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Where to Take a Padi Open Water Scuba Diving Course in Thailand
Andy Burrows asked:
Ever wonder what it would be like to jump into the water and look around 40m below the surface? The underwater world is mysterious and yet inviting, the experience of diving it provides and addictive sense of zen. There’s no better place to have your first dive experience than Thailand – with good conditions year round.
Most dive shops in Thailand offer PADI certification but it’s also possible to find a few offering NAUI and SSI certifications. Beginners may be more comfortable diving in the calmer and shallower waters off the east coast of Thailand, with destinations such as Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Koh Samet or Koh Chang being the most popular on that side.
More advanced divers and those beginners who are confident in their abilities will have a better time diving around Phuket and the Similan Islands. Hotspots for diving around here include Phuket, Phi Phi and Khao Lak.
Phuket has the most upscale dive operations but if you are watching your budget, you might be more comfortable taking a course at Phi Phi or Khao Lak. Phi Phi is quite popular among the younger crowd but there are hotels catering to older couples and families, which also offer scuba diving courses. Khao Lak offers an excellent choice of dive shops and also has a good range of accommodation to suit most tastes. It is also the closest jumping off point to the Similan Islands.
The Similan Islands, technically located in Phang Nga province, provide some of the best dive sites in the world. Protected within a marine national park, the nine islands are still pristine and rich with wildlife above and below the water. Most dive operators will take you ashore at one of the islands, where you can enjoy the powder-white beaches and see exotic birds and monkeys.
Under the waves, the colourful reefs and boulder formations are teeming with coral and a variety of marine life. Sometimes whale sharks are even spotted in the waters, as well as rays and other sharks. Visibility is good, varying from 30-50m. The best way to see the Similans is by liveaboard, and most dive operators will allow you to do your Open Water dives from the boat if you’ve completed the paper and pool work ashore beforehand.
Much like Phi Phi, Koh Tao is a fun place for backpackers to learn how to scuba dive. This may well be the most affordable place in Thailand to take a PADI Open Water course and to build up your dive log. Unfortunately it’s not the best diving in Thailand – but it’s not yet the worst either. Koh Tao used to offer frequent whale shark sightings but they are relatively rare these days. It’s also conveniently close (2 hours by speed boat) to Samui. In fact you can do diving courses on Samui too.
The number of dive boats on a site is not restricted, so you may find there is too much company around peak dive times. You may find yourself surrounded by 50 to 100 divers at a time, with most of them being Open Water students or day trippers from Samui.
Needless to say, Koh Tao might be great for learning and for progressing to instructor – but it’s not all that great for just recreational diving. Many people come here specifically to advance through courses and proceed with PADI Advanced, Rescue Diver, Dive Master/Master Scuba Diver and Instructor courses.
There are so many choices on Koh Tao that you should look carefully at each dive shop and make sure they offer you the best value for money.
Not all dive instructors are the same, and some are downright scary. Likewise, equipment standards can vary, and you’ll want to make sure any shop you choose has quality equipment and maintains it properly and hygienically. You should also check into the insurance policy of the dive shop and enquire as to if you should purchase your own dive insurance for the hyperbaric chamber if you have an accident.
Most the dive operations in Thailand are run by foreigners, which is just as well since Thais have a rather different approach to safety and responsibility, but you’ll find yourself diving with plenty of Thai staff who are their usual friendly easy-going selves.
A Career In Scuba Diving
Tony Jacowski asked:
What Is Scuba Diving?
Scuba is an acronym for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”. This originated from the term used for the US military re-breather sets, used by naval divers. It is independent breathing equipment, complete with an oxygen supply that allows divers to remain underwater for longer periods of time.
Who Can Be A Scuba Diver?
Working as a scuba diver is contrary to the regular nine to five office job. Anyone who has a penchant for diving can be a scuba diver. The following are points you need to take into consideration, before you decide on becoming a scuba diver:
Scuba Diving Is Used In The Following Jobs:
Underwater Construction - Scuba diving is used for underwater construction such as bridges, oil platforms, dams, docks, nuclear power plants and other coastal structures.
Underwater Archeology and Underwater Experiments - These jobs involve scientific inspection and survey - also known as scientific diving.
Military- The military uses scuba divers for naval ship construction and repair. They also include specialized diving divisions like combatant divers and explosives ordnance disposal.
Initially, scuba diving was intended only for scientific and military use. Now, it has become one of the most popular recreational water sports. Instead of pursuing scuba diving as a job, you can practice it as a hobby. You can use scuba diving skills for search and recovery, fish identification and underwater photography.
However, since scuba diving is a fairly dangerous sport, experts recommend taking the necessary lessons and certifications seriously before pursuing the sport as a hobby.
Requirements
An individual should not at least 15 years old to acquire the open water diver certification. They should be in good health and should be able to swim about 200 yards with any stroke, and tread or float on water for more than ten minutes.
Scuba Diving Certification
Scuba School International, PADI, YMCA, NAUI and PDIC are some of the biggest and most popular scuba diving certification agencies. They offer the best training instructors and scuba courses available. Junior Open Water Diver Certifications are also available for children between 10 and 15, by agencies such as SASY Scuba rangers and Bubble-makers.
