HowdyFolks,
I just got back From my trip to Phuket. We had a fabulous time. I was gone between the 4-14th and managed to get in 4 days of diving. I was staying in Karon Beach with my brother in Law who was a non-diver so going on a long 4-10 day live aboard trip was out of the question. So I tried to do several local dives plus a short live aboard trip in the similians. My 1st days diving way with Marina Divers and the destination was Rachi Nai, the northern island in the Rachi Chain. I went on their larger boat so travel time to and from the Island was about 1 1/2 hours. Because I had my own Gear the cost of the trip was only 2,500 Baht ( Approximately $65 U.S.) The trip was very enjoyable the food was great and the staff we pleasant and very proficient. On my 1st dive I actually started to come up short on air (400PSI) at the beginning of the assent, because I was having eye issues due to sun tan lotion getting into my eyes during the dive. When the guide saw my Air level He immediately gave me his octopus and we ascended together. I had never had to use someone's octopus before, However I was thankful that he was there and that he was so quick to react once I noticed my air was low. Well my 2nd dive went much better after I wiped all of the suntan lotion off my face. The next day we went to the PHI PHI islands and I tried to set up a afternoon Dive trip but there were not enough divers to meet the quota so I just hired a long boat driver to show us around PHI PHI ley and snorkeled at Maya Beach (The location where the movie "The Beach" was shot), and one other spot. The next day I went out with Baracuda divers and we did one dive on Phi Phi Ley and one at one of the smaller islands south of Phi PHI. Both diver were excellent wall dives with lots of colorful Soft and Hard Corrals and lots of fish. My next day was out of the water (at least for the most part) because we took a canoe trip exploring the amazing islands in Phang Nga Bay including the famous James Bond Island. James Bond island itself was crowded however very beautiful and the other islands were simply amazing with caves and open bays within the islands that were truly assume.I highly suggest this trip if you want something to do as a land based activity in between dive days. My last trip was to the Famous Similian Islands. I did quite abit of research on finding a live aboard and I didn't make a decision of which boat I was going to take until a day or 2 before the departure date. I had originally looked into South Siam's SIAM 3 boat. However I spoke with some people on the Board and also some shops in town that said it could be a real cattle boat during the high season. Scuba Cat was recommeded to me for a short term live aboards (less and 3 days) by John At Siam Dive and Sail (A great guy that spent some time going over some diving options in the Area). He said Scuba Cat was a smaller boat that took out only 16 divers at a time so that I would'nt have the crowding issues that would have come with the larger Siam 3. However, after further research I found Similian pro dive through Marina Divers. They had several boats but the cheaper boat "The Sea Pearl" offered 1 or more day trips with daily departures Via Speed Boat. The price was about the same as for the other 2 boats however it was a newer boat than the scuba cat and it was smaller than the Siam 3. I was worried about how the seas would be at this time of the year however the trip out and the 2 days while I was on the boat the sea's were calm. In addition because they were unusually slow I ended up having the whole boat to myself along with the 6 staff that stay aboard the boat.
The food on aboard was great, generally consisting of rice and 2 choices of entry's (often Thai dishes prepared with shimp, chicken,beef, and Vegetables). The staff on board were good although different than what I would have expected. Three of the boat hands were under 18 and 1 was probably 10(the son of one of the 3 dive masters on board) I noticed that they were very fast do get you off the deck while you were setting up for the dive but other than that they were great. When I came back from a excursion to Similian island # 4 where I slid of one of the rocks and cut my foot and shinned my knee the boat boys noticed my cuts right away and broke out a first aid kit and began to clean my wounds. I found that to be thoughtful but kind of strange in a way because I hadn't been pampered like that since I was a kid except for perhaps now by my wire. The diving at the similians we great. I think it was the best diving to date for me although I only have the Carribean and The GBR in Australia to compare it to. There were tons of exotic fish, the hard and soft corals were in great shape and I did see some sharks and rays to boot. All in all a great trip. I would highly suggest any of these company's to someone thinking of doing diving out of the Phuket area. That was my trip in a nutshell if you have any questions let me know!
