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  1. #1
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    Should I learn to dive in Pattaya?

    I have thought about learning to scuba dive a few times and have always thought about learning in Pattaya.

    Can I do any sort of weekend courses or do I have to attend for a whole week?

    Any where else close to Chacheongsao that I can try at?

  2. #2
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    Most of the dive companies seem to offer some sort of accelerated certification course that you can do in a couple of days. I did a day dive with Ploy Dive shop on Koh Chang last year and a couple of the divers on our boat were just finishing up a two-day certification.

    It would be a pretty intense weekend, though. You've got the entire course book to read and then course review quizzes (open book), exams, videos to watch, pool work and then two (?) open water dives.

    Possible? Sure.

    Fun? Maybe not.

  3. #3
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    also the diving in pattaya aint that great - i'd go down to phiphi krabi phuket and do a 4 day course - which is still very busy and quite intense.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb
    also the diving in pattaya aint that great
    I think you will find that the busineses are based in Pattaya but the dive sites will be out of Pattaya, one dive school I know of in Pattaya drives the divers to Satahip and get the boat from there.

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    3 Boats - 3 Destinations - Per Day!...

    Same Boat? Same Dive?: Not with us!! - We have three different dive destinations per day on three different boats. With over 30 islands to visit - every days diving is a different days diving - You truly are spoilt for choice. We arrange your pick-up in the morning and by 9:30am you're on your way to any number of paradise islands. You'll have a minimum of two dives, a free lunch and as much snorkeling as you can fit in! When we arrive back in port we'll make sure you get back to your accommodation - all inclusive in our daily dive day planner.



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  6. #6
    A bladdy woman
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    I took a diving course last year. My instructor is English which he can speak pretty good Thai but you will not want it.

    It costed me 13k Baht if I'm not wrong, 2 days in the swimming pool and 2 days in the sea. I love it but since I move over hear, I don't do it again which is so sad.

    If you are really interested in it, I have his e-mail address and a mobile phone no. Just gimme a sign then I will pm to you.

    Oh yeah.. he lives in Bangkok but he goes to Pattaya (almost) every weekend, also he dives almost every weekend also.

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    A bladdy woman
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    One more thing that you should know. The good thing that you should choose him is, he will teach only you, there's only you in the class, I mean. So he can pay 100% attention to you which is just great!

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    Cheers GoW I remembered you had done something like that.

    Did you do it over two weekends then or a long weekend?

  9. #9
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    When did we gat a scuba diving forum?

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    Yesterday I believe.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb
    also the diving in pattaya aint that great
    I think you will find that the busineses are based in Pattaya but the dive sites will be out of Pattaya, one dive school I know of in Pattaya drives the divers to Satahip and get the boat from there.
    yeah i know that mate, they still get a fair lot of traffic and combined with little adherence to basic rules - most of the sites aint that flash...

    mind you there is a couple of wreck dives (advanced divers only) that are all right.

    However, if your on a limited time frame - get the certificate in Pattaya and then go the Andamans, down south or Koh Chang for some better diving.

  12. #12
    Newbie Divethai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mrsquirrel View Post
    I have thought about learning to scuba dive a few times and have always thought about learning in Pattaya.

    Can I do any sort of weekend courses or do I have to attend for a whole week?

    Any where else close to Chacheongsao that I can try at?

    I am not familiar with Chacheongsao but here in Pattaya we can teach you how to scuba dive in 4 days. We are very flexible and can split it over 2 weekends if that fits your schedule better. Feel free to give me a call or email me with any questions you might have

    Best

    Glen

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrsquirrel
    Any where else close to Chacheongsao that I can try at?
    Pattaya is the closest, don't think you would want to do it in BKK in the Chao Phraya, well actually thinking about it you probably would

  14. #14
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    I have a river opposite my gaff DD.

    However it's tidal and has some wicked currents in it. I would either end up in Prachinburi or the Gulf of Thailand before I knew what was happening.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by mrsquirrel
    However it's tidal and has some wicked currents in it. I would either end up in Prachinburi or the Gulf of Thailand before I knew what was happening.
    Find a nice cool rock quarry.

