Do note that there are quite some theory to study and take in when you do your diving courses.
Hence, going to an island to complete the course in 3D2N or even 4D3N can be very tiring and not much time for leisure. Unless you're gonna spend a week on the island then maybe it'll be better.

Your schedule will be most likely be like this - wake up early, breakfast, practical skills, theory, lunch, skills, theory, dive, dinner, theory, sleep.

During mide, a few operators were offering 950 all in packages

Cool bro.. Ornate ghost pipefish right..? Its hard la to find those cretures in peninsular malaysia.. Zzz

Hows Tulamben..? Did you encounter strong current..? Did you go to US Liberty ship wreck..?

guys , im interested to do diving course this november?
i want to do open water diving course , but i heard there will be monsoon in perhentian , redang and tioman .
i m planning to do the course in sabah.
do any of you have go through the course for open water diving course at pulau gaya?

Taking open water course is one of the best decision I ever made. Yup, will be monsoon in east coast.
As far as I'm concern, there is only 1 resort operating in Pulau Gaya which is 5-star resort must be expensive for accommodation, unless your dive center will be based at KK.. why dont you do it in Mabul..? but air ticket to Tawau usually expensive... other options are island in southern Thai or island in Indonesia such as Pulau Weh, Acheh.

do u have any information centre based in kk? not planning to stay at pulau gaya .how much will be the total cost , i already go through most of the web , is it true cost will be around 1340 if at kk ?
tried inquiry for mabul , the flight tix almost double than kk , thats why i prefer kk now .
so what's the total budget require if in thai and indonesia?
prefer to be below 2k including accomodation , flight , and course

bro, 2k including flight, course and accomodation is gonna be tough to find

Since you are only doing in november, i would suggest a cheaper and a more beneficial alternative (in the long run)

Start taking your confined classes in KL in November. Slowly do it, spend some time in the pool and get your skill up. Wait till season starts and go to the east cost. With the budget you have, you can easily do your open water trip and 1 additional trip...

that's my 2 sen

try Sabah Divers in KK - they have good promotion, ask for Ms Peggy. the price is amazing! they will conduct the confined water in Pulau Sapi if not mistaken.

I had friends that did theirs with Sabah Divers, SDI, much cheaper. From their reviews, it was ok.

Also if you want mabul, check with mohan @ scubaholics. He can hook you up with a OW package for 1k at big john scuba (homestay).
http://scubaholicsanonymous.com/blog/?cat=7

This post has been edited by miuk: Jul 20 2012, 11:11 AM

RM1340 is reasonable price, course alone is around RM900, the rest are accom, meals, airport/boat transfer.. yup, the air tix to Tawau is expensive unless you got promo price.

RM2000 all in with flight is possible.
Let say, air ticket is RM300.
My friends took thier open water course in Pulau Weh, Acheh.. the course + accom (homestay/dorm) + return land transfer (airport-jetty-dive center) = RM1180.
Ferry return = RM25
Not include meals.. meals you can budget for RM30 max perday.. x 5 days = RM150
so total around RM1655 only.
they are NAUI certified not PADI** but if PADI should be the same price too..

This post has been edited by zaff1984: Jul 20 2012, 12:07 PM

i dont have long run time bro , the reason i can only do in november , signing off this november , im onboard a ship since august lastyear , contract end 1st november .
i m trying my best to do in november or december .i have to go back for long run by jan or maybe december .sadlife

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Added on July 20, 2012, 7:21 pmwho is ms peggy? can please forward me to her?

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Added on July 20, 2012, 7:23 pmwow ! really good price! thanks for the info . i jump into acheh water bfore , help to clean my ship propeller , dive into 4m deep without any ba .


This post has been edited by zizdnyll: Jul 20 2012, 07:23 PM

Wow.. Clean your ship propeller..? You must be so good in skin dive too... I even cant dive in while snokeling..

I dunt know what it was.. haha I am not sure what things are called.

Tulamben was great. I went with Aquamarine.. Their resort they use where we dived off was really beautiful and just off from the USS Liberty wreck. There was no current. Just simple and great diving.

I would recommend Aquamarine though.. I was making changes with them daily and even then they were kind to accomodate all changes without even any negative comments. I'm planning to properly come back next year with them.

we hired some local fishermen to dive n clean the propeller , but you know la they dont do work properly if nobody inspect it ..
so i join that guy on behalf of my ship to make sure the propeller is clean and everything is done accordingly .

I did mine with sabah divers under Nev Kippenberger. Awesome instructor..
He has opened his own dc now offering SSI under the name of Liquid Adventure or sth.

Anyone I can contact to do diving courses & theory lessons without going to island first?

open water course is best decision you ever made? i always wanted to try diving but no guts....i tried scuba diving once at sipadan few years back...i cant swim..i went for scuba diving coz all my frens going and i just force myself to go..i cant even snorkel..do you think im able to go for open water course?

sound like you need to go for swim class first

There are tons of dive centers in Klang Valley itself. State your location and we will be able to give you some recommendations.

I've heard of people afraid of water, or even felt like they are drowning when they are under a shower. They still took up diving and are awesome divers now.

Try to get an instructor who is also a swimming instructor, that way he may also be able to give you swimming tips. Anyhow, if you are not comfortable in water and you didn't enjoy the experience of your discovery scuba, then maybe you might wanna think twice about going for scuba. Lots of people find it very interesting and fun but this doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it.

yup.. haha... this 25th July, exactly 1 year with 20 dives. You said that you always wanted to try diving... for me it is strong/good enough.. don't take course if you're just want to follow friends, or boyfriend..

Swimming is a skill, everyone can master the skill.. if you still cant practice swim alone, I suggest to take swimming class.. after that you we slowly get more comfortable with water.

before I take my diving course, I am afraid to do snorkeling without life jacket (even-though I can swim sikit2).. after taking open water course my water confident build up..

This post has been edited by zaff1984: Jul 22 2012, 11:06 AM