Phuket Day Trip Dive Report

[vimaldude]

I just got back from a great trip to Thailand. We visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Me and my son did 3 days of diving in Phuket (total of 9 dives) and this is the report on Phuket Day Trip Diving.

Arrival:

We flew in from Chiang Mai on Air Asia and arrived at 3:00 pm. The arrival area was packed and quite chaotic with taxis and limos waiting to pick up passengers. We had to wait for 30 mins for our driver to show up. Soon we were on our way to Centara Villas in Karon. My first impression of Phuket was not so great as we hit the traffic jam near Patong. We didn’t see ocean till we reached our hotel. It took over 1- ½ hrs to reach our hotel.

Dive Day 1: (Racha Yai)

We had signed up with Steven from Phuket-dash-scuba.com for 3 days of diving. The shuttle picked us up at 7:45 from our hotel and took us to Chalong Harbor. We arrived at the pier and there were a lot of divers milling around waiting for the bus to the end of the pier. We were assigned to the boat run by All4Diving.com. The boat was specious and there were about 30+ divers on boards. Most of them were doing their open water classes that day.

We were scheduled to dive Racha Noi/Racha Yai that day but the sea conditions were not very good. There were quite large swells and wind was up. The boat had only 1 engine working and it limped slowly to Racha Yai after about 1-1/2 hrs. The captain decided that it was too windy to go to Racha Noi so we did all 3 dives at Racha Yai.

The Racha Yai dives are really for beginners. The bottom is flat, sandy with few rocks and boulders. There are no corals to speak of (most of them died in 2004 Tsunami). We did see lots of CuttleFish, some eels and even a Sting Ray. The visibility was average about 30 ft. There was also a wreck of a former dive boat that was interesting (it is only a shell with all interior fittings removed). Overall, an ok dive day.
We limped back to pier on 1 engine after 6:00 pm.

Dive Day 2: (Phi Phi Islands, Koh Doc Mai)

We were once again assigned with All4Diving.com but they were using the dive boat from Andaman Sea. We were going to Phi-Phi Islands for 3 dives. We started out well enough but soon one of the engines had trouble and had to be shut down. We reached Phi Phi after about 2-1/2 hrs!!. The first dive was at Phi Phi Lay. The swells were up that day also so the entry was a bit rocky. The dive turned out to be quite good with lots of healthy corals and critters. Lots of eels, puffers and trigger fishes around. The bottom is a sloping coral garden that ends in a wall.

The second dives was at Don Phi Phi Island (where the famous ‘Beach’ is located). This was a wall dive that ended with a gentle slope. Again, lots of good soft and hard corals and critters to see here.

Since the boat had only 1 engine, the captain decided to head back early and do the third dive a Koh Doc Mai, which is a big rock jutting out of the sea, half-way between Phuket and Phi-Phi. This dive is essentially a wall dive. The visibility as bad (around 15-20 ft) and there was some current. There are good corals and fishes to be found here.
We got back to pier around 6:30pm after a long day of diving.

Dive Day 3: (Shark Point, King Cruiser Wreck)

We once again drew the short straw and ended up with SouthSiam divers’ boat. This was the smallest of the 3 boats. The dive deck was cramped. It looked to be designed for 10 divers max and they put 30 divers on the boat. The boat was narrow so the upper deck didn’t provide the shade as well. The boat was also the slowest of the lot. I would avoid this boat.

We did our first dive again at Koh Doc Mai. The second dive was at King Cruiser Wreck. The wreck is HUGE. We could only see a portion of it and because visibility was low (about 20 ft), we couldn’t see the whole wreck. The wreck is in bad shape (even though it only sank in 1997). It is covered with tons of soft corals and we saw huge schools of fish surrounding the wreck. The wreck is deep (max depth for us was 85 ft). There are some pass-throughs but we just stuck to the outside. There were a number Lion Fish hanging about the wreck. Also saw some cool Nudibrachs.

