Keeping up with our tradition of spending Thanksgiving scuba diving in a tropical place, this year we are going to beautiful and exotic Thailand!

As always, we are taking advantage of the holiday and weekends, so that you only have to take three days off work, but go on a nine-day vacation to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Our base will be Phuket, one of the best diving locations in the world. November is considered one of the best months for diving in Phuket, so this will be perfect! We will do six days of diving with mostly 3 dives every day, with an optional 7th day if you want to arrive one day early.

Here are the locations we are planning on diving:

Racha Yai-One of the most popular locations in Phuket, with over 10 dive sites to choose from for divers of all levels, with shallow bays plus reefs down to 80 feet.

King Cruiser Wreck- Formerly a car ferry, which sank over 20 years ago between Phuket and Phi Phi after hitting the top of Anemone Reef.

Shark Point- A submerged pinnacle of soft corals.

Koh DoK Mai- A limestone island that juts up steeply from the water.

West coast of Phuket- Koh Pu, Freedom Reef, and Secret Cliff, sites that very few people get to dive, because only private boats go there (keep reading to learn more about this one humongous advantage of our trip.

Phi Phi marine park- Yes, Phi Phi, one of the most famous places in the world, and a must-do dive site.

Racha Noi- Bigger fish, like Manta Rays, eagle rays, and big schools of barracuda. We may also find snappers, small barracudas, moray eels, triggerfish, butterfly, and bannerfish.

Anemone Reef- A stunning pinnacle covered in colorful anemone coral,

Mai Ton- Where we'll have the chance to see dolphins under water!

Night dives- We will also have the chance to do a few night dives from the shore! Seems like the perfect diving trip to me!

Now, a very special thing about our trip is that we are using one of the only three dive shops that owns a boat in Phuket. All of the other almost 100 dive shops in the island, actually put their divers in huge boats with 50 to 80 divers on it shared among several dive shops! So, although Phuket is still beautiful and the dive sites are still nice, your whole diving experience is not the same on a big boat full of people. Well, we will have our own boat, which not only will make our experience better and more relaxed, but we will have the chance to quickly move to the best locations.

And as if that wasn't enough, for our last day (non-diving because of flying the following day), we'll visit the famous Phi Phi Island (yup, the one from Leonardo Di Caprio's movie The Beach).

If you have someone to bring with you that is not a diver (wife, husband, kids, significant other, friends, etc.), we also have an out-of-this-world non-scuba itinerary, so you can go diving all the way until late afternoon while they are out doing amazing things too.

PAYMENT TERMS

  - A deposit of $400 (non-refundable, but movable) starts your reservation. Once you make your deposit, you will need to fill out the questionnaire that will be sent to you, sign our contract and send us a copy of your passport within 72 hours to guarantee your spot. You can read the contract in advance HERE. 

- You will have until August 23, 2024 (three months before the trip) to finish making your payment. You can make payments in any way you prefer, so long as you are fully paid by August 23, 2024.   

- Your deposit is movable. That means, if you need to cancel your participation in the trip for any reason before August 23, 2024, you may request a credit for 100% of your deposit that can be applied to any 1000 Treks Trip which departs within one year of the departing date of the original trip.

- Uplift Financing available. Low-interest travel financing with low APR, no pre-payment penalty, and no effect on credit. 

FLIGHTS 

Flights are NOT included.

Flight Guidelines

Shuttles will be provided if you meet the flight guidelines below:

Arrival: Arrive at Phuket International Airport (HKT) on Saturday, November 23 between 10am and 5pm. Check in at the hotel is at 2:00PM 

Departure: Leave Phuket International Airport (HKT) on Sunday, December 1 between 10am and 5pm. Check-out from the hotel is at 12:00PM.   

IMPORTANT MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

- Trip Physical Level: Scuba, all levels.

- All trips are governed by our comprehensive contract. You should familiarize yourself with it prior to signing up for any of our trips. You can access it by clicking HERE or visiting https://www.1000treks.com/contract/. A link to the contract can also be found at the bottom of all our web pages under CONTRACT.   

- Travel insurance is required. You will need to provide a copy of your insurance policy to 1000 Leagues Travel at the latest seven (7) days after the final payment for the Trip. 

- Dive insurance is also required. You will need to provide proof of dive insurance, such as DAN at least seven (7) days before the first day of the trip. 

- Some countries impose taxes such as VAT, hotel taxes, city taxes, etc. It is impossible to predict every tax for every city in every country, so, every now and then, we run into additional taxes that travelers need pay on-the-spot. They are usually very small, but be aware that it sometimes happens, and when it does, those taxes are your responsibility.

- Because of the adventurous nature of our trips, from time to time, we need to make changes to the itinerary, schedule, accommodations, amenities, and mode of transportation. Those changes are rare, but do happen. Whenever they happen, we will do our best to maintain the integrity of the trip.  

- VISA: As of the time of this posting American citizens don’t need a visa for Thailand, so long as your stay is under 30 days. If you have a foreign passport, you may need a visa. Here's the Thailand Official Webpage on Visas so you can look into that: 

We also recommend that everyone, regardless of citizenship, periodically check to make sure visa requirements have not changed as 1000 Treks is not responsible for any changes.

ARRIVE IN PHUKET | FREE DAY | ORIENTATION MEETING | FREE EVENING

Sawasdee! Welcome to gorgeous Thailand, home of some of the most beautiful places you will ever see, and some of the most beautiful and friendly people you will ever meet!