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    You can do it within 2 weeks or longer. I remembered that I did it on Sunday only in the first week then I was busy at work so I postponed it to the next 2 weeks so I finished this course about 6 weeks. Anyway, you can tell him when you are free. He's cool.

  17. #17
    Newbie Divethai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Goddess of Whatever View Post
    You can do it within 2 weeks or longer. I remembered that I did it on Sunday only in the first week then I was busy at work so I postponed it to the next 2 weeks so I finished this course about 6 weeks. Anyway, you can tell him when you are free. He's cool.
    Please remember that Scuba Diving is supposed to be fun. Most shops including mine will work with you on scheduling as long as your requests are reasonable. My personal recommendation to someone who has never been scuba diving is to take a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) course which is 1 day and included basic safety, equipment familarization and at least 1 fun dive. There is a cost assosiated with that but we at Mermaids apply the full cost of the DSD to an open water course. So you don't lose out if you decide to advance However we do not refund on courses if you decide that diving is not for you half way thru the course. We will do refunds on extenuating circumstances. If you do aa open water and don't like it then you are out about 14000 baht, the DSD average cost is 4000b and as I pointed out at Mermaids we will apply the full cost of the DSD to anyone who has done the DSD with us to an Open Water Diver Certification.

  18. #18
    Newbie Divethai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb
    also the diving in pattaya aint that great
    I think you will find that the busineses are based in Pattaya but the dive sites will be out of Pattaya, one dive school I know of in Pattaya drives the divers to Satahip and get the boat from there.
    yeah i know that mate, they still get a fair lot of traffic and combined with little adherence to basic rules - most of the sites aint that flash...

    mind you there is a couple of wreck dives (advanced divers only) that are all right.

    However, if your on a limited time frame - get the certificate in Pattaya and then go the Andamans, down south or Koh Chang for some better diving.

    There are 4 wrecks that can be dived here in Pattaya. 2 are reached from the Pattaya Pier, The Khram which was a WWII Landing craft that the US gave to the Thai Navy and was sunk about 6 years ago, about a month ago there was a 2nd ship sunk that was a sister ship to the Khram. There is the Hardeep and the Petchburi Bremen and those are dived on from Satthip. The Khram and sister are not advanced dives as there is usually very little current there to worry the new diver. However the Hardeep is a much more difficult dive and should be done by more advanced divers as the currents there can be pretty strong. Please remember that penetrating any wreck with out the proper training is a recipe for disaster. We train divers for the Wreck specialty which teachs you how to properly penetrate a wreck and how to use tools that will allow you to penetrate and minimize any danger.

    As Kingwilly pointed out some sites do get a lot of traffic however if you follow proper safety techniques you have little cause to be concerned.

    I will start a seperate thread for photos as soon as I get them together and can start to post some.

  19. #19
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    Is your school PADI, SSI or "other?" What about dive ops for the different certs? I got my Open water cert with SSI, I took three - four days course, went diving. If I wanted to re-cert with PADI would I have to take a full on course or is there some sort of corss over?
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  20. #20
    Newbie Divethai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by friscofrankie View Post
    Is your school PADI, SSI or "other?" What about dive ops for the different certs? I got my Open water cert with SSI, I took three - four days course, went diving. If I wanted to re-cert with PADI would I have to take a full on course or is there some sort of corss over?

    We are a PADI 5 Star diving center. You will need to bring in your card or certification from SSI, take PADI open water diver Final exam, and do a 1 day scuba review. We would then be able to certify you thru PADI

  21. #21
    A bladdy woman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Divethai
    we will apply the full cost of the DSD to anyone who has done the DSD with us to an Open Water Diver Certification.
    I got Open Water Diver Certification from PADI as well.

  22. #22
    Northern Hermit
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    Quote Originally Posted by Divethai View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by friscofrankie View Post
    Is your school PADI, SSI or "other?" What about dive ops for the different certs? I got my Open water cert with SSI, I took three - four days course, went diving. If I wanted to re-cert with PADI would I have to take a full on course or is there some sort of corss over?

    We are a PADI 5 Star diving center. You will need to bring in your card or certification from SSI, take PADI open water diver Final exam, and do a 1 day scuba review. We would then be able to certify you thru PADI
    While in Fiji, I read the PADI book cover to cover, we then fired the only PADI instructor on the island (Well, he did break the jaw of our Dive Ops Mgr. Fijians, eh?). I then had to go for the SSI, I was disappointed but it got me into some wonderful dives.

