BootsnAll Travel Community

Two questions regarding SCUBA diving in SEA, knowing I'm traveling solo and I am PADI Adv. Open Water certified.

What/how would you recommend to go diving? Specifically, am I going to be able to find group dives to join? or am I going to need to hire a private guide/DM? also just importantly what should I expect cost wise? the reason I'm asking all this is I'm trying to define my budget a bit better.

FWIW, I do NOT want to take a class, I've taken enough of those over the years and I don't relish the idea of paying a private guide...

Finally suggestions on where to dive would be appreciated too. I'll be all over SEA for 6 months. I might add Indo/Malaysia and Bali to the itenerary, but right now I'm not planning on going south of Thailand.

In Koh Tao, there are plenty of group fun dives. Most of the dive centers offer several dives a day. I don't remember the prices off the top of my head.

You shouldn't have a problem diving. Most people do seem to be traveling with their dive buddies, but on our dives it looked like shops either paired single divers with other single divers (which is not always a great option) or a DM was assigned as a buddy at no extra charge. I've only ever dived in Malaysia and around Bali and 2 dives averaged $50 a day with gear rental in both places, with the least I ever spent $40 and the most $60 (Sipadan being a HUGE exception).

As to where to dive, I've always heard that in Thailand the Andaman Sea is better than the Gulf and I thoroughly enjoyed my two snorkel liveaboards in the Similans. If you're an experienced diver and have a bit of money to splurge on - Sipadan is worth it and it's not that hard to get there from Thailand.

in koh tao there are heaps of dive schools and you just rock up and show your PADI certification and they'll send you out on the boat for a fun dive. cost was pretty standard at 1000 baht a dive.

If you do end up adding Indonesia to your itinerary, I think you'll be really happy with the diving in Bali, especially on the east coast near Candidasa and Padangbai. The diving there is very laid back and my girlfriend and I met several solo divers who never had problems any problems getting dives in. A lot of the better dive spots in the area are accessed by boat, so all the companies care about are how many people are on the boat (usually at least two, more often four if it's a longer boat ride).

I can't say enough good things about diving there. We used Geko Dive based out of Padangbai and highly recommend them (ask for Sue Jarvis, she is the lead Dive Master). Our highlight was definitely diving Manta Point off the island of Nusa Penida. We dove it a total of 3 times, and each dive we saw manta rays; not just one or two mind you, but usually 10-15 at a time. It was an incredible experience. This dive is one of the more expensive dives as it is a 1 hour boat ride from Padangbai costing $75US, but this includes food/drink and two tank dives. Most other dives in the area cost in the neighborhood of $50US. If you feel competent enough, some dive shops in the area will just rent you the gear and tanks for about $15US and you can do some shore dives without paying for a guide (though certainly dive with a buddy).

Good luck...