#69850 - 01/27/08 12:36 AM
Liveaboards In Phuket
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ECT
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Registered: 01/27/08
Posts: 1
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Hi
I arrive in Phuket around the 1st February.
Looking to do a Liveaboard Trip but the prices I am getting back are for rather large - understandably given that the boats are top spec and the companies running them are rather large.
I prefer diving with smaller concerns as have found them better value and the groups smaller and generally more fun. Has anyone recently done a liveaboard trip with a smaller company that they could recommend?
Thanks
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#69856 - 01/27/08 04:30 AM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: ECT]
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Quero
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Registered: 02/06/07
Posts: 13
Loc: Phuket, Thailand
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In order to give you a helpful answer, it would be useful to know bit more about what you are looking for in a boat and operator. Do you want a budget boat with lots of divers so that the social aspect is heightened? Do you prefer an op that has just one LOB? Or are you searching instead for a boat that carries just a few divers? Or maybe you need one offers some non-budget amenities like Nitrox and bathrooms attached to guest cabins?
There are many dozens of boats to choose from.
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#69858 - 01/27/08 06:40 AM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: Quero]
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HHHound
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Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 16
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Be aware the almost all in Thailand are not Aggressor and Mike Ball standards. There are a few nicer boats but for every nicer on there are a number of not nicer ones. I like Sea Bee's, but I like them in general as their day boat, Excalibur, is by far the best.
I do spent alot of time in Thailand but seems that I'm logging alot of Soi Bangla dives. I do like the long day trips where
where you make 4 dives with the last on a Night Dip at Koh Doc Mai. Makes for a short run back and then go for a taxi and you'll be a night crawler looking for a Bangla dive.
Quick Note from above:Or maybe you need one offers some non-budget amenities like Nitrox and bathrooms attached to guest cabins...
Please: NITROX IS NO A NOT BUDGET AMENITY! breathing enriched air on a liveaboard is a must. Firstly, Eanx is right for all that diving. Not even the long term res expert ((*&^^$%) will have a go at that one. AND.... You feel better. I have no problem with the 4 tank day trip but I find Nitor as sort of a secret weapon.... Breathing that much extra O/2 really does have a good effect on you! Because of a credential I have I'm allowed to maintain O/2 and I own a DAN Rescue Pak and a 5 pac training system, numerous O/2 tanks......
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#69870 - 01/27/08 11:44 PM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: HHHound]
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stevenl
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Registered: 03/10/05
Posts: 272
Loc: Kata, Phuket, Thailand
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Please: NITROX IS NO A NOT BUDGET AMENITY! breathing enriched air on a liveaboard is a must. Firstly, Eanx is right for all that diving. Not even the long term res expert ((*&^^$%) will have a go at that one.
4 dives on a daytrip though is a lot. Possible, but a lot.
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#70035 - 02/04/08 03:50 PM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: stevenl]
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HHHound
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Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 16
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Santana Does 4 tank trips.... Start out at Koh Pipi, Shark, Wreck and then the Night dive at Koh Doc Mai. Koh Doc Mai is a stellar night dive but it is a more complex dive for those new to night diving since it is a wall dive making bouyancy control and disorientation factors that are not as big an issue with dives where you depth is limited by a sea floor!
Now, those 4 tank days are great, a good day for 36% Eanx!
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#70039 - 02/04/08 07:56 PM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: HHHound]
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Quero
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Registered: 02/06/07
Posts: 13
Loc: Phuket, Thailand
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I also enjoy night dives at Koh Doc Mai, but at night I dive the west side where there is a large area with a bottom at shallow depths. Sometimes I dive that side in the daytime, too, especially in the afternoon when the east side is more in shadow.
For daytrips (regardless of whether they offer 2, 3, or 4 dives), getting Nitrox is not hard, but whether we like it or not, for many--actually most--LOBs, it's an extra that won't be found on budget-priced boats.
Edited by Quero (02/04/08 07:57 PM)
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#70045 - 02/04/08 10:56 PM
Re: Liveaboards In Phuket
[Re: Quero]
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stevenl
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Registered: 03/10/05
Posts: 272
Loc: Kata, Phuket, Thailand
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"Santana Does 4 tank trips."
No, they don't, they don't have their own daytrip boat. The trip you mention is the Sea Bees trip every Sunday (with the German divemasters you admire so much ;))
And on that boat Nitrox (normally 32) is available, just let the DC know in advance.
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