Phuket Operator Recommendations

[Paulus Magnus]

I'm planning a quick trip there in the next 7 days and would appreciate any advice on who's good, reputable and safe.

Thanks.

 

[gxdoyle]

I'm planning a quick trip there in the next 7 days and would appreciate any advice on who's good, reputable and safe.

Thanks.

Consider contacting a pair of guys called Bent Posejpal and John Williams who run Siam Dive n' Sail. Bent is the leading Course Director in Phuket and John wrote a number of the popular dive guides to the region.

They can set you up with courses at any level and with liveaboard (which is their main business) - Usually they can help you with airport transfers / hotels etc as well. They usually reply to emails within 12 hours and their contact numbers are on their web page www.siamdivers.com

(tell them Greg from Penetration Divers in Singapore sent you - I need all the friends I can get).

If you want some training in underwater photography or videography try contacting rene@seafundivers.com. He is also in Phuket, but down south a little out of the main area.

 

[Paulus Magnus]

Thanks for the information, an email will be on its way shortly.

I did my Underwater Photography speciality with PADI recently but was largely disappointed as it didn't tell me much. I'm already an accomplished surface photographer so all I needed to learn were the differences and then get in there and do it. Lots more practice required but I need to get a housing for my D60 or a new camera as I'm a bit loathed to risk my D60 at this point in time.

 

[stevenl]

Basically the quality of all courses is very much dependent on the quality of the diving center and the instructor.
But you're right, most important: practice.

 

[Paulus Magnus]

Just wanted to add a note of thanks to gxdoyle for their recommendation.

I just got back from Phuket a few hours ago but had a fantastic time. Jon from Siam Dive 'n' Sail was superb and first of all got us on a 4 day liveaboard with 6 hours notice. We went on the Rhapsody to the Similan Islands, 14 dives and excellent guides and the dive crew were just faultless. There was nothing to complain about but the 120 dishes on the menu to choose from for lunch and dinner was just the best feature of the trip.

We then booked a 2 day trip to Phi Phi Island with 7 dives operated by Calypso Divers. Although the tour leader was excellent, our guide was well below par with no knowledge of fish signals and a tendency to treat my female dive buddy as a second class citizen (i.e. asking me if it was OK for her to do a deep dive of 30m, even though she's an Advanced diver, with 40+ dives logged and that she was sat next to me at the time!; or the time he beckoned her to come over and put her finger in a clam because he thought it was funny). We also had a hiccup with the hotel booking that made the whole trip very stressful and not very enjoyable. The diving was also worse than the Similans with poor viz and strong currents although we did see many Leopard Sharks which helped to make up for it.

Jon was a constant source of information though as he helped us to find hotels, get cheap taxi tours, find a cinema and find so many other non-diving related bits of information. It was our first liveaboard and our first trip to Thailand but overall Jon, Siam Dive 'n' Sail and Rhapsody made the trip exceptional.

 

[Zippsy]

hey Greg - you get your commission on this one yet?



just kidding Paulus. I'm glad your first experience over this way was pretty much a good one. Diving can be spectacular in South East Asia but as with many things, experiences can vary greatly not just from one island to the next but also one operator to the next on the same island and one DM to the next with the same operator and one day to the next with the same DM! Personal recommedations go a long way to helping you get the best experience possible. Ain't scubaboard great?

 

[Paulus Magnus]

Yeah, I forget to thank Scuba Board as well.

 

[Ringo]

Yes, John and Bent do run a professional operation but I am really surprised to hear about Calypso divers as this is also a highly reputable organization. It is sad to hear that this unprofessional Divemaster can ruin an excellent reputation. As for the diving around Phi Phi and Sharkpoint area (you did the Overnight Cruise) you must have had a really bad couple of days because usually the diving has a lot to offer at these sites (although it is known for strong currents at times). Over the years some of my best dives were at these sites with some days the viz being 30 meters plus. The Similans are reknowned for being the best dive sites in Thailand whilst The Sharkpoint area and Phi Phi is also recognized for offering some great diving.

Just wanted to add a note of thanks to gxdoyle for their recommendation.

