Scuba (‘Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’) diving is becoming more and more popular as a holiday activity, with the number of holiday-makers giving it a go increasing year on year. There are many specialist diving holiday companies offering deals to both novice and confident divers, and even amateur divers can book specific scuba diving holidays, usually in order to gain qualifications.

It is now commonplace for a holiday resort to offer some sort of scuba training course, sometimes in the hotel pool, to give guests a taster of scuba diving, and it’s more than likely that destinations suitable for scuba will have local companies that offer the chance to sample it. If you do decide to give it a go, make sure the company is reputable and that they are authorised to take you diving, with all the correct safety equipment and expertise, and not just a local person who may not be qualified and could prove unsafe to trust your dive with. It is not worth risking your safety, and indeed any insurance cover you have, no matter how cheap a local (and probably unqualified) guide is.

Thailand is sandwiched between The Gulf of Thailand on its eastern coastline and the vast expanse of the Andaman Sea on its western coast. It is in these body of waters that scuba divers can explore the marine life of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean without having to cross continents.

Thailand’s Andaman Sea stretches 870km (541 miles) from Tarutao National Park on the border of Malaysia to the Surin Islands on the border of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). It is part of the Indian Ocean and is separated from the Bay of Bengal by the Andaman-Nicobar Ridge. Quaint formations of granite outcrops can be senn in the Surin and Similan Islands.