Dive Medical and Fitness to Dive in Pattaya
Pattaya’s diving runs out to Koh Larn, Koh Sak and the wrecks, and every school will hand you a medical questionnaire before you get in the water. A yes to anything on it sends you to a doctor. A dive medical in Pattaya takes about twenty minutes and the signed form goes back with you.
What the examination covers
Heart and lungs, because both are working harder at depth and under pressure. Blood pressure. Ears and the ability to equalise, which is where most problems actually sit.
A review of your medical history and any medication, particularly anything affecting the airways, the heart, seizures, blood sugar or alertness.
And a conversation about what you are actually planning — a resort try-dive in six metres and a four-day certification course with deep dives are different propositions, and the assessment is aimed at what you will really be doing.
What tends to cause a problem
Asthma is the one people worry about and it is usually manageable — well-controlled asthma without exercise or cold-induced symptoms is generally compatible with diving, and a blanket refusal is out of date. Poorly controlled asthma is a genuine problem.
A history of spontaneous collapsed lung is a firm exclusion. Epilepsy and seizures generally are. Significant heart disease needs proper assessment. Diabetes needs an individual judgement rather than a rule.
Recent surgery, an ear operation, or a perforated eardrum all need looking at rather than assuming — see ear barotrauma.
The blocker is usually your nose
Far more courses are interrupted by congestion than by anything on the questionnaire.
If you cannot equalise on land, you will not equalise at four metres, and forcing it is how eardrums get damaged. A cold, a run of bad sleep or air conditioning drying you out overnight is enough to do it.
Decongestants are a trap rather than a solution. They wear off at depth, and the reverse block on ascent — where air cannot get out — is considerably more dangerous than not being able to get in. If you are blocked, do not dive that day.
Diving and alcohol, which is a real issue here
Pattaya’s nightlife and its dive boats overlap more than is comfortable. Diving with a hangover is genuinely risky, not merely unpleasant.
Alcohol dehydrates, and dehydration is a recognised contributor to decompression illness. It also impairs judgement and cold tolerance at exactly the moment both matter, and it makes nausea at the surface much likelier.
The honest rule is not to dive the morning after a heavy night. If you have, drink properly and tell the divemaster rather than quietly getting on the boat — see severe hangover.
After a dive that did not feel right
Come in the same day rather than waiting. The symptoms that matter are unusual tiredness beyond normal, joint or limb pain, tingling, numbness, weakness, dizziness, confusion, or a rash with mottling.
Decompression illness does not always look dramatic and it does not always start immediately — it can appear hours later, often after the boat has docked and everybody has gone their separate ways.
Do not fly. Do not dive again. Come in, and if you cannot get to us say so on the phone — see emergency medical care. This is one of the few things where hours genuinely matter.
Flying afterwards
At least 12 hours after a single no-decompression dive, 18 hours after multiple dives or several days of diving, and considerably longer after any decompression illness.
The combination that catches people is a last-day dive and an evening flight out of Bangkok, which is a common itinerary and a poor one. Plan the diving to finish a full day before you fly rather than the other way round.
If you have been treated for decompression illness, an airline or insurer may want written confirmation of fitness — see fit-to-fly certificates.
Ears, and the four-day course problem
Four consecutive days of descending and ascending is considerably harder on ears than a single dive, and the trouble usually appears on day two or three.
If your ears are ever difficult, come in before the course starts rather than halfway through. Losing day three of a four-day certification is both avoidable and expensive, and the school will rarely refund it.
Blocked ears from wax are common after several days in the water and are quickly dealt with. Pain on descent that persists after the dive is a different matter and needs looking at properly.
Age, fitness and the honest version
Diving is not especially strenuous underwater. It is strenuous getting in and out, carrying a tank on a rocking boat, and in the event that something goes wrong and you have to swim.
So the assessment is less about athletic fitness and more about reserve — whether your heart and lungs could cope with an unexpected effort in the water.
Age alone excludes nobody. Uncontrolled blood pressure, unassessed chest pain and unexplained breathlessness do, and it is worth finding those out on dry land rather than at ten metres — see health screening.
The form, and getting it accepted
Bring the actual form the school gave you. PADI, SSI and RAID use different documents, and a generic letter is sometimes rejected.
Answer the questionnaire honestly. A yes does not usually mean no diving — it means a doctor looks at it, which is the entire purpose of the system. Concealing something to avoid the appointment is how people end up in trouble underwater.
Where clearance is not appropriate, the form says so, and where it is conditional the conditions are written on it. If the assessment costs you a day of a course, ask for the documentation for your insurer.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a dive medical take?
About twenty minutes, and the signed form goes back with you the same visit.
Does asthma stop me diving?
Not necessarily. Well-controlled asthma without exercise or cold-induced symptoms is generally compatible. Poorly controlled asthma is a real problem.
Can I dive with a blocked nose?
No. If you cannot equalise on land you will not at depth, and decongestants wear off underwater — the reverse block on ascent is worse.
How long after diving can I fly?
At least 12 hours after one dive, 18 after multiple dives, and much longer after decompression illness.
What if a dive did not feel right afterwards?
Come in the same day. Unusual tiredness, joint pain, tingling, weakness or dizziness all matter. Do not fly and do not dive again.
Can I dive with a hangover?
You should not. Dehydration contributes to decompression illness, and judgement and cold tolerance are impaired.
Am I too old to dive?
Age alone excludes nobody. Uncontrolled blood pressure, unassessed chest pain and unexplained breathlessness do.
Should I answer yes on the questionnaire if I am unsure?
Yes. A yes means a doctor looks at it, which is the point of the system — it rarely means no diving.
Why a clinic rather than a hospital
English-speaking doctors on site, 24 hours a day. It is worth being straight about what that is for. Pattaya is not short of hospitals, and for anything serious that is where you should be — we will send you and ring ahead. What a hospital handles badly is the small urgent thing at an awkward hour: a wound that needs cleaning properly, a stomach that has emptied itself since midnight, a certificate needed before a morning flight. Those mean a long wait behind real emergencies, at several times the price. That gap, at every hour of the day, is what this clinic is for.
Beyond Pattaya, Doctor Pattaya Takecare Medical Clinic belongs to the Takecare Clinic group, which operates across Chon Buri, Phuket and Krabi. The practical value of that is continuity: if your treatment carries on after you leave, the next clinic already holds your notes, and a referral is a phone call between colleagues rather than a stack of paperwork you have to carry yourself.
Coming in
Doctor Pattaya Takecare Medical Clinic is 24 hours, every day, and that is the building being open with a doctor in it rather than a phone line that answers. No appointment is needed at any point, and there is no hour at which turning up is inconvenient for us. Walk in, or reach us on +66 81 668 5557 or WhatsApp. If you would rather not move, ask for a doctor hotel visit and we will come to you.
If it turns out this needs more than a clinic, that same conversation is where the referral and hospital transfer gets arranged — we stabilise you first, ring the receiving department so you are expected, and organise the ambulance rather than leaving you to find one. In this city that is a short drive at any hour, which is exactly why coming in early costs you nothing.