If you’re looking for a scuba diving holiday in Thailand one of the most popular options is what I like to call the ‘Andaman Safari‘. This isn’t a light hearted type of holiday and would not be of much interest to non-divers. It normally takes 14 days in total (or it should in my opinion) and would include 6 days and nights on a Thailand liveaboard to the Similans at the heart of the holiday.

You would have the opportunity to do 22 dives in the Similan Marine National Park and beyond but as I said above this is a heavy schedule and not suitable to non-divers. If you have never been on a Liveaboard then maybe 4 dives a day for 5 days wouldn’t be the ideal time to start. Thailand dive centres in Phuket and Kho Lak offer many different types and durations of liveaboard to the Similans, Richeliu Rock and Burma Banks and if it’s your first time I would suggest a shorter trip maybe 3days – 2nights.

If you are a committed diver however and looking for a scuba diving holiday in Thailand have a look at my suggested itinerary:

• Day 1 Depart your home
• Day 2 Arrive Phuket and transfer to your hotel
• Day 3 Take this day to rest and see a little of Phuket sights.
• Day 4 Board your liveaboard, usually in the evening, and travel to the Similans over night
• Day 5 to Day 9 There will be four dives in total offered per day.
• Day 10 After your two early morning dives you will return to your Phuket hotel.
• Day 11 Rest Day
• Day 12 Rest Day
• Day 13 Fly Home
• Day 14 Arrive home

The positive side to this type of holiday in Thailand is that you get to see the best dive sites the country has to offer. The negative side is that you would miss out on all the culture and sites around Thailand, it really depends what you want from a holiday! If you’re like me and many other divers who travel to Thailand often then you can have the best of both worlds. On one trip you can do the liveaboard and on your next trip stick with dayboat diving. The advantage of doing it this way is that you get all the dive sites. Liveaboards don’t often visit the same sites the day boats do.

Scuba diving holidays in Thailand are just as varied as the country itself and after only one visit you should try and get back to somewhere different the next time to dive something new!

It is easy to see why this jungle hearted island, encircled by sweeping beaches has become the most popular beach destination in Thailand. Getting this, the largest island, is now so very easy with direct flights from Europe and other Asian destinations as well as multiple daily flights from Bangkok. Holiday makers also arrive by the causeway linking the island to the mainland, so coaches and minibuses will take you from any other location south of Bangkok to Phuket. The only transport that is missing is the train but many Thailand tours will transfer you by train to Surat Thani then a coach onwards to Phuket if its budget you are after.

I have traveled by coach from Bangkok to Phuket and would say if you can afford it try and avoid this. It’s a very long journey, some 16 hours in total although advertised as 12 hours, even with its many stops and when you finally arrive in Phuket your first day may be catching up on lost sleep. As a diver though any form of road travel allows you an extra days diving, with the flying-diving restrictions, but its best to work this out as the journey time of the bus may also waste a day.

Finding a dive company to take you diving will be no problem here. Phuket has the biggest number of dive centers in Thailand but that does not mean that are all good, in fact with that many about I would say if you’re not careful you will end up with a poor one. Like everything else I suggest you do your research before you arrive and check out some companies web sites. Location is not really a problem as all dive centers will pick up and drop off at your hotel.

Hotel Locations

Patong is the largest beach destination on the island and has hundreds of hotels and guest houses at a variety of prices. Hotels on the beach front or soi’s running off the beach are prime location and as such can demand high prices. Rat-U-Thit Rd runs parallel with the beach road and will get very busy in the evening with traffic, stalls and restaurant markets setting up. A variety of cheap accommodation will be found here but there is also the higher 3-4 star places. My personal choice of hotel in Patong is the Deevana Resort & Spa at the north end of Rat-U-Thit Rd. It’s close enough to all the action of Patong but far enough away that at night it’s quiet. Nanai Rd runs parallel with the other 2 but is set further back so requires transport to the beach. It offers splendid views of Patong as some hotels are set in the hillside.

Karon beach is a very long stretch of white sand with many hotels along most of it. With this number of hotel rooms is can be easier to get a one with a sea view that wont break to bank to do so and it may also be the place to go when Patong fills up. Cheap taxi’s make Patong accessible but you will find plenty of bars and restaurant in north and south ends of Karon beach, so you don’t really need to go anywhere for your evening entertainment. The southern end of the beach has some rock outcrops that can provide a nice day snorkeling just off the beach.

