Diving and snorkling

[violatedm3 0]

I assume their are some good dive snorkling sites in Pattaya, however I dont know where they would be or how to find out about them. Anyone have info on any classes for new divers, tours ? Any info would be helpful, thanks in advance.

[PokerUpFront 0]

diving is not so good in the pattaya area unless you are a big sea urchin fan. i would definately not snorkle off pattaya beach unless you want a back that looks like a manatee's (propeller scars). a boat trip to one of the nearby islands would make a safer place for snorkling, but the waters still have poor visability.

 

that being said, it is a bit cheaper to get certified over there. many BMs have used Mermaid's Dive Center as have I. I was completely satisfied and now do my diving in the full of marine life and wrecks and clear waters of Florida

[John Punter 0]

The diving in Pattaya is not up to much. HMS Khram is worth a visit and there is another wreck I think, but I can't remember the name right now. Maybe it's the Hardeep. Phuket is much, much better for diving.

[drpaul854 0]

Pattaya is not a world class dive area, but depending on what you have access to dive at home it could be a large step up. There are a couple of decent wrecks and some reef diving - enough to keep you busy for 2-3 days. I have used Mermaid Dive Center.

 

For some outstanding world class diving consider Phuket's Liveaboards to the Similian Islands. Some of the best value liveaboard diving around (but it cuts into your nighttime activities)

[som nam na 0]

if you need training or are a beginner or just want to get wet then Mermaid is a good place to start, there are others dive schools equally as good and some more personal and not so much a "factory"....just google scuba pattaya and see what comes up....diving off Pattaya is ok but nothing special

 

if you are really interested in diving and are PADI open water or higher then consider doing a 3 or 4 day liveaboard off the Similan Islands ....its well worth it...the dive guides are excellent and the diving is superb ....turtles, shark, water snakes, numerous fish and even manta rays http://www.highclass-adventure.com/liveabo...olphinqueen.php

 

One piece of good advice is to plan your trip so that you do the scuba diving before you come to Pattaya and not the other way round ....I know from personal experience that once you get to Pattaya its difficult to leave ...good luck with it

[MrMango 671]

Does anybody know how much it costs to get certified in Pattaya?

[drpaul854 0]

Price to become certified in scuba - not exactly sure but I seem to remember thinking that it was not that much cheaper than doing it in the states. Scuba is one thing not priced a lot cheaper in Thailand than back home.

 

If your vacation time is short I would suggest taking the course at home saving you time for more fun things not available at home - of course if you are like some lucky BMs and spend months at a time in LOS - then go for it and take the course there.

[som nam na 0]

Pattaya is an excellent place to learn ....for PADI open water ...takes 4 days

 

- mermaid THB 14,000 http://www.mermaiddive.com/

 

- PJ Scuba THB 14,000 http://www.pjscuba.com/

 

- Aquanauts THB 14,000 http://www.aquanautsdive.com/learntodive/c...pen_water.shtml

 

Try to negotiate on the price, if the school is not too busy they sometimes give a discount, also try and see if they throw the text book in for free.

 

 

Duration: 4 Days

Cost: 14,000 Baht

Curriculum: Day 1- classroom - 7-9 hours

Day 2 - in the swimming pool honing those skills for the ocean.

 

Days 3 & 4 - In the ocean (4 dives (2 per day)).

 

Includes: Equipment, swimming pool, instruction, boat fees, PADI International license

Edited December 14, 2005 by som nam na

[Big Daddy 0]

[Montydog 135]

Practice for diving in Pattaya by putting your head in a toilet bowl for 1hr at a time.

 

Pattaya is only good for muff diving try Samui or Phuket or Krabi etc for good dive sites.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Montydog

[jackcorbett 2]

A few months ago I went out twice with Aquanuts on Soi Six. The overall experience was good but limited as I wanted to save my money for other things (buying a condo for instance).

 

Around 15 months ago I got certified for scuba diving in Missouri. Prior to this I had limited occasional scuba or snorkeling experience. When I was 18 I did one dive in Acapulco, Mexico. The water and quantity and variety of fish was much superior to what I have found around Pattaya. I did a little snorkeling at Cabo San Lucas and once again the quality of both the water and fish was far superior. Around four years ago, I did some snorkeling while surrounded by sharks in Belize. The water was very clear with excellent visibility. In my experience Belize was number one, by far. Along with going on two dives around Pattaya last year I snorkeled once in Phukett and although the water was much clearer than Pattaya's on this particular day it did not compare at all to Belize and I found it to be inferior to Cabo's as well.

[TURBO 1]

If you don't want to eat into your holiday time what you can do is complete the classroom & swimming pool parts of the PADI course in your home country & then do the actual dives when you get to Thailand . That will give you 2 extra days to fit in more dives . According to the guy from Mermaids this is ok with PADI as the course is standard worldwide & quite a few people do it that way .

 

I have to agree with others that the water around Pattaya is quite murky , especially during rainy season . Phuket is probably the best place for clear waters in LOS .

[PhuketJimmy 0]

I'm VERY experienced in the dive world.....If you want good diving go to Phuket and start from there....An option to save holiday time is to complete the class and pool work and hope and use the PADI referal system. There are many fine PADI shops in Phuket....more info on shop local can be found at www.padi.com

[Sapper 0]

Mermaids will be good to get certified with as they do a lot of "zero to hero's" (non diver to instructor level in one long course) so have a lot of experience in teaching, but as they concentrate on this, they ain't so good to go with just for fun dives.

 

Khram is ok to dive on once but is small and pretty boring after the second or third dive. The Hardeep is pretty good as is shark fin rock near to it.

 

Yes, Pattaya is definitely the poor relation to other Thai resorts when it comes to diving but there is some great macro stuff about with lots of nudibranchs and soft corals around Koh Rin.

 

Consider Koh Chang. It is only three hours drive from Pattaya you can get certified there for around 10,000 - 12,000 baht and there are some very good dive sites there. Not really over dived as yet either so is quite underrated. The island itself is beautiful and quiet... nice area to take a break from Pattaya!!

[otherway 5]

Contrary to most of the above. If you are certified to at least advanced level

then there is some excellent dives to be had from Pattaya and I have dived everywhere (just about) in Thailand.

The Sattahip area including submarine rock as well as the harddeep wreck on a good day can be excellent. Also if your ever lucky enough to get the right conditions the Bremen wreck cane be really intresting. I have seen multiple sightings of very inquisitive giant stingrays (and I mean giant at both the Harddeep and Bremen sites.

[gaprau25 0]

I agree with Sapper that Mermaid's is not the best place to go if you want more personal service. It's a very safe, responsible and well run outfit, to be sure. But the number of people who pass through it means you don't really get to know people very well. And they have a bit of an "insiders / ousiders" thing going with the zero-to-hero clan, so you kind of feel like you don't really belong there.

 

I did my open water with a Swedish guy named Claes who runs an operation called "Moose Divers" on Soi 5 in Jomtien. He is very low volume, so you'll be able to ask anything you want and get more info than you'd planned for! haha. But this guy has done more dives and has more certs than anybody I've ever met. And he has the lowest prices. I think my open water PADI cost me about 12,000B, everything included. As for the boats, he goes out with the Mermaid boats anyway, so it's all the same in terms of boat quality.

 

Just don't expect crystal clear waters and beautiful fish at any time of the year. The visibility is shite and there's not much to see. But it's a fantastic place to learn, since the apres-scuba is the best in the known universe.