Arrive in Phuket at any time between 10am and 5pm. Check in at our hotel is 2pm. We will have a free day to go to the beach, one block away, to walk around town (Phuket is generally safe and very tourist-friendly) or just chill at the pool at the hotel. At 8pm we will have our brief orientation meeting where we will get to meet each other and discuss important information.  

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: N/A

RACHA YAI 3-TANK DIVE |  SIMON CABARET SHOW | BANGLA ROAD

We'll start with one of the most popular locations in Phuket, with over 10 dive sites to choose from for divers of all levels, with shallow bays plus reefs down to 80 feet. There is also a perfect wreck for training dives, the Hurraby at Bay 1, and some more fun stuff, including statues and motorcycles. 

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

And in the evening, well, we are in Thailand, might as well experience everything that is famous about Thailand. This evening we will have an optional outing to see the Simon Cabaret Show. This is one of Phuket's most popular shows, a funny and entertaining show performed by the Thai ladyboys!

After the show, we will go hang out and have a drink at Phuket's famous Bangla Road. 

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

KING CRUISER WRECK | SHARK POINT | KOH DOK MAI: 3-TANK DIVE

The King Cruiser was a large ferry boat, formerly a car ferry, which sank over 20 years ago between Phuket and Phi Phi after hitting the top of Anemone Reef. This will normally be the first dive, with subsequent dives at Shark Point, a submerged pinnacle of soft corals and Koh DoK Mai, a limestone island that juts up steeply from the water. 

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

WEST COAST OF PHUKET (KOH POO, FREEDOM REEF, SECRET REEF): 3-TANK DIVE

Today we get to do something most other divers don't. Remember I said our shop is one of the only three shops that owns their boat? Well, because of that, today we get to go to a lesser accessed area of Phuket, where the big boats with 80 divers don't go: the West Coast.

The area has fewer divers, but it's nonetheless spectacular, with a less dived coral. We will likely dive Koh Poo, Freedom Reef, and Secret Reef

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

ANEMONE REEF | MAI TON | SHARK POINT : 3-TANK DIVE

Today we'll go to dive sites between Phuket and Phi Phi: , Anemone Reef, a stunning pinnacle covered in colorful anemone coral, Mai Ton, where we'll have the chance to see dolphins and possibly Shark Point again. 

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

In the evening we will have an optional outing to see Siam Niarit. Siam Niramit Phuket is a surprising show narrating 700 years of Thailand’s history. The stage is immense, and the choreography involving more than a hundred people is spotless. The narration is simple and clear enough for everyone to understand each scene. The superb sound system immerses you in a fantastic world based on centuries of Thai myths and legends. It is seriously impressive.  

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

RACHA NOI ISLANDS: 3-TANK DIVE

Today we go back to the Racha Islands to Racha Noi. 

Koh Racha Noi is located to the south of Racha Yai island, takes about 45 minutes on a normal day trip boat to cross between the 2 islands. The surrounding waters are deeper here, with a sandy slope heading down to about 70 meters around the island. If you head southwest for about 25 kilometers you reach deeper waters around 200 meters deep. In that direction the next land you reach is Sumatra about 300km away. This means that Racha Noi can be a place to find some bigger fish that come from the deeper water looking for food or a cleaning station. Manta Rays, eagle rays, big schools of barracuda can be seen here. You may find schools of snappers, small barracudas, moray eels, triggerfish, butterfly, and bannerfish. 

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

PHI PHI MARINE PARK: 2-TANK DIVE

We saved the best for last. Today we only get to do a two-tank dive because we have to sail far. But it's very much worth it, as we'll be diving by the famous Phi Phi Island. 

Koh Phi Phi is characterized by rugged limestone walls, vivid soft coral and gorgonian fans. Stunning rock formations continue underwater creating great wall diving with plenty of nooks and crevices for critters to hide in. With sloping coral gardens ripe for exploring on your safety stop, diving in Koh Phi Phi offers richness for all.

Keep a keen eye on the sand for resting leopard sharks. Look carefully for mantis shrimp and seahorses whilst triggerfish dart around you. Barracuda and octopus hang out with blacktip reef sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, bluespotted stingrays, and banded sea snakes in the blue. Whale sharks have been known to pass by Koh Phi Phi to follow the plankton trail from Malaysia to Myanmar. Sometime 10 meters long, these gentle giants are awesome overhead.

Pick up time: 7:45am. 

Return time: 5pm. 

Included: Light breakfast, Thai lunch buffet, coffee, tea, water, soft drinks

Bring: Towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, personal items.

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

PHI PHI ISLAND PRIVATE TOUR (NO SCUBA)

For our last full day, we will go to the most famous island in the Phuket area: The famous Phi Phi Island. Phi Phi island was made famous to the world by Leonardo Di Caprio's movie The Beach.

We'll get picked up at 7:45 to be taken to the pier and to the island on a private boat. In Phi Phi we will visit Maya bay, Phuket's (and one of the world's) most famous post card, drive by Monkey beach, a beach ruled by monkeys (really), go snorkeling, and have free time on the main island.  

We will be back at around 5pm, and have our farewell dinner at Kan Eang 2, one the best seafood restaurants in Phuket.

Accommodations: Ibis Phuket Kata or similar 

Meals: Breakfast

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

We don't want to say goodbye to beautiful Thailand, so we'll say ฉันจะพบคุณอีกครั้ง! (C̄hạn ca phb khuṇ xīk khrậng! “I will see you again!”), and promise to one day return to this beautiful country.

Accommodations: N/A

Meals: Breakfast