Scuba Diving lessons... where?

[LAguy]

I've been looking for somewhere to take beginning scuba diving lessons, and am totally overwhelmed, but figure I might be able to narrow it down with advice from guys on here...

 

It seems like there are courses in Koh Samui, Phuket, Pattaya, or Koh Tao.  Has anyone taken diving courses in any of them?

 

Looks like I'll have to balance what you can look at in the water diving, with what I can look at in bars or massage places... I figure a couple of days of diving is definitely going to deserve nightly massages 

 

If you were going to take diving classes for a weekend, where would you (or did you) go?

 

Thanks!

[Guest rainwalker]

I'm a Master Scuba Diver, the highest level available for recreational divers, who has dived near Pattaya and Phuket.

 

Pattaya diving is fairly marginal for experienced divers but for a beginner, the thrill of diving can make up for spotty aquatic life. I learned at Mermaid's Dive Centre which is the most credentialed dive school in town.

 

http://www.mermaidsdivecenter.com/

 

In Phuket, Dive Asia was where I took a number of certifications - I have 18 - over the period of a month and dived almost every day. I liked their setup and the visability/reefs/sea life was better than Pattaya.

 

http://www.diveasia.com/diving-courses/

 

My advice, which is worth exactly what you paid for it, is to concentrate on where you want the non-diving part of the holiday to be and then find a dive school at that location.

 

(Remember, you need 24 hours between your last dive and getting on an airplane to mitigate the chance of "the bends." so no getting off the dive boat and jumping onto a jet.) 

 

Also, expect not to drink alcohol in that diving week. Simply put, alcohol and diving are not compatible.

 

http://www.scubadiving.com/photos/it-ok-drink-and-dive

[LAguy]

Rainwalker, all great information... and I'll be in Thailand the whole summer, so chances are I won't be diving within 24 hours of flying... Drinking shouldn't be a problem... I'm not much of a drinker...

 

But I'm curious.. the article talks about not drinking AFTER diving?  I understand not drinking before, but after can be a problem?  Interesting...

 

Phuket sounds good... Time to go research some more!

[anddy]

for what it's worth: as coincidence would have it I just met a Swiss guy last weekend who had just spent several weeks in Phuket to learn diving, and was about to go back there for more. He said it's very good there. Didn't go into any detail. so can't name a school.

[LAguy]

for what it's worth: as coincidence would have it I just met a Swiss guy last weekend who had just spent several weeks in Phuket to learn diving, and was about to go back there for more. He said it's very good there. Didn't go into any detail. so can't name a school.

 

It seems like the most popular place I can find is Ko Tao... Not the gayest place in the world, but I can survive for 3 1/2 days :-)

 

But I'll check Phuket out too...