as I now live in the area and can count on 1 hand the times I have experienced viz over 10m, but have heard many stories of 20-30m however I have never experienced this myself, if you expect to get 5m or less you won't be disappointed. I would not consider Pattaya for a diving holiday.
But if you find yourself in Pattaya dont rule out doing a few dives, personnaly I think Koh Rin north rock and the Khram are the best 2 dives in the area.
However the generally poor diving and the high cost of diving in Pattaya most serious divers soon become bored with it.

 

[Arizona]

What about Koh Manwichia?

 

[lord khram]

What about Koh Manwichia?

What about it?

It's just your average Pattaya dive site, given fairly slack water most of the coral can be snorkeled.

 

[Arizona]

LK,

Do you enjoy diving? It is a great site with some good coral. Consider the distance from BKK and quality dive operations & it is a great value. I don't think the cost is out of sync with other places in Thailand. Sorry to hear you had bad experiences. I dive it regularly and frequently bring fun divers and students that enjoy it. Again, location and ease of access is very good. It is not practical to dive the Similans or Phuket any weekend I want, but Pattaya is great for BKK based divers.

It is a serious dive destination and fantastic for training divers IMO. I did not like in the beginning, but as my skills improved I began to appreciate it much more. Think of all those unlucky people that just have quarries or cold lakes to dive. Everything is relative.

 

[lord khram]

LK,

Do you enjoy diving? It is a great site with some good coral. Consider the distance from BKK and quality dive operations & it is a great value. I don't think the cost is out of sync with other places in Thailand. Sorry to hear you had bad experiences. I dive it regularly and frequently bring fun divers and students that enjoy it. Again, location and ease of access is very good. It is not practical to dive the Similans or Phuket any weekend I want, but Pattaya is great for BKK based divers.

It is a serious dive destination and fantastic for training divers IMO. I did not like in the beginning, but as my skills improved I began to appreciate it much more. Think of all those unlucky people that just have quarries or cold lakes to dive. Everything is relative.

I agree if you want to get in the water and it is close to you, or maybe for doing the odd course then fine But as I said before I dont consider it a serious dive destination if you are travelling a long distance or looking for a dive holiday destination.
I have spent a lot of time in Pattaya over the last number of years and know a lot of divers and most seem to be of the same opinion as me, seen the few ok dive sites so many times now it not worth paying the high prices charged by Pattaya shops to keep going back.
There are much better places in Thailand and South East Asia to dive than Pattaya at a far more reasonable cost.
How many dive clubs or groups of divers select Pattaya as their dive holiday destination?? I think you will find the answer is none, but many people dive there when they are in the area for other reasons.

 

[scuba Harry]

The diving in Pattaya is cool you get good the bad and the ugly .I have dived with Mermaids but i did not have a good day with them .Poor dive skills from their so called dive masters the wc was always blocked i think they had too many divers on the boat but thats me .Try Seaduction or Real Divers both are good dive shops with every thing you need and the dms have good knowledge of all the dive sites in Pattaya .

 

[scuba Harry]

Hi you should try Seaduction or Real Divers both very friendly and the staff are great also very nice food on their boat .

 

[h90]

Hi you should try Seaduction or Real Divers both very friendly and the staff are great also very nice food on their boat .

Last time (1 year ago??) with booked with Real Divers I was on the Mermaid boat.....

 

[lord khram]

Last time (1 year ago??) with booked with Real Divers I was on the Mermaid boat.....

Yes I believe that to still be the case.

I know they dont have their own boat, so even if it is now not Mermaids boat they are using, it will be one of the others.