Understanding WindGuru Phuket Scuba Diving
When planning a scuba diving trip to Phuket, understanding the weather and ocean conditions is crucial for ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience. Windguru is one of the most reliable weather sites for divers, offering detailed forecasts tailored to water sports enthusiasts. With its accurate data on wind speed, wave height, and weather patterns, Windguru helps divers anticipate conditions and make informed decisions about when and where to dive. In this blog, we’ll explore how to interpret Windguru’s forecasts specifically for scuba diving in Phuket, providing tips on making the most of this invaluable resource.
A Quick Video About Understanding Windguru
The website windguru.cz is the guide and go-to website for not only all scuba diving and boating agencies in Phuket but worldwide.
Given that all of the scuba diving in Phuket involves a lot of boat travel (anywhere from 1.5 hours for Racha Yai and 3 hours for Phi Phi) most scuba diving rely on it heavily for information for the safety and enjoyment of their customers.
Often divers particularly those doing beginner courses such as the PADI Discover Scuba Diving or PADI Open Water Course have never been on a boat for extended periods. Given that it is their first experience at scuba diving we try to make it as enjoyable as we can.
Often we provide the website to divers to assist them in planning their dives while in Phuket. To the untrained eye, it looks like a lot of lines and colours and really doesn’t make a lot of sense.
On the website, there are two very important features regarding boat travel and they are wind speed/gust and wave height. The stronger the wind the larger the waves. The larger the waves the more uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous the boat trip can be.
To a lesser extent rain is also an issue. Not that rain itself affects the diving too much but it does affect diver comfortability. As you will spend long periods on the boat, being wet for most of the day is not pleasant.
Wind and Waves
Way back in 1807 naval officer Francis Beaufort designed a wind-wave scale based on his observations at sea (and land). This scale has since become the guide to understanding the correlation between wind speed and the subsequent wave height. Basically, the stronger the wind, the bigger the waves. The bigger the waves the more uncomfortable the day scuba diving trip will be.
Beaufort Scale – Aussie Scale
| Wind Speed | Wind Description | Wave Height | Sea Conditions | Aussie Divers Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lees than 1 Knot or 1km/h | Calm | 0m | Sea like a mirror | What are you doing on land? Get out there and dive! |
| 1 – 3 Knots or 1 – 5km/h | Light Air | 0 – 0.2m | The surfer’s loss is the scuba divers gain – go diving! | The surfers loss is the scuba divers gain – go diving! |
| 4 – 6 knots or 6-11km/h | Light Breeze | 0.2 – 0.5m | Small wavelets, still short but more pronounced; crests have a glassy appearance and do not break | Nothing to worry about – Just don’t leave your drink on the table |
| 7 – 10 knots or 12-19km/h | Gentle Breeze | 0.5 – 1m  | Large wavelets. Crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps | Still a good day out. If you are prone to motion sickness take medication way before the boat ride |
| 11 – 16 knots or 20-28km/h | Moderate Breeze | 1 – 2m  | Small waves with breaking crests. Fairly frequent whitecaps. | The boat will move. Medication for most. For those that get seasick, one tablet the night before and one first thing in the morning. |
| 17 – 21 knots or 29 – 38km/h | Fresh Breeze | 2 -3m  | Moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray. | If you come from a family of sailors, fishermen or pirates not a problem. Everyone else starts looking at other things to do. Boats will likely cancel in this weather. |
| 22 – 27knots or 38 – 49km/h | Strong Breeze | 3 – 4m  | Long waves begin to form. White foam crests are very frequent. Some airborne spray is present. | You may as well stay at home as we will be. No boats will operate. |