The last dive was at Shark Point which is a short distance from King Cruiser. This site has 3 rocky pinnacles. There are frequent leopard sharks sighted here but we didn’t see any. There are lots of soft and hard corals and tons of fish. Saw a number Eels, sting rays and a giant puffer here.

Final Thoughts:

Note: Following observations are for Phuket Day Trip Diving only.

For me, Phuket was a huge disappointment both as a vacation and a dive destination. Phuket is over-hyped, overcrowded and overpriced. It is designed to be a mass market tourist destination. The customer service that is so good elsewhere in Thailand is quite missing in Phuket.
As for the diving, there were a number of issues. I have listed some of them below.

1. No one asked to see our C-cards. I didn’t see them checking other diver’s c-cards either.
2. Slow boats and long distances to dive sites. We were unlucky enough to be on boats with broken engines on all 3 days. This resulted in 12 hr day for doing 3 dives!.
3. Over crowded boats. The dive decks were cramped, the cylinders were packed to close together that 2 people couldn’t gear up at the same time.
4. You have to swap your own tanks after each dive. The deck hands wouldn’t do it. I have been on dive boats elsewhere and this was a first. It was no fun swapping tanks in cramped quarters on a moving boat in rocking seas.
5. Smoking. Everyone was smoking on these boats, the instructors, the dive masters and the divers. They were smoking everywhere, on the dive deck, upper deck, right under the ‘no smoking’ sign, near the air compressor (for god’s sake!). They haven’t heard about dangers of second hand smoke here (or just don’t care).
6. Even though we had requested Vegetarian food, there was none on any of the boats for lunch (unless you count Rice as an entrée). There were fruits and pastries between dives so I didn’t exactly starved but it did leave an empty feeling in the stomach. If you are a vegetarian, it would be a good idea to bring your own food on these boats.

On the plus side, we had really good service from our dive agent, Steve and our guide, Lam. He was with us for all 3 days and he made our dives fun even when the conditions were not optimal.

Overall, I would rate the day diving in Phuket as mediocre. Even though some dives were good, the other issues made the overall experience a bit taxing. There is nothing special about diving these sites and other places around the world offer a much more enjoyable experience (eg. Philippines, Fiji etc).

 

[Buadhai]

Next time (if there is a next time), do a liveaboard. Stay in Khao Lak (or vicinity) instead of Phuket.

I've been doing liveaboard dive trips in the Andaman Sea since the mid-90s and have never had anything but a good time.

Sorry about your bad experience.

 

[Quero]

Vimaldude, I'm pretty sure I was on the All4Diving boat on the day you did your first 3 dives. As far as I could tell, the boat did not have any engine trouble. An hour and a quarter or so is the normal travel time to get to Racha Yai, and it's a bit slower in heavy seas of the sort we had on that day. The wind was seriously up in the morning, calming somewhat in the afternoon, but still choppy; and if you recall, lots of people were feeling ill on the boat with sea sickness. It's true, however, that the dive sites at the Rachas are not especially interesting to experienced divers. (I was with a student diver.) We did Bungalow Bay, Lucy's Reef and Staghorn/Homerun--was that the same trip you were on? As for the veg food, my student was a vegan, and I'm also vegetarian, and there was actually veggie food on board. If we were indeed on the same trip, I wish I had known you were looking for the veggie food as I would have made sure you found it for your lunch.

The travel time for the Andaman Ocean Safaris boat to Phi Phi is 2.5 hours at its normal cruising speed. It's a long way away from Phuket, and even in a speedboat it takes an hour to get there, so on a regular dive boat it will take 2-3 times longer. In addition, it's usual for that itinerary to do the third dive at Koh Doc Mai or Anemone Reef or Shark Point--all of which are between Phuket and Phi Phi. I don't believe the boat headed back early as we really never do all three dives at Phi Phi precisely because of the travel time required to get back.

