Diving in Pattaya: the best places, tips and reviews from tourists

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Thailand is currently one of the best places to dive: colorful coral reefs, a wide range of courses and dive centers, and most importantly - warm water. No need to wear a huge wetsuit, as you can always dive even in a swimsuit. And one of the most popular places for diving is Pattaya, where the conditions are most favorable for this activity.

Offers

This city offers underwater activities for both beginners and experienced divers who have seen a lot. Thailand is surrounded by two life-rich waters - the Gulf of Thailand (Thai), belonging to the Andaman Sea, part of the Indian Ocean, in its southwest.

There is a full range of underwater activities along 3,220 km of coastline: World War II shipwrecks, complex cave systems, rock cliffs, hundreds of islands with distinctive continental and oceanic features.

Here is an amazingly diverse underwater world - diving inPattaya is the best place that offers some of the most exciting dives in the world. There is an excellent infrastructure for tourists, which means that many departments have been prepared specifically for the needs of divers. Hundreds of companies providing such conditions are forced to compete simultaneously on the parameters of price, quality and specialization in diving: from the training of non-professionals to diving safaris to professional dives.

Pattaya. Dive features

When understanding how much diving in Pattaya costs, it should be borne in mind that the price will vary greatly from the chosen company and area. The city itself is about 150 km south of Bangkok and is famous for its events and sex tourism. But even in such a place, there are interesting places to visit, and some of them are under the surface of the water.

It is worth paying attention to the outskirts of the city: they are famous for sunken ships, of which there are several. In addition to them, there are two groups of islands: near and far. Dives are generally shallow (with the exception of wrecks) and are a great place to start diving. For example, taking part in special programs. There are many of them, according to reviews of diving in Pattaya. They are intended for individuals who have never had anything to do with immersion.

Pattaya is not an ideal place to get exactly the first experience, but despite some shortcomings, here you can survivegreat moments, as evidenced by the growing number of tourists who visit this place every year, and their number has already exceeded 6 million. The city is less than 2 hours drive from Bangkok, which makes some people come to the diving centers in Pattaya to dive and return to their hotel in the Thai capital at the end of the day.

Main Areas

Diving in Thailand is organized in several main areas:

Koh Tao is a mecca for learning to dive in the southern islands of the Gulf of Thailand.
Pattaya, near Bangkok - the best wreck dive in Thailand.
Phuket, west coast is the best for beginners in the Andaman Islands, the Similan Islands are popular, and Burma is also a snorkeling destination.

Where is the best place to dive?

Let's start with the fact that one of the most popular diving sites is Koh Phi Phi. Very often, tourists go diving in Pattaya between events. In this regard, many of the places have become almost white with dying reefs. Unfortunately, a lot of tourists stand on the coral and take away its fragments, and the Thais' concern for the protection of coral reefs is rather small, and local guides do not pay the attention of tourists to such a problem. In addition, liters of suntan cream lying on the surface of the water do not help the restoration of coral reefs at all.

Mecca for those who want to dive into the waters in Thailand - Koh Tao - it's cheap there, because there is a largecompetition. 800 baht, not 3.5-4 thousand, as in other regions. Of course, service does not always go hand in hand with high quality. It's also a big plus that many dive shops in the area offer free accommodation for their customers - a very attractive hostel.

How is this happening?

Typically there can be up to 8 people in a group on diving courses in Pattaya - now it's worth imagining a group of 8 people who have never dived with equipment in the sea and spent 2 hours in a shallow pool training the day before. Now all of a sudden they have to go down to a depth of 10 meters and stay there for a while. Such people can easily panic underwater (and there is a risk that the fish will tear the pipe out of its mouth with its fin or the mask will fall off the face). However, the worst thing a novice diver can then do is to instantly resurface the water, as this can lead to, among other things, bruising and ruptured lungs and decompression (which in extreme cases can be fatal). It is worth considering whether a newcomer will feel safe?

Dive safety

According to reviews, in Pattaya in the park "Beach" diving dive sessions, for example, are very short. Now it's clear why? At the same time, the dive lasts at least 20 minutes. Because of this, to save time and money, many instructors give their students enough time to prepare. This condition will be different in different centers, and it is worth clarifying this point in advance. And due to its location, the season in this citylasts almost the whole year.

Why go diving in Pattaya?

Thailand now hosts a full range of sea creatures, from tiny seahorses that are often less than one centimeter long, to huge whale sharks that grow up to 12-14 meters. Of course, the chances of underwater encounters with dream fish depend on the place and time of the dive. Of course, among the big fish there are chances to see reef sharks, they are big, especially on the west coast of Thailand. Whale sharks sometimes appear both on the western side and in the Koh Tao area, and meeting with them means that a lot of luck smiled at a person. As a rule, these large sharks are not dangerous, they feed exclusively on plankton, and their peaceful nature and curiosity for divers make it very common to admire them from close range.

Best Season

In addition, temperature fluctuations and the development of plankton in the months of January-May, on the one hand, cause a deterioration in visibility, but on the other hand, increases the chances of meeting other interesting creatures. This is the most favorable season for diving. So, according to the photo of diving in Pattaya, you can see that a person can see octopus, cuttlefish and seahorses at close range. Such small creatures as: seahorses, snails, can be found in the largest assortment on Richelieu Rock. Octopuses, cuttlefish, sea snakes and flocks of barracuda and tuna can be observed almost everywhere. Regardless of the fish themselves, another reason that attracts divers in Thailand is underwaterlandscapes.

Unusual huge granite blocks of rocks form underwater labyrinths that attract dozens of sea creatures. Together with the ships sunken in the Pattaya area, this is a truly impressive sight, judging by the reviews. But do not forget that an interesting place for diving is the Siam Ocean World aquarium in Bangkok in the Siam Paragon shopping center, where you can swim with sharks.

Reviews

Reviews, as a rule, about diving in the water in this city are the most positive. As tourists say, an underwater excursion in Pattaya and the surrounding area is unforgettable, there is a beautiful view. Divers noted interesting boat cruises, foot massages, temples, a market on rails, a death railway. All this perfectly complemented diving in the water, so if you want everything at once - Pattaya is the perfect choice for relaxation.

Two ships that the Thai navy sank once have acquired new life. The dives on the reef are wonderful, and with them the wonderful views of living creatures swimming above the corals. Tourists lost count of the number of turtles they saw there. Someone was also impressed with the way the trainer managed the novice divers - super attentive, with clear instructions and concern for safety. The snorkeling equipment was also in great shape, according to reviews. This is basically the biggest criticism of many diving companies, but this equipment in Pattaya was in the best condition.

At the same time, a number of tourists commented that Pattaya's underwater scene was not more exciting than they expected, and yet it was a very good experience. It was a dive into the unknown. Also, someone noted that there were too many newcomers for one coach, and this was somewhat scary, however, everything went well.