I just got back From my trip to Phuket. We had a fabulous time. I was gone between the 4-14th and managed to get in 4 days of diving. I was staying in Karon Beach with my brother in Law who was a non-diver so going on a long 4-10 day live aboard trip was out of the question. So I tried to do several local dives plus a short live aboard trip in the similians. My 1st days diving way with Marina Divers and the destination was Rachi Nai, the northern island in the Rachi Chain. I went on their larger boat so travel time to and from the Island was about 1 1/2 hours. Because I had my own Gear the cost of the trip was only 2,500 Baht ( Approximately $65 U.S.) The trip was very enjoyable the food was great and the staff we pleasant and very proficient. On my 1st dive I actually started to come up short on air (400PSI) at the beginning of the assent, because I was having eye issues due to sun tan lotion getting into my eyes during the dive. When the guide saw my Air level He immediately gave me his octopus and we ascended together. I had never had to use someone's octopus before, However I was thankful that he was there and that he was so quick to react once I noticed my air was low. Well my 2nd dive went much better after I wiped all of the suntan lotion off my face. The next day we went to the PHI PHI islands and I tried to set up a afternoon Dive trip but there were not enough divers to meet the quota so I just hired a long boat driver to show us around PHI PHI ley and snorkeled at Maya Beach (The location where the movie "The Beach" was shot), and one other spot. The next day I went out with Baracuda divers and we did one dive on Phi Phi Ley and one at one of the smaller islands south of Phi PHI. Both diver were excellent wall dives with lots of colorful Soft and Hard Corrals and lots of fish. My next day was out of the water (at least for the most part) because we took a canoe trip exploring the amazing islands in Phang Nga Bay including the famous James Bond Island. James Bond island itself was crowded however very beautiful and the other islands were simply amazing with caves and open bays within the islands that were truly assume.I highly suggest this trip if you want something to do as a land based activity in between dive days. My last trip was to the Famous Similian Islands. I did quite abit of research on finding a live aboard and I didn't make a decision of which boat I was going to take until a day or 2 before the departure date. I had originally looked into South Siam's SIAM 3 boat. However I spoke with some people on the Board and also some shops in town that said it could be a real cattle boat during the high season. Scuba Cat was recommeded to me for a short term live aboards (less and 3 days) by John At Siam Dive and Sail (A great guy that spent some time going over some diving options in the Area). He said Scuba Cat was a smaller boat that took out only 16 divers at a time so that I would'nt have the crowding issues that would have come with the larger Siam 3. However, after further research I found Similian pro dive through Marina Divers. They had several boats but the cheaper boat "The Sea Pearl" offered 1 or more day trips with daily departures Via Speed Boat. The price was about the same as for the other 2 boats however it was a newer boat than the scuba cat and it was smaller than the Siam 3. I was worried about how the seas would be at this time of the year however the trip out and the 2 days while I was on the boat the sea's were calm. In addition because they were unusually slow I ended up having the whole boat to myself along with the 6 staff that stay aboard the boat.
The food on aboard was great, generally consisting of rice and 2 choices of entry's (often Thai dishes prepared with shimp, chicken,beef, and Vegetables). The staff on board were good although different than what I would have expected. Three of the boat hands were under 18 and 1 was probably 10(the son of one of the 3 dive masters on board) I noticed that they were very fast do get you off the deck while you were setting up for the dive but other than that they were great. When I came back from a excursion to Similian island # 4 where I slid of one of the rocks and cut my foot and shinned my knee the boat boys noticed my cuts right away and broke out a first aid kit and began to clean my wounds. I found that to be thoughtful but kind of strange in a way because I hadn't been pampered like that since I was a kid except for perhaps now by my wire. The diving at the similians we great. I think it was the best diving to date for me although I only have the Carribean and The GBR in Australia to compare it to. There were tons of exotic fish, the hard and soft corals were in great shape and I did see some sharks and rays to boot. All in all a great trip. I would highly suggest any of these company's to someone thinking of doing diving out of the Phuket area. That was my trip in a nutshell if you have any questions let me know!