Kata is largely dominated by Club Med, but there are a few other hotels in the area now, many of which have direct beach access. That is to say you can go straight onto the beach from reception without crossing any roads, unlike most other hotels in Phuket. This area is a fast up and coming destination now with many restaurant and bars to keep you suitable watered and feed during your holiday. The rocky outcrops at the north and south tips of this beach offer some nice snorkeling options for those in between dive days.

Other Beach Destinations. With so much beach surrounding this island there are many destinations to Phuket and the 3 I have outlined above are only the main ones in terms of popularity and choice of hotels. Other places you may want to consider include Rawai beach, Kamala beach, Surin beach, Phuket Town and Chalong Bay amongst others.

This fourth post in my learn to dive series will expand on the available training in scuba diving after your initial training. In the previous posts I have discussed why you should learn to dive, is one training agency better than another and is it better to learn to dive at home or when on holiday? I have also broke down a PADI Open Water Course to give you an idea what you will do when you learn to dive.

So you are now a fully qualified diver with a new shiny badge to say so, now what. Well the first thing you may notice is that when you try to book a days diving not all the dives will be available to you. To understand why this is you need to go back to your training and remember that as an open water diver you are restricted to depths of 18m or less. Although the majority of coral and life are within this 18m area there are sometimes, well lots of times actually, when going below this depth will reward you with some wonderful dives. Many wrecks are below the 18m depth and large pelagic’s usually rest in waters deeper than 18 m. So your convinced, you want to get below the 18m mark but how do you do it?

What Will I Do On the Next Course?

Back to training for this but before you all run away listen to what is need to get you down to a maximum depth of 30m. Unlike your Open Water course there is no classroom or pool work this time, but you will have to read a bit more and complete the knowledge developments again but the big thing is there is NO EXAM!

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course takes only 5 dives in open water and their corresponding knowledge developments from the book. From the 5 dives one must be a deep dive to 30m and one must be a navigational dive were you learn to use a compass underwater, the other 3 dives are made up from a list of about 20 options. When I say about 20 that’s because some of these are dependent on location but you will have a great deal to choose from regardless of where you dive.

When Should I Do An Advanced Course?

There is a lot of discussion about this on forums and in diver publications and the answer is, in my opinion, when you feel comfortable with your diving skills. Now what I mean here is that some people complete the PADI open water course and curse the fact they have been missing out on life underwater, others feel that there was not enough instruction, that they have not mastered the skills yet or that they just don’t feel 100% comfortable underwater. These less confident people would be better to complete a few dives with a guide for some support and comfort, the other more confident people could further their training and move straight on to the next course.

It is possible to complete the first course and move straight onto the next without any dives in-between, but what I have always recommended is that you should try for at least 10 dives after your first qualification, 20 dives if you are a home diver and have more access to dives.

These 10 dives will give you some practice at buoyancy control and other skills you learnt during your Open Water Course. It also allows you some time to make sure it really is the next hobby you want to take up, scuba diving equipment is not really expensive in comparaison to other hobbies like skiing or golf, but you still don’t want to waste your money.

When Does This Training End?

In reality you will never stop learning to dive. Every dive will bring up new situations that you will learn from, but if its academic style training then you can always continue this also.

After the advanced course you could take on the PADI Rescue Diver Course, but be warned this is not a fun course and most people will find it exhausting and difficult but very very rewarding. It teaches you how to spot and prevent incidents before they happen and to react to incidents in a calm manner and how to deal with anything that may happen while on a days scuba diving, both above and below the water.

As you gain more confidence in the water you may find you have a liking for a particular type of dive, drift dive or coral dive, or for something you do while on a dive photography of videography. PADI has a whole bunch of specialities were you can learn more about these types of dives. So as you can see after you learn to dive you can go on and learn some more!

So far I have discussed why and where you should learn to dive, I have also talked about what you will do on your course and what to do after it. In the next post I’m not going to talk about learning to dive or courses but what I do plan to do is try and convince you that diving is something you should learn as soon as possible.

Learn To Dive – Part 1 Why Learn To Dive?

Learn To Dive – Part 2 Where To Learn To Dive

Learn To Dive – Part 3 What Will I do On The Course