Phuket/Phi Phi November 2005

[TX101]

Hi All.

I'm planning on going to Thailand on my way back to Australia from the UK in November. I'm like to do a livaboard, but my wife dosen't as she gets very seasick very easily (so do I, but I'm willing to go through the pain to dive!). Also, we have tried every medication/herbal remedy/pressure point under the sun to combat seasickness and I know some people will reply saying try XXXX brand and do a liveaboard, but trust me we can't.

Anyway, I've been talking to a few people who have been diving there and they recommended Koh Tao, which seems great in terms of price but apparently november is the end of the season there and the diving is a lot better on the western side.

So I'd like to do shore dives/day boats from Phuket or somewhere around that area. Until I saw the prices.. $600-1000USD for 4 days diving + accomodation is ridiculous! Especially when the same thing was on offer in Koh Tao for $110-120. Obviously this is being charged because they know people will pay it. I did see a link on scubaboard a few days ago (which I can't find again, can anyone help?) that advertised 3 days on Phuket + 3 days on Phi Phi for $399 (diving & accom), which seems more reasonable.

My wife is an AOW diver with around 40 dives and I'll be her buddy so I'm pretty much limited to single tank no deco dives, even though I'd love to do some deep stuff I pretty much can't. We have all our own gear.

So, can anyone offer any suggestions as to who to dive with for day boats and/or shore dives? A package would be preferable, and somewhere where air conditioning is an option would be nice but anything is considered.

 

[Tommer]

I am also heading down to Phuket in November, but usually my Thai buddy who moved back to Thailand with his wife, is the one that arrange my dive trip, but I was checking around the net and found this link hopefully this is what you are searching for.

http://www.diveinfo.net/tripseng/liveaboard.htm

 

[Batfish]

$600-1000USD for 4 days diving + accomodation is ridiculous! Especially when the same thing was on offer in Koh Tao for $110-120

That is indeed a ridiculous quote. Where did you get that? For day dives from Phuket, price is normally from 55 - 65 U$/day for 2 or 3 dives, so for 4 days, lets say 240 U$. Accommodation in Phuket is whatever you want. You can stay in a cheap guesthouse for 300 Baht (7 dollars) or a 5 star resort for 200 dollars per night. So a thousand dollars for 4 days would be the absolute upper end. There are some overnight trips to Phi Phi which include 7 dives and hotel for about 199 U$.

Day trips from Phuket are DAY trips, including drinks, breakfast and lunch, as the dive sites are not so close. From Koh Tao you have quick trips morning or afternoon and accommodation tends to be cheap bungalows. The prices cater to the backpacker crowds. Koh Tao wins on the price hands down. November is certainly better for diving in Phuket than Koh Tao and for the weather, indeed any month is better for the diving!

Your other quote of 399 U$ for 6 days diving and accommodation I find rather doubtful, but if you find the link again, please let me know.

 

[thien]

Don't over pay the cost for diving in Phuket!

You can book your daytrips once you are on the island since there are enough boats to cater to hundred of divers per day, unless you like to have a private dive guide for your dives, then book in advance. As Sunrise wrote above, your trip price for 2-3 dives is between 50-70 Dollars per person. If you need ask us and we'll be happy to point you to the right place...

Cheers!

 

[TX101]

Don't over pay the cost for diving in Phuket!

You can book your daytrips once you are on the island since there are enough boats to cater to hundred of divers per day, unless you like to have a private dive guide for your dives, then book in advance. As Sunrise wrote above, your trip price for 2-3 dives is between 50-70 Dollars per person. If you need ask us and we'll be happy to point you to the right place...

Cheers!

Hi Thien,

So are you saying it's better to just turn up & find some free space on boats? Or should we start looking around now for a good package?

 

[Tommer]

I believe November is a high season in Thailand, some of my co-worker who are native Thai's just came back from Thailand last week and they were staying in Patong area, from their point of view, after the Tsunami, business by the beach area are taking a big hit also, some boat owner actually went bankrupt. I am not sure it will be like this when November comes around, if so, prices and options are an advantage to us divers who enjoy going back to Thailand year after year like myself, but I hope that's really not the case. For myself I would book it early when I am looking for a liveboard, for day trip I can wait until I get there.

Tommer

 

[Batfish]

Tommer has it about right. Liveaboards - book in advance to be sure of what you want. Day trips - well, if you want a package maybe book in advance, but you should be fine to book a couple of days before the trips. Day before normally OK, but can't be 100% sure. In most cases, there are multiple boats going to the same dive sites each day, and November is high season but not PEAK season, so spaces should be available.

 

[thien]

Hi TX101,

Ditto about liveaboard trip as Tommer & Sunrise stated above! I would be very surprise if all of the daytrip boats are fully booked in November, don't remember it every happened in the last 5 years, so no worries!

Also, if you do 3 or more trips with the same operator or company, you usually also get 10-15% discount on multiple trips. We always offer discount to our regular divers, to save them money and time on having to move equipment back & forth on daytrips, and it's more convenient since you also get to dive with the same DM if you like him or her... I
Depending on when you are in Phuket, if I'm not busy in November, let me know via email and I'll come diving with ya!

Go Diving!

 

[kapula]

Hi TX101!
Have you thought about the Similans? If you enjoy diving I think that's a must! I've been there quite a few times and it's so much better to dive there than around Phuket. In Phuket waters are mostly muddy. If you are lucky you can get visibility around 20m but mostly it's below 10m. On the other hand at similans visibility is over 20m everywhere! It can be more than 30m in some places. I've tried a few operators and enjoyed west coast divers most. There are many good liveaboard operators, but for my money it's west coast divers

If you don't prefer messy and LOUD environment stay out of Patong. For example Kata and Karon are both nice and quiet. If I were you I'd consider going to some island overnight. If you like quiet and nice space that is.

If you don't have time to go to similans try to hook yourself a trip to Hing daeng & Hing muang. They are quite far from Phuket but there might be some speedboat operators doing trips there.

 

[stevenl]

If you don't have time to go to similans try to hook yourself a trip to Hing daeng & Hing muang. They are quite far from Phuket but there might be some speedboat operators doing trips there.

Correct, there are daytrips and liveaboards going to Hin Daeng/Muang, and they really are worth a visit.