It's unfortunate that you didn't have the correct expectations for the travel time to the Rachas, travel time to Phi Phi, and for the Phi Phi itinerary, because if you had known these details, perhaps they wouldn't have seemed to you like errors or mistakes or some other indication of incompetence, you may have felt less irritated, and you might have settled in to enjoy your dives more thoroughly.

Having said all of that, I will agree that the boats in these past few weeks have been packed! In fact, Phuket itself is stuffed with visitors--I've never seen it so busy here. Several times I've phoned for last-minute bookings for my divers only to be told that the boats were booked out for several days in advance! When these big boats are full like that, it does tend to become rather chaotic on the dive deck, and perhaps under these circumstances the two boat boys can be excused from being expected to change out everybody's tanks when they have so many other duties to attend to, such as filling empty tanks, getting people in and out of the water, etc. I will also agree that the South Siam boat is really, really tight when it's crowded, and I personally avoid using it at this time of year unless I can't find an alternative.

I'm sorry you found your stay on Phuket to be less enjoyable than you had hoped it would be, starting with the transfer from the airport and ending with crowded dive boats. You came at high peak season between Christmas and New Year, so I'm not surprised that the airport was jammed, that there was lots of traffic, and that the dive boats were full. It's not always this busy here, but it's sort of like trying to drive anywhere in the US on Thanksgiving weekend or trying to go shopping on Black Friday. It's to be expected that there will be crowding and delays.

I hope you come back again, perhaps to sail on a liveaboard as suggested above by Buadhai. Even for a liveaboard, come a little earlier or a little later in the season for a bit more "elbow room" and maybe do speedboat dive trips rather than regular dive boats if you do daytrips. I hope we can make it up to you, next time.
k:

 

[iamafish]

Hey Vimaldude,

Thanks for your honest and candid report.

When I was last in Phuket, I went to Chalong Pier in the evening when the boats were coming in and talked to the crew and some divers before making a decision. Also, I call or sms the boat owner / operator / manager the night before and inquire about how many people on the boat the next day (contractors and home-grown divers); and then only dive on days when the boat does not have many people. I was in Phuket over a month, so that style of due diligence and careful planning worked great for me and I had some great dives. I did around 30 days of diving (not every day) with a local Thai company that owned their own boat, and the service was excellent, and I negotiated dive package that came to 5 days of diving for around 12000 Baht for 5 days of diving (some days 2 dives, some day three). Then I bought another 5 day package with the same company, for an even better "second time around" price. Very nice people, great service and consideration.

Would I make a special trip to dive in Phuket again? Yes; and if I was there, I would certainly dive. One of the nice things about Phuket is that the diving is certainly acceptable, and with a little planning, you can have comfy boat trips. Phuket is also teeming with other activities, and don't forget how great Thai food is! So, a "great dive destination" is not always "only the diving" but also the surface time as well. Phuket is a nice place to be; the diving can be very good, and it can be "not so good" as well.

Hey! So is every place, right? I've been on Tulamben, Libery Wreck in Bali where the vis was 30 meters and so much wildlife to see, amazing! The very next day, a storm comes up and the viz drops to 6 meters. Still great diving, especially for a shore dive! I've been in the Similans on coral dives where the broken coral rubble caused a overwhelming feeling of "a poor dive" in my soul; and then a few days later, been deep off one of the main sites in and 40+ m viz with breathtaking boulder landscape. Such is life, I've learned the hard way. Then, I've been off to Malaysia on a holiday whim when the tourist season was in full swing and I could not even get a place on a boat the days I wanted; so I just enjoyed the surface interval, haha.

Your trip report is accurate and objective, from a snapshot in time, a perspective in a short timeline based on a set of conditions at the time, and I'm sorry you did not have great experience. However, I (and many) can assure you that Phuket can be (and is) a great place to dive; but like any holiday, there can be good days and bad days. Any dive shop or dive guide can have good and bad days. The same is true for service in hotels, seats in airplanes, food in restaurants.

I do hope, if you have time to visit Phuket again, you will have a better experience next time.

Happy Diving!