I just got back from Phuket a few hours ago but had a fantastic time. Jon from Siam Dive 'n' Sail was superb and first of all got us on a 4 day liveaboard with 6 hours notice. We went on the Rhapsody to the Similan Islands, 14 dives and excellent guides and the dive crew were just faultless. There was nothing to complain about but the 120 dishes on the menu to choose from for lunch and dinner was just the best feature of the trip.

We then booked a 2 day trip to Phi Phi Island with 7 dives operated by Calypso Divers. Although the tour leader was excellent, our guide was well below par with no knowledge of fish signals and a tendency to treat my female dive buddy as a second class citizen (i.e. asking me if it was OK for her to do a deep dive of 30m, even though she's an Advanced diver, with 40+ dives logged and that she was sat next to me at the time!; or the time he beckoned her to come over and put her finger in a clam because he thought it was funny). We also had a hiccup with the hotel booking that made the whole trip very stressful and not very enjoyable. The diving was also worse than the Similans with poor viz and strong currents although we did see many Leopard Sharks which helped to make up for it.

Jon was a constant source of information though as he helped us to find hotels, get cheap taxi tours, find a cinema and find so many other non-diving related bits of information. It was our first liveaboard and our first trip to Thailand but overall Jon, Siam Dive 'n' Sail and Rhapsody made the trip exceptional.

 

[Paulus Magnus]

I did pass on my feedback to Jon about Calypso and he was surprised but did say it must have just been the DM we had. He'd had a couple the week before raving about the same trip and their guide, so can only think they must have had Rich, the tour leader. Apparently the Thai culture was thought to be the reason for his treatment of my dive buddy.

I'm sure if we'd had a better DM and not been so spoiled on Rhapsody a few days before we would have probably enjoyed it more. I think the last dive we had on Koh Doc Mai was the worst. The current was strong with viz down to 5m for the first half of the dive until we got into a more sheltered area. The guide didn't listen to the briefing and took us for a 60 minute maximum dive, instead of the 50 minute it should have been. Twenty minutes into the dive our SPG reports were 120 (me), 110 (my buddy), 100+ (a German DM) and 90 (German DM's buddy) for the four divers. We stuck to our guide during the drift but the others didn't and we lost them twice and ended up having to wait in the current for them to reappear. Air wasn't checked again during the dive but at 51 mins we waited for them to appear again, they didn't and after 2 minutes our guide decided to end the dive. I was down to 70 bar and my buddy was on 60 so I figured they'd already had to surface.

However, we'd already lost faith in our guide and were just doing our own thing and ignoring or challenging his decisions underwater. I'm only Advanced with 54 dives and 8 specialities so I was surprised by my reaction, its the first time I've ever distrusted a guide and rebelled against them. I hope it doesn't happen too often in the future as I still have a lot to learn.

 

[Scuba John]

Hi all. I'm new to this forum, but since I am a topic of conversation here, I thought I would put my two-cents in. I hesitate to contribute to these forums, since I'm in the biz, and often get critisized for my views, but what the heck.

Just for the record, I get very few, if any, complaints about Calypso, and think over all they are quite a good operation--and I really like their two-day Phi Phi trips. One of the unfortunate things about Phuket's "local" diving, or shorter trips, is that if the currents are funny that week, or if we have a lot of wind like we have been having which creates poor vis locally (will it ever stop this year?), then it really comes down to the staff and the boat to create a positive experience. Like everywhere, there are good guides and bad guides. In my experience, there are two problems with guides:

1) They swim too fast and they swim too slow.
2) They know too much and they know too little.

I am obviously being facetious here, and not attempting to belittle Paulus Magnus' comments in anyway--far from it. His are legitimate gripes. Anyone who has been diving for more than two-weeks, or has been in this business for more than two-days, knows that staff are a constant nightmare. I hope that this DM learns from his mistakes, or takes up the sport of football or golf. These are also a nice sports.

As was said above, cultural and language problems are hard to overcome here, and anyone who has been in Thailand very long knows that the people don't listen very well sometimes. But, on the other hand, having worked all over the world in this industry, I have never seen a people like the Thais who honestly and enthusiastically try and make customers happy so unfailingly. Just try and find their level of enthusiasm in North America, Australia, PNG, or anywhere for that matter.

Thanks, Greg, for the nice words. You got lots of friends, dude, don't worry about it ;-)