We are going on our honeymoon in mid December. We were planning to stay 5 days in the Phuket/Phi phi area and take a diving course which I understand lasts 4 days. Then we thought of going to the Koh Samui area for another 4 days, and use our new diving certifications in Koh Tao.
1. Is Phi Phi a good place to take the course?
2. Which hotel would you recommend considering that we are in a honeymoon, but also that we probably need to have easy access to where the classes are.
3. Is Koh Tao good for diving in late December/early January?

Please! Any suggestions would be great!!!

5 days is quite tight because you should leave it 24 hours from your last dive before flying. Also, every extra person being tutored in the group means that each of the lessons takes longer. I learnt in Borneo 2 years ago on a 1-1 basis and it took me 5 days. You may well get very exposed to the sun whilst doing your shallow water stuff and will want a break from the sun otherwise it can get very uncomfortable. You are also required (if doing the PADI openwater) to do a certain amount of classroom work and reading between lessons.

I would give yourself a week and enjoy yourself

Alternativey arrange to do part of the course (the classroom stuff and shallowdives) at home, and do the second part in Thailand - you'll easilly fit it in then. You just need to make sure you start the same course at home that you can finish in Thailand. The PADI openwater diving course is very popular.

I agree that 5 days is too short a time to do a certification course, if you also want to relax and enjoy yourself. If you aren't too crazed with pre-wedding stuff this fall, you might consider doing the classroom/pool part of the course at home, and then just doing the check-out/certification dives in Thailand (which would take about 2 days).

Excellent. We will find out about all the classroom and theory from here so that we'll have more time to enjoy the actual diving there. Do you know if Phi Phi Island is a good place to take the course in December? Any suggestions for hotels?
Thanks

Phi Phi would be fine weatherwise but at that time of year Koh Tao won't have such good weather, so I would stay around the area. You can find lots of Dive Courses on

www.phuketgazette.net

If you want a friendly budget place on Phi Phi try Charlie's, a/c cabins available, it's fairly basic but comfortable and I 'think' they actually do some Dive Courses from Charlie's itself.

Yes I just checked Charlie's do PADI courses for Beginners. Room should be about $50-50 a night, they have 'rooms' or bungalow cabins on the beach. There are plenty of more expensive places like PP Island Village Resort, Princes resort, or if you want top Dollar then Zeavola. Try Phuket Travelreporter for photos of those places and reviews

Great, I will check out those places.
That's too bad that the whether is not so good in Koh Tao in late December. I heard it's the best place for diving!
So we should not even try to go to the Koh Samui/Koh Tao area at all? Where should we spend New Years if we want to have some fun? I was thinking Koh Samui... but now... Not too sure

Definately agree with suggestion to try and get some of the course out of the way at home. I'd also go so far as to suggest that you try and at least get into a pool at least once with a regulator. Breathing with a regulator requires a somewhat exagerrated and heavier breathing motion then what most people are used to.

It took me at least a couple of times in the pool, when I took my certification course, to feel comfortable using the gear.

As indicated, you'll need to make sure you have at least a 24 hour break from diving before you return home. Your body will need to time to readjust from the impact of repetitive dives on the nitrogen levels in your blood.

In terms of Phuket, there is some excellant diving in the nearby Similan Islands. But, from what I recall, most trips are of the overnight variety. I believe if you go to www.phuket.com there is a list of dive sites and dive companies. I'm sure most will be able to provide transportation to/from.

PS. Good luck.

nstroh....i also agree with doing your pool and classroom work at home. find a PADI 5* dive store in your area...you will be part of your local dive community when you return from Thailand.
I am an instructor and will be diving
koh phangan and koh tao in october...and will post my experiences when i return.
have fun diving

Thank you all for your help! That's what we'll do!

Guys, I looked into taking the classes/pool at home (in New York), and it costs $250 just for that, plus the basic equipment and the book, which costs about $80). Then we will anyway have to pay for the open water part of the course in Thailand. Do you think it's worth it? Is it much cheaper to just do the whole thing in Thailand? Because if that is the case, we could arrange our island trip so that we will have more time... (sorry for the long message... but need advice!)