Haven't dived with Thalassa but stayed at Tasik Ria and dived with eco
divers.  They were very good although further from the marine park.
They are however nearer Po Po which has very interesting critters (e.g
Rhinopias).  Can also do day trips or split stay at Lembeh/Bangka.

The diving in general was excellent with the added bonus of seeing pods
of dolphins from the boat on several trips.

For more info try asking on www.finsonline.com forums - that is a local
Singapore dive website and plenty of people on there will have been with
Thalassa.

There are loads.  Grand Copthorne looks just in budget and is fairly
near Mohammed Sultan.  There is a new boutique hotel in the CBD which
should be pretty near boat quay as well - called the scarlet, looks
quite nice.  If you can get a corporate discount you can stay almost
anywhere for around 60 GBP (we pay 180 SGD at Ritz Carlton for
instance), if not try looking at www.asiatravel.com.  Nowhere is very
far away and taxis are cheap.  You may want to watch out for some places
at the lower end of your scale, you may find they specialise in rooms by
the hour.....  On budget side Hotel 81 chain is mean't to be ok.

Cheers

Simon

Hi Bryn,

I stayed there last year in August and I'm going again in April. Say enough?
Simone who runs the dive center is great.  You'll have a great time
choosing which of the many sites to dive. If you want to see something in
particular just speak up, they'll make an effort for you to see it.  Don't
miss out on the Poopo or Bangka island day trips which cost like $10 extra,
they worth it. Have a great time and i have a trip report if you're
interested....    

Singapore.  check out www.roombooker.com, there's lots of choices.

In July of last year I hopped aboard a live aboard out of Manado - the Ocean
Rover operated by Fanatasea out of Phuket Thailand (they spend part of the
year around Manado.  We spent about half the trip time around the Manado
area in Lembeh Straits, Banakan Island (sorry, can't remember the right
spelling, if it is incorrect), and some near shore dives.  We then headed
north to several islands, including one with an active volcano.  At one dive
site we were entertained by some melon-headed whales.  It was a blast
watching them 'surf' the waves.

The worst thing about diving near Manado was the river of trash from the
city that sweeps past Banakan Island.  The muck diving was excellent and we
saw many interesting fish.

In Singapore I stayed at the Robertson Quay Hotel which is on the canal and
near much of the shopping in downtown Singapore.  Rate on Expedia is $39 US
per night.

Walter