Beginner divers and South East Asia

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samo_15
samo_15

Me and my girlfriend are planning a 6 month long trip to South East asia starting in February. Neither of us have dived before, but we are both going to do the PADI open water diver certification...In your experience is this enough to feel confident diving?

First off, in South East Asia are most dives done in groups, or is it simply a case of hiring the gear and off you go? Secondly, after completing the course which includes 4 open water dives, we will not have a chance to dive again before travelling? Does anyone know if there will be any sites suitable for relative beginers to the diving scene!?

Thanks guys!

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quero
quero

It sounds like you plan to get certified at home before you begin your travels; is that right? Is there some way you could move your certification up to do it now so that you can take advantage of the summer months to get a little fun diving in (and increase your confidence) before you get on a plane to come here? In England in winter the conditions under which you will do dive training are not such that you'll be spending a lot of time practicing diving (touring underwater) which is what really helps you feel comfortable and confident as a diver.

In terms of your specific questions about SE Asia, there's lots of easy diving and there's some challenging diving. As long as you let your dive op know what your experience level is, you will be steered towards the easier dives. In most cases in SE Asia you will be accompanied by a divemaster. This is almost always the case when the dives are done from boats. If there are shore diving options at a house reef and you are not happy to do these on your own as a buddy pair, you can always hire a DM to go along with you. Thailand's Andaman coast is a great place to come for easy-for-newbies diving during the winter months. In the summer try the islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Malaysia and Bali's northeast coast.

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wershwie
wershwie

Hi!

Check out the Philippines :) We've got a lot of diving to offer, and February is actually a really good time to come over. There's one area, Anilao, that has a full range of diving options for you, and it's just 2hrs away from the main city! I'd be happy to go diving with you, even recommend my dive instructor if you plan on getting certified here.

Do swing by even for a couple of weeks of diving. You'll love it here :)

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eskil
eskil

Just some general advice:

  1. You will benefit in all aspects from getting the advanced course
  2. As novice divers you will have a better time diving with a dive master (and even though you are responsible to dive safe yourself, most divemaster will also keep an eye on you making sure you are not lost and dive unsafe), actually this is also generally true for experienced divers. The dive masters know the divesite (atleast if they have been staying there for a while) and they will show you the most interesting spots on the divesite and guide you back to the boat.
  3. Small groups are better than large groups.
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