Scuba diving in Thailand
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Buadhai
Contributor
Ayesha, do you expect the upcoming long weekend (July 15th) to be busy?
stevenl
Contributor
Scuba Cat is one of the few shops in Phuket that run its own boat.
The other will share the boat(s) and can get pretty crowdy.
Check the schedule first but then there isn't much to choose at this time of yr.
The other will share the boat(s) and can get pretty crowdy.
Check the schedule first but then there isn't much to choose at this time of yr.
stevenl
Contributor
While it's true that only a relatively small number of shops run their own daytrip boats, they all work similarly, and on most of them you'll find divers from a variety of shops, not just the shop running the boat. Therefore, any boat could get pretty crowded. There are plenty of option for daytrips, even in the low season.
Giving the number of dive operators in Phuket that most of them have to share day boat because....(1) the dive sites are miles away (2) the diving season is short. Most of them cannot afford to run its own boat. There are probably other reasons as well.
Even during peak season, the selection of dive sites around Phuket is very limited. There are ONLY two diving areas. I was looking for a day trip several yrs ago and noticed that several dive shops were offering the SAME place except Scuba Cat. I did not check with all of them. In the end I made one day booking each with Scuba Cat and another operator. For Scuba Cat's, its boat only cater for its own client but for the other....... Diving with 20+ divers with mixed ability in the same dive site eg. King Cruiser is NOT to be repeated again.
@Centrals
It's great that you are loyal to an operator you have found suits your needs. However, this doesn't mean that it's the only operator worth using. Your experience and insights are valuable, but they are severely limited, so blanket statements of the sort you are making become misleading.
In fact, Scuba Cat do accept bookings from other shops. As I tried to say in an earlier post, there are certain days during the week when there isn't much option in terms of dive sites among the THREE (if you put the Rachas together) TO FOUR (if you separate them) areas we typically dive on daytrips (Racha Yai, Racha Noi, Shark Point/Anemone Reef, Phi Phi). On some days, it seems like every single boat is at Racha and nobody is going to Phi Phi, and on other days there are several boats diving Phi Phi.
In other words, Centrals, there are reasons for the experiences you had, but I can promise you that it's not simply because the operator you were unhappy with was "not-Scuba-Cat". So please do tell the world when you've been well-served by an operator, but please don't tell people that no other operator is worth using if you haven't got personal experience with each and every one.
It's great that you are loyal to an operator you have found suits your needs. However, this doesn't mean that it's the only operator worth using. Your experience and insights are valuable, but they are severely limited, so blanket statements of the sort you are making become misleading.
In fact, Scuba Cat do accept bookings from other shops. As I tried to say in an earlier post, there are certain days during the week when there isn't much option in terms of dive sites among the THREE (if you put the Rachas together) TO FOUR (if you separate them) areas we typically dive on daytrips (Racha Yai, Racha Noi, Shark Point/Anemone Reef, Phi Phi). On some days, it seems like every single boat is at Racha and nobody is going to Phi Phi, and on other days there are several boats diving Phi Phi.
In other words, Centrals, there are reasons for the experiences you had, but I can promise you that it's not simply because the operator you were unhappy with was "not-Scuba-Cat". So please do tell the world when you've been well-served by an operator, but please don't tell people that no other operator is worth using if you haven't got personal experience with each and every one.
I am giving my own experience on diving in Phuket. Two operators had crossed my path and I was NOT impressed with one of them(no name mentioned). I wouold NOT suggest to anyone to dive with any operator who do not run its own boat unless you like to have a party on the boat as well as under water!!!!!
This is my suggestion to any new divers going to Phuket:
1. Ask how many divers would be on the boat?
2. Is the boat being shared with other operators, if yes then you won't get an answer for (1).
3. Would you like to dive with a big group of divers? If the answer is NO then you are limited to just a very few operators.
4. Try to find out which operator run its own boat.
lord khram
Contributor
I dont have a problem myself with shared boats as long as all customers are catered for considerately and provided with what they are sold.
To me it makes much more sense than how things work in Pattaya where all the shops seem to want to 'do each other down', most run their own boats and quite often nearly empty particularly during the low season. As a result because incomes are low they then resort to diving on the nearest crap dive sites available to keep expenditure down.
Having said that, nothing at all wrong with all the shops having their own boat, healthy competition is a good thing, just at times I feel through a little cooperation both the shops and customers alike could benefit.
To me it makes much more sense than how things work in Pattaya where all the shops seem to want to 'do each other down', most run their own boats and quite often nearly empty particularly during the low season. As a result because incomes are low they then resort to diving on the nearest crap dive sites available to keep expenditure down.
Having said that, nothing at all wrong with all the shops having their own boat, healthy competition is a good thing, just at times I feel through a little cooperation both the shops and customers alike could benefit.
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