Today, anyone who has a genuine interest and the required sound health can opt for scuba diving as a profession. It can turn out to be more of an adventure spree than a vocation. If that is what you have in mind, scuba diving is just the job for you. Go ahead and “dive in”.
Scuba Diving in the Maldives – Thila’s, Atolls and so Much More!
Scubaworld asked:
Many of the worlds top diving destinations claim to offer a truly unique form of diving, however few are able to substantiate it as easily as the Maldives. From the moment you first enter the water in the Maldives, you are surrounded by an almost magical underwater kingdom. A myriad of colourful reef fish, incredible corals exist alongside a wide variety of larger marine life including manta rays, whale sharks and many, many others. In fact, it is estimated that over 26 different types of shark can be found in the dive sites in the Maldives including the whale shark, the tiger shark and the hammerhead shark.
It is the unique geography of the Maldives that allows it to offer such incredible diving. The tops of an ancient submerged mountain range, the coral reefs and atolls of the Maldives now stretch across some 500 miles of the Indian Ocean from north to south.
The scuba diving in the Maldives tends to fall into two distinct categories, kandu diving and thila diving. Thila diving tends to focus around large coral formations or reefs which top out just under the surface of the water. These thilas allow divers the opportunity to dive or drift with the currents across and around these large reefs, often providing spectacular views of the prolific marine life and coral formations just below the surface. There are a number of excellent dive sites in the Maldives, which offer this thila type of diving. Some of the better known thila dives include Maaya Thila on North Ari Atoll, and Okobe Thila, together with its resident population of huge Napoleon wrasse.
The second type of diving for which the Maldives is well known is kandu diving, where divers can drift with the currents along the channels between the islands or reefs. In a typical kandu dive, the divers will enter the water just outside of the lagoon, allowing the currents to carry them into the calmer waters to be found inside of the atoll. With these currents drawing nutrient rich water into these channels from the open ocean, these kandu dives often provide the best opportunities to spot the various species of rays, sharks and other pelagic marine life which can be found throughout the waters of the Maldives.
Marine life throughout the Maldives is prolific, with an incredible array of tropical reef fish to be found throughout the region. Bannerfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish and surgeonfish mingle easily with the larger Napoleon wrasse and triggerfish which can be found here. Fans of the larger marine life will also find rich pickings in the waters surrounding the Maldives, and a wide variety of sharks and rays can be found throughout the hundreds of beautiful dive sites in the Maldives.
The climate in the Maldives does vary slightly between the north and the south atolls, with the Northern regions experiencing more extreme temperatures, and the southern atolls experiencing a slightly heavier average rainfall throughout the year. Water temperatures in the Maldives tend to remain consistent, ranging from 27 degrees to as warm as 30 degrees. The region experiences two monsoon seasons, which run from December to March, when the Maldives experience the warmer prevailing winds, and the wetter monsoon season which runs from May through to November.
If you are considering diving in the Maldives, it is highly likely that your resort will have an affiliated dive centre on the island. Recent years have seen an increase in the reputation of the region as one of the worlds best dive sites, and today there is a highly developed and extensive network of dive centres in the Maldives.
A Career In Scuba Diving
Tony Jacowski asked:
What Is Scuba Diving?
What Is Scuba Diving?
Scuba is an acronym for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”. This originated from the term used for the US military re-breather sets, used by naval divers. It is independent breathing equipment, complete with an oxygen supply that allows divers to remain underwater for longer periods of time.
Who Can Be A Scuba Diver?
Working as a scuba diver is contrary to the regular nine to five office job. Anyone who has a penchant for diving can be a scuba diver. The following are points you need to take into consideration, before you decide on becoming a scuba diver:
Scuba Diving Is Used In The Following Jobs:
Underwater Construction - Scuba diving is used for underwater construction such as bridges, oil platforms, dams, docks, nuclear power plants and other coastal structures.
Underwater Archeology and Underwater Experiments - These jobs involve scientific inspection and survey - also known as scientific diving.
Military- The military uses scuba divers for naval ship construction and repair. They also include specialized diving divisions like combatant divers and explosives ordnance disposal.
Initially, scuba diving was intended only for scientific and military use. Now, it has become one of the most popular recreational water sports. Instead of pursuing scuba diving as a job, you can practice it as a hobby. You can use scuba diving skills for search and recovery, fish identification and underwater photography.
However, since scuba diving is a fairly dangerous sport, experts recommend taking the necessary lessons and certifications seriously before pursuing the sport as a hobby.
Requirements
An individual should not at least 15 years old to acquire the open water diver certification. They should be in good health and should be able to swim about 200 yards with any stroke, and tread or float on water for more than ten minutes.
Scuba Diving Certification
Scuba School International, PADI, YMCA, NAUI and PDIC are some of the biggest and most popular scuba diving certification agencies. They offer the best training instructors and scuba courses available. Junior Open Water Diver Certifications are also available for children between 10 and 15, by agencies such as SASY Scuba rangers and Bubble-makers.
Today, anyone who has a genuine interest and the required sound health can opt for scuba diving as a profession. It can turn out to be more of an adventure spree than a vocation. If that is what you have in mind, scuba diving is just the job for you. Go ahead and “dive in”.