 

[Oldbear]

I agree with Buahai...if you make it back try a Liveaboard in the Similans. My daughter and I went on the Junk last March and had a fantastic time...definitately more advance diving, but worth it. Like Quero said, you might try adjusting your schedule just a little bit from the High Point of the High Season.

Last September I took my brother to Rachi Yai for 4-days of training. He did his PADI Open Water Referral and Advance OW and I did some specialties and certified for the PADI Master Scuba Diver. We had a wonderful time "training".

After the training we did the day trip to Shark Point, King Cruiser Wreck and finally Koh Doc Mai on one of the All4Diving boats (booked thru another LDS). For me the diving was nice, not the Similans, but not Rachi Yai either. For my brother who only knew Rachi Yai, it was "out of theis world". But the best part of the entire trip was getting to dive with my brother...this was a first for us and this event will always be a life long memory.

So it sounds like you might have had a mixed bag of events...but I also read where you spent time with your son. I hope that those memories with him will last longer than the down side events of your trip.

Well writen report and it has provided some well writen responses...this should help others in the future.:admingreet:

~ME~

PS...I want to go back and dive the Phi Phi Islands (now I know to expect a 2½ hour boat ride) and do another Similan Liveaboard with my dive buddy, aka daughter and perhaps bring my brother along too.

 

[Heg]

I am very worried now. Me and Hubby are booked on a one day 3 dive trip to Rach noi and RAcha Yai on Thursday. We just got back to Kata after a 6 day live aboard to the Similans on White Manta ( awesome trip and awesome boat) . should we cut our losses and cancel? We re booked with Dive Asia but if the Racha's are not much cop then I'd rather save the cash for our next trip....

 

[vimaldude]

I am very worried now. Me and Hubby are booked on a one day 3 dive trip to Rach noi and RAcha Yai on Thursday. We just got back to Kata after a 6 day live aboard to the Similans on White Manta ( awesome trip and awesome boat) . should we cut our losses and cancel? We re booked with Dive Asia but if the Racha's are not much cop then I'd rather save the cash for our next trip....

Please don't cancel your trip based on my report. Just adjust your expectations a bit. I have been spoiled by wonderful diving in Philippines and Fiji so I was expecting the same. As I said, the diving itself isn't bad. It was the long rides, full boats and mediocre food that made my trips a bit taxing.

As others have replied, the diving conditions change day by day. Even during my 3 days, the conditions were different on each day.
I did get to spend some quality time with my son and he was quite happy (he is more forgiving than me as long as he gets to dive!).

So please, go ahead and dive. But instead of going to Racha, go to Shark Point, King Cruiser and even Koh Doc Mai. They have much more corals and sea life than Racha Yai.

 

[Quero]

So please, go ahead and dive. But instead of going to Racha, go to Shark Point, King Cruiser and even Koh Doc Mai. They have much more corals and sea life than Racha Yai.

I would agree with this advice. I generally discourage my own divers from going to Racha Yai and I only take students there, not fun divers (unless they insist, of course). On almost any day of the week you can find a boat going to somewhere that is not Racha Yai. The Dive Asia trip usually does one stop at Racha Noi and two at Racha Yai, and the Racha Noi stop is generally not the most interesting of the dive sites at that island because any trip to the Rachas almost always has a fair proportion of student divers on the boat. It's sort of a catch-22.

 

[Heg]

Thanks for the advice guys. We fly home on Saturday so are a bit short on time to change our dives but will see what we can sort out. I heard Rach Noi was a great site but if we only get one dive there, then it doesn't seem worth it. May be best to save our money towards our next liveaboard trip

 

[Quero]

Thanks for the advice guys. We fly home on Saturday so are a bit short on time to change our dives but will see what we can sort out. I heard Rach Noi was a great site but if we only get one dive there, then it doesn't seem worth it. May be best to save our money towards our next liveaboard trip

But Heg, why not consider a trip to Shark Point/Anemone Reef/Koh Doc Mai on the same day with a different operator?