Free Nitrox on day trips

Our favourite Phuket day trip dive boat is MV Chocksomporn. Why?

• Small Groups: Max 20 divers. Lots of room on the dive deck. Space for everyone to sit onboard. Small dive groups based on experience level
• Experienced supervisors and guides: Full boat, safety and dive briefings. All dives guided by PADI divemasters
• Safety: All divers carry an SMB, full fiest aid kit on board plus emergency DAN O2, life jackets, fire extinguishers and all other legally required safety features.
• Service: Don't want to set up your gear, we'll do it for you.
• AC saloon: There is a big shaded upper deck plus plenty of room to sun bake but if you like to stay cool there is an AC saloon.
• Great food: and ots of it.
• Free soft drinks: Plus drinking water, tea, coffee, milo and snacks.
• Good transfers: By AC luxury minifans from your hotel to the boat. Fewer passengers means quicker transfers.
• Longer dives: Normally 60 minute dives but you can stay longer if your air allows. You won't be limited to 50 minutes like on the other boats.
• FREE Nitrox!!!: Nitrox 32 free to all certified divers. (If you are not certified you can take the PADI Nitrox specialty).

September on Patong Beach Phuket

These photos are just a few random snaps from my phone to show what is fairly typical low season weather in Phuket in September. I spent the day on Patong beach with my family yesterday from 11am until about 6pm. These photos were taken at around 1pm.

You can see that the weather was overcast and that there was a nice onshore breeze blowing. It was threatening to rain all day until about 3pm when the clouds cleared to blue sky. I could see that it was raining in the mountains behind Patong but we stayed dry on the beach.

Note the breaking waves and the red flags flying to warn against swimming. There was a rip current just off shore. That's normal at this time of year. In high season the sea is generally flat as the find comes from the east not the west.

I was surprised at how many people there were around Patong considering that September is one of the quieter months. Weekends are always busier because locals hit the beach and weekenders from KL, Singapore and Bangkok fly in but even so I remember that five or so years ago the beach would've been virtually empty in September.

Patong Beach in July

I took the two photos below on Patong beach yesterday lunchtime. Just to show that Phuket low season weather isn't always wet.

Thailand Liveaboards in June - Confirmed trips

The Junk under sail

The Junk has two liveaboard trips confirmed for next month (June).

Both trips dive at Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Phi Phi, Koh Haa and Racha Islands. This is the best diving possible in the Andaman sea at this time of year. Both trips depart from Phuket at 6pm on Saturday evening and return at 8am the following Friday. They are 6 night trips with 5 full days of diving.

Boat: The Junk
Dates: 16-22 June or 30 June-6 July
Diving at: Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Phi Phi and Koh Haa
Price: from US$1350 per diver

For more details or to book please contact us

Phuket Floods

Rathutid Rd, Patong - Floods every low season

Just a quick post about weather here at the moment because it seems to be what most people are interested in.

I  like to tell people that Phuket is an all year round destination, which it is. Usually when it rains in low season we get short sharp tropical downpours that clear quickly.

But it's not like that at the moment, in fact it feels like it's been raining non stop for weeks. Anyone who booked a holiday for the first two weeks of October is going home with less of a tan than when they arrived.

Thailand along with much of South East Asia is experiencing the worst rains for decades and it's causing severe flooding in much of central Thailand. As I write this the ancient city of Ayuthaya, north of Bangkok, is underwater and the floods have reached the outskirts of Bangkok, forcing families to flee their homes and businesses to close.

For anyone with an imminent holiday to Phuket I can tell you that Phuket is not underwater. There have been some flash floods in Patong beach and a couple of other areas. These happen every year and clear quickly. There have been some landslides which are troublesome to those of us that live here, causing traffic delays and pot holing the roads. But from a tourism point of view it's business as normal.

Today has been sunny all day so hopefully the weather Gods are smiling on us again.

What happens to Phuket Liveaboards in Low Season?

Dilok Shipyard Phuket

With the Similan liveaboard season running from late October until early May some may wonder what the boats do for the rest of the year.

Liveaboard owners are always looking for a way to earn some revenue during the low season. Every year we receive low season schedules for boats who plan to run trips throughout May-October to the Phi Phi Islands or the Racha Islands. These schedules are often wishful thinking because the boats struggle to find bookings are rarely run more than one or two trips. Diva Andaman has done well with her Racha and Phi Phi trips because they are short and they focus as much on non divers as divers. MV SaiMai has also had several low season charters, at just 6 guests maximum it easier to find enough guests to run. The Junk finds it harder to fill the boat for her low season 6 night trips.

The Junk has another unique way of earning her keep in low season. She has been rented out several times by film crews. She was used in the movie Shanghai which was filmed in Bangkok in 2008. She also starred in The Swiss Family Robinson and a documentary called Das Weisse Gold. This is a great deal for the Junk, production companies pay well and she normally gets a complete repaint out of it.

Some liveaboards are lucky enough to get chartered for the low season. This year Giamani was sailed round to Koh Samui where she was chartered by a group of tec divers. She is returning to Phuket now and will head straight into the ship yard for a spruce up before the Similan season starts.

In previous years Thailand liveaboards spent the Thai low season diving in Komodo or Manado. However with a change of Indonesian regulations, Thai flagged boats are no longer able to operate as liveaboards in Indo. Mermaid 1, Mermaid 2, Black Manta and Queen Scuba therefore all took the decision to leave Thailand and re flag as Indonesian liveaboards.

White Manta in Phuket Shipyard

Most boats just don't run in low season. They get put on the hard stand in Ratanachai or Dilok shipyards. It's a chance for the crews to take a well earned holiday. After 6 months of living aboard many of them go home to their families for a couple of months. Some go and get jobs in other countries. Dive crew go to Bali or Egypt. I know one Thai cook who is currently working on a liveaboard in the Maldives. It's a time for hiring and firing as some crew members quit never to return, some are fired and some are poached by rival boats.

About this time of year the shipyard work starts in earnest as the boats are prepared for the high season. For most that means engine maintenance and a paint job but some boats go through more extensive redesigns and improvements. Nautica has changed her Nitrox membrane system this year. Also, some boats are built, White Manta is new this season, and others change owners. Viking of the Orient will sail as MV Hallelujah this season.

Low season is when a lot of companies decide on their schedules for the next season and schedules tend to change a lot as full charter requests force changes. This year we are seeing an increase in shorter trips and also more emphasis on Surin only trips. MV Daranee is departing from her usual 4 day 4 night format and offering Surin or Similan trips instead. It will be interesting to see if it's popular. Fewer boats are scheduling Burma diving this year. Maybe because of the entry costs or maybe because the sharks have largely been fished out.