Exped to Thailand - Advice??

[seamus48]

I'm taking a military diving expedition to Thailand in Feb 06. We are still trying to tie down (excuse the bad pun!) a suitable marine science/conservation project to undertake on behalf of the Natural History Museum, and have yet to identify the exact area we will be going to (area and project being inextricably linked.... doh!) I wonder does anyone have any idea how much we can expect to pay for a charter boat, up to 12 divers, for prob 2 x 6 day periods? Any genuine recommendations on good dive operators and local contacts are always welcome to help narrow down the planning research. Not looking for a liveaboard, just want to be able to access potential research sites.

Anybody have any useful gen??

[cgsac]

Hi there,
Dave Covey (ex Military) posts on the travel forum a lot. he'll be your man. Go back a apge or two and you'll find him there,

[cgsac]

Hi there,
Dave Covey (ex Military) posts on the travel forum a lot. he'll be your man he's based out there. Go back a page or two and you'll find him there,

[seamus48]

Hi there,
Dave Covey (ex Military) posts on the travel forum a lot. he'll be your man he's based out there. Go back a page or two and you'll find him there,


Many thanks... I found him as you suggested and have viewed his website. I will be getting in touch to see if we can work something out. But any other suggestions from others out there are always welcome !!

[Jo Brooks]

Have you looked at previous PXR reports? I only ask because I was a participant on an Army exped to Thailand (Similan and Surin Islands) in Oct/Nov 2002 and we hired a liveaboard for 2x4 day periods. The liveaboard operated out of Pattong. Without looking at my copy (which I can do if you would like me to) all of the prices and contact details are in there.

[seamus48]

Have been chasing PXRs from RAFSAA and they are sending me one from a RAF trip some years ago. Anything you have would be useful :-)

Have you looked at previous PXR reports? I only ask because I was a participant on an Army exped to Thailand (Similan and Surin Islands) in Oct/Nov 2002 and we hired a liveaboard for 2x4 day periods. The liveaboard operated out of Pattong. Without looking at my copy (which I can do if you would like me to) all of the prices and contact details are in there.

[jo brooks]

I dont have a full breakdown on costs, the best I could find is as follows;
14 divers for 1 x 4 day trip to Similan Islands and 1 x 3 day trip to Surin Islands was 2637.18 Euro deposit (30%) & 5202.41 Euro balance - I think the exchange rate at the time was 1.6 so your looking around ?4900.
We used <a href="http://www.phuketthailand.com/seahawk_divers/" >http://www.phuketthailand.com/seahawk_divers/</a> as the dive operator and I personally found them very friendly and efficient (they didnt mind when we replaced all the water in the fridge with crates of beer).
Perhaps you could look at the effects of the Tsunami as a project? After all these islands were involved.

[seamus48]

Jo, many thanks, I'll check it out!
Keep bubblin'....


I dont have a full breakdown on costs, the best I could find is as follows;
14 divers for 1 x 4 day trip to Similan Islands and 1 x 3 day trip to Surin Islands was 2637.18 Euro deposit (30%) & 5202.41 Euro balance - I think the exchange rate at the time was 1.6 so your looking around ?4900.
We used <a href="http://www.phuketthailand.com/seahawk_divers/" >http://www.phuketthailand.com/seahawk_divers/</a> as the dive operator and I personally found them very friendly and efficient (they didnt mind when we replaced all the water in the fridge with crates of beer).
Perhaps you could look at the effects of the Tsunami as a project? After all these islands were involved.