PADI Open Water, Advanced and Divemaster Courses in Ranong
Learning to dive is one thing. Learning to dive while exploring some of Thailand’s most beautiful dive sites is another entirely.
At The Smiling Seahorse, we have always enjoyed combining dive training with the experience of a liveaboard expedition. For divers with limited time, this can be a particularly rewarding way to complete their training while enjoying a proper diving holiday rather than spending the whole trip in a classroom or confined to a local training site.
Cam’s PADI Open Water Course in Ranong
Cam took her PADI Open Water course with us because her holidays were time limited. She first learned about the theory through PADI e-learning, which allowed her to complete an important part of her training before arriving in Thailand.
Once in Ranong, she practised her skills in the safety of a swimming pool with her instructor. After completing the necessary confined-water training, she was ready to put her new skills into practice in the sea.
Rather than spending the rest of her holiday around a swimming pool or training site, Cam could then join all of the dives on our Best of Thailand cruise.
The itinerary took her through some of the Andaman Sea’s best-known dive destinations, including the Surin Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and the famous Richelieu Rock.
It is a great example of how a liveaboard trip can turn a diving course into a much bigger adventure: learning the fundamentals in a controlled environment, then gaining experience in the open water while travelling between some of Thailand’s most interesting dive sites.
From PADI Open Water to Advanced Open Water
Elmar also took advantage of one of our 3 days / 3 nights “Best of Thailand” cruise to improve his skills through a PADI Advanced course.
He booked his course before boarding the MV Thai Sea from Koh Payam, and his Advanced Open Water book was already waiting for him onboard in German. This meant that his training could continue while he was enjoying the cruise, with the different dives providing the perfect environment to put his newly acquired skills into practice.
One of the highlights for Elmar was his deep dive exercise. While concentrating on his training, he had a rather impressive visitor: a manta ray flew over him during his deep dive!
That is one of the great advantages of combining advanced training with a liveaboard expedition. The exercises are not simply theoretical or repetitive training dives. You can work on your skills while surrounded by the marine life and underwater landscapes that make diving in the Andaman Sea so special.
Starting a Career in Diving
For some divers, recreational training is only the beginning.
Olivier was taking the next step, completing his Divemaster course over a three-week period with The Smiling Seahorse. His training combined time onboard our cruises with practical experience on land, allowing him to discover the skills, knowledge and responsibilities required to start a career as a dive professional.
Working towards Divemaster is a very different experience from simply completing another recreational certification. It is an opportunity to develop a much deeper understanding of diving, from helping divers and preparing equipment to learning how a professional dive operation works and gaining experience in real-world conditions.
Spending several weeks with a liveaboard operation also gives aspiring professionals the chance to experience the rhythm of a working dive boat and life around diving day after day.
Learn to Dive While Exploring Thailand and Myanmar
Want to take a dive course while discovering some of the best diving in the Andaman Sea?
The Smiling Seahorse offers the opportunity to combine dive training with a liveaboard adventure, allowing you to complete your course while exploring tropical reefs, pinnacles, walls and marine life rather than separating your training and holiday into two completely different experiences.
Depending on your certification and the course you choose, training can be combined with cruises exploring the marine parks and dive sites of Thailand, including the Surin Islands, Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.
For a longer expedition, you can also combine diving education with an exploration of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar, with cruises exploring some of the remote islands and dive sites of the Andaman Sea.
You can even combine a dive course with the experience of a genuine multi-day diving expedition. Instead of completing your training and then going on holiday afterwards, your certification becomes part of the adventure itself.
Why Combine Dive Training with a Liveaboard?
A liveaboard gives you something that is difficult to reproduce with a conventional shore-based course: time in the water.
After completing the initial theory and confined-water exercises, you can continue developing your skills over several days of diving. Repeating important techniques in different environments helps you become more comfortable underwater while giving you the opportunity to experience a variety of dive sites.
You may be learning buoyancy, navigation, deep-diving procedures or other new skills, but between the exercises there is still plenty of time to simply enjoy being underwater and discover the marine life of the Andaman Sea.
For new divers, it can also be a memorable introduction to the world of scuba diving. Your first certified dives are not necessarily limited to a local training site: they can take place among tropical reefs, schools of fish and some of the region’s famous underwater landscapes.
From Your First Dive to a Career Underwater
Whether you are taking your very first steps with a PADI Open Water course, looking to continue your education with an Advanced course, or preparing for a career as a Divemaster, combining training with a liveaboard cruise can give you the opportunity to learn while travelling and diving.
From the sheltered waters used for initial skills training to the deeper and more adventurous dive sites of Thailand and Myanmar, each stage can become part of a much larger diving experience.
