Diving in Pattaya
Pattaya offers year-round diving with a diverse selection of sites and excursions at comparatively low prices. A water temperature of around 28C all year round makes this a popular sport with both experts and beginners.
Many beginners come here especially to learn at one of the several five star diving centres for a fraction of the cost of the equivalent training in their home countries. Courses range from one to four days, depending upon the proficiency you wish to reach and the type of diving you wish to learn.
If you already have a proficiency certificate, a day’s diving will normally cost you just under 3000 baht with equipment supplied. Night diving with three dives will be about 3500 baht. Various options are also open for experienced divers, including specialist days as a boat diver, drift diver, underwater naturalist, underwater videographer, and also nitrox diving. These will cost 4500 baht for two dives and instruction.
Two day speciality dives available from Pattaya include deep diving, wreck diving, underwater photography and night diving. These are normally priced at around 8000 to 9000 baht for two days.
For the beginner or the intermediate diver who wants to learn or improve, PADI courses are readily available. An open water dive course over four days will get you your PADI certificate for around 14,000 baht ($350 or £200), with an advanced open water diver two day course at 12,000 baht with five dives. There are also day-long introductory dive classes if you are short on time.
A 21 day dive master course is around 28,000 baht, and some people stay on to teach diving at one of the centres, which are often keen to employ new instructors.
Pattaya dive sites
There is a large selection of diving sites within easy reach of Pattaya, and most boats leave from either Pattaya or Jomtien. The most convenient and popular areas to dive are around the various offshore islands only a few kilometres from the mainland. The islands further from the shore take longer to get to but tend to be a lot quieter and do not suffer from the speedboat and jet-ski traffic of the islands closer to Pattaya.
The main dive sites in the area include:-
Koh Sak: has two main sites starting in a sheltered bay so it’s ideal for beginners and those who have not dived for a while. There are lots of hard corals and fish in this shallow (12/14 metre) diving area.
Koh Larn: is the largest island near Pattaya. It is a popular day trip for tourists and there are therefore quite a few dive spots. Shark Point, as the name suggests, is the place to see young sharks as well as the odd turtle or cuttlefish with soft coral to 22 metres. Koh Larn Vak is most notable for a half built restaurant which was so badly sited that it sank during its construction, leaving some interesting small caves and new coral on the concrete. Golden Bay also on Koh Larn is a multi-purpose dive site with a deep drop off to around 50 metres and coral down to about 25 metres. Some very good hard coral at between 7 and 10 metres provides some intriguing diving.
Koh Krok: is a small island on a tidal flow and is ideal for drift diving.
Koh Rin: is one of the ‘far islands’ situated about 15 kilometres off Pattaya and which takes 90 minutes or so to get to. It has three main dive sites; the one at Koh Rin Bay being a relaxing dive away from currents, while Hin Ton Mai and Hin Khao (Northern and Southern Rocks) are very popular for the diverse variety of fish and coral.
Koh Man Wichai: is another ‘far island’ and is a favourite with returning diving visitors. The two excellent dives here bring many people back year after year with a variety of environment in each dive. The nearby Koh Hu Chang is a tiny island with good coral and a profusion of small fish, with a relaxing 10 metre depth.
Koh Phai: or Bamboo Island is controlled by the Royal Thai Navy, who restricts the use of the beaches, but the small sheltered bay at the south of the island is ideal for beginners.
Samae San: and the surrounding sites have some of the best diving in the region. The Hardeep Wreck of a freighter that sunk in 1943 is the reason why most divers come to this site, but at 27 metres it is not one for beginners. There are two very pleasant coral dives nearby.
Koh Chuang: near Koh Chan and Submarine Rock, provide three areas of diving interest not far from Samae San, with different corals and fish at each site.
Diving Centres
There are many diving centres on the Eastern seaboard and in Pattaya itself. Examples are:
Aquanauts Diving: is a PADI 5 star company offering courses, day and night dives, and overnight trips in their own large boat. 437/17 Moo6, Soi Yodsak, Beach Road, Pattaya, Chonburi 20280, Tel: 038 361 724, Fax: 038 412 097, Email: info@aquanautsdive.com Contact form.
Mermaid’s Scuba Diving: in Jomtien is also a PADI 5 star centre with its own boat and qualified professional on board every trip. Jomtien Beach Road 75/124 Moo12, Nongprue, Chonburi 20260, Tel: 038 232 219, 232 220, Mobile: 086 143 5547, Fax: 038 232 221, Email: pjscuba@gmail.com
Moose Diver: also in Jomtien, has roughly the same pricing structure and they speak English, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai. Tel: 03-823-1874. email: scubamos@loxinfo.co.th
Pattaya Dive Centre: on Beach Road, Central Pattaya is a five star IDC operation, with professionals on each trip aboard the Lady-go-diver the only fast catamaran dive boat.. Tel: 03-871-0918. e-mail info@divecentrepattaya.com
Updated and correct: November 2008
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The main famous dive sites of Thailand are well documented on greatestdivesites.com along with diving resources.
