Scuba diving in Asia forum

I did a trip with Similan Dive Safari on the MV Dolphin Queen in Nov '09.
The trip was really great, the boat nice and comfortable, especially for the price, good and plentiful food and the staff knowledgeable and attentive (some more than others...) Overall, I can enthusiastically recommend this company with one big "BUT" .
When I arrived at the dive shop the morning we were to leave I was informed that since I don't have an Advanced certification, just Open Water, I would have to either hire a private divemaster to dive above 18m with me, take the advanced certification course (arox $250 USD), or take only the deep dive module (aprox $40 USD). I was pretty surprised! I had logged almost 100 dives at this point and have never had anyone even mention it, let alone make me pay to go below 18 meters! I tried see where this could be a liability issue with the dive company and not just a ploy to get more money out of me... When I asked why I was just hearing about this at the last minute, when they could have sent me a quick e-mail explaining their policies, the shop owner got all huffy and in my face, very unpleasant little man. At least he wasn't on the boat with us!