    Reading the PADI book then the SSI book, I'd say the PADI course definitely prepares you for diving in much more detail. I somehow feel like I got the "economy" version. Definitely want to go over the material again.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Divethai View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Goddess of Whatever View Post
    You can do it within 2 weeks or longer. I remembered that I did it on Sunday only in the first week then I was busy at work so I postponed it to the next 2 weeks so I finished this course about 6 weeks. Anyway, you can tell him when you are free. He's cool.
    Please remember that Scuba Diving is supposed to be fun. Most shops including mine will work with you on scheduling as long as your requests are reasonable. My personal recommendation to someone who has never been scuba diving is to take a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) course which is 1 day and included basic safety, equipment familarization and at least 1 fun dive. There is a cost assosiated with that but we at Mermaids apply the full cost of the DSD to an open water course. So you don't lose out if you decide to advance However we do not refund on courses if you decide that diving is not for you half way thru the course. We will do refunds on extenuating circumstances. If you do aa open water and don't like it then you are out about 14000 baht, the DSD average cost is 4000b and as I pointed out at Mermaids we will apply the full cost of the DSD to anyone who has done the DSD with us to an Open Water Diver Certification.
    which is a pretty reasonable cost (for western standards) and believe me this is one thing you dont want to go the thai way on (no offence GoW and other resident locals).

    if run by jokers its prolly gotta be one of the most dangerous sports in the world, run probably and you'll be safe as houses.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Divethai View Post

    Please remember that Scuba Diving is supposed to be fun. Most shops including mine will work with you on scheduling as long as your requests are reasonable. My personal recommendation to someone who has never been scuba diving is to take a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) course which is 1 day and included basic safety, equipment familarization and at least 1 fun dive. There is a cost assosiated with that but we at Mermaids apply the full cost of the DSD to an open water course. So you don't lose out if you decide to advance However we do not refund on courses if you decide that diving is not for you half way thru the course. We will do refunds on extenuating circumstances. If you do aa open water and don't like it then you are out about 14000 baht, the DSD average cost is 4000b and as I pointed out at Mermaids we will apply the full cost of the DSD to anyone who has done the DSD with us to an Open Water Diver Certification.
    which i think is a pretty reasonable cost. I did mine a number of years ago in the west for about the same price....

    i strongly recommend you DO NOT choose a wholly thai run outfit (no offence GoW) as this sport is bloddy dangerous if standards are not adhered to. Done properly it will be as safe as houses... more or less.

  25. #25
    Newbie Divethai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb View Post

    which i think is a pretty reasonable cost. I did mine a number of years ago in the west for about the same price....

    i strongly recommend you DO NOT choose a wholly thai run outfit (no offence GoW) as this sport is bloddy dangerous if standards are not adhered to. Done properly it will be as safe as houses... more or less.

    A couple of things to consider here when diving is.

    1, How many boats do they run
    2. How full are the boats.
    3. How well maintained is the equipment
    4. Are quality checks done on the air coming out of the compressors.
    5. What are the qualifications of the staff on the boat.
    6. Is the shop fully covered by liability insurance.
    7. Do they maintain a full first aid kit on board
    8. Do they maintain medical grade O2 on board
    9. What are the procedures in case of an emergancy?

    Here at Mermaids Xtreme we in association with Mermaids Jomtian run 3 boats every day. The equipment is maintained by our resident Technical Director and staff who are fully ASSET certified and our technical director is the only ASSET certified instructor outside of the UK. Compressors filters are changed as specified by the compressor manufactor or more often as needed. It really depends on hours of use. Our shops are fully insured. We maintain both medical grade O2 and fully stocked first aid kits as well as Vinegar in case of jelly fish stings. Our emergency procedures depend on the emergency however our shop is staffed by 2 Thai's that are fully fluent in english and in case of emergency they are notified by phone and make all neccessary arrangements to include speed boats if that is what is required. No boats ever leave a site until ALL divers are accounted for. If we leave the dock with 10 divers we return with 10 divers.

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