I had planned to be going to the Philippines, but due to a Coronavirus travel ban that went into effect the day I was leaving the US, I instead found myself on a plane to Thailand with no idea where I was going or plans for when I got there. During my flight, I began my research so I would have a game plan when I landed in Bangkok. I came across Steven on the scubaboard forums, and he was extremely helpful in offering advice for my last second trip to the area. Because of this, I booked my land based diving through him and have no regrets.
First off, if you don't know how the land based diving works, it's very unlike anywhere I've ever dove. Whomever you book your diving with, they basically book you on a cattle boat with 30-50 other divers. It sounds absolutely terrible, but, to be honest, it really wasn't. The boats are HUGE, have multiple levels, and most of them offer plenty of room to spread out. The dive deck can get a bit crowded right before everyone jumps in, but everyone is assigned a spot, and it's really not that bad at all. The dive op you book through will assign you a dive guide, and you will be with that dive guide for each dive on that trip. So, on any one of these huge boats, there will be people from several different dive ops. After six days of full day dive trips, I never saw a guide with more than 5 divers, though. Nearly all of them were 1-3, with a couple of 4's. Only once did I see a guide with 5. So, while there may be 40 divers on the boat, around 1/3 of them are guides. And, most dive sites are large and spread out enough so that everyone isn't on top of each other. The only times this became an issue is on wall dives, and understandably so, because... well... There's nowhere else for everyone to go. Very few of the dives were like that, though, so no worries.
Anyway, now that I've explained how it works, here's why to book with Steven. Not only are his prices more than reasonable, but he will be sure you get what you are wanting out of the trip, and knows all of the various operations in the area like nobody else. He also went above and beyond on many occasions for me. After my last second destination pivot and travles, my head was apparently up my arse for a few days. One day, I somehow left my mask on one of the boats. He was able to get it from them and had it ready for me on the boat I was on the next morning. Forgot my dive watch in my room one day because I was charging it... No problem, as they provided a backup gauge for me.
Anyway, long story short, if you're looking to do some diving in the area (They also do liveaboard stuff too), get in touch with them. You won't regret it. Thanks again for all your help Steven.
