I know you have some info on Thailand --

[joebubbles]

Hi Bob,
I've been on five liveaboard trips to the Similans. Certainly worth the trip. Yes, October is a bit early in the season, but then again I think it will be quieter at that point. Many of the livaboard boats split there time between the Similans (November to April) and East Indonesia (May to October). If you want less intense you can stay in Karon or Kata Beach and avoid Patong. There's a fairly popular place in Kata beach that makes custom made to measure wetsuits--http://www.hotwavephuket.com/. Typically the livaboard operator will pick you up at your hotel and shuttle you and other divers up to Thap Lamu Pier which is in Khao Lak (north of Phuket Island). four day/four night liveaboard should be sufficient. Make sure they have Richelieu Rock on the itinerary. Store as much luggage as you can at the hotel.
One of the highlights that you can expect is encounters with Zebra Sharks.
Zebra Shark on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[dirtfarmer]

How does Thailand compare to Philippines?

Rico, I've dived a few places in both Thailand and the Philippines. I would rate the diving in the Philippines much better than Thailand. In Thailand I've done Ko Tao- Cheap diving,crowded sites, When I was there the vis was really bad, but it's not always that way, sea life was OK. Then I've done a liveaboard to Similians, nice, good sea life, can be crowded under water. But an excellent value and I loved my trip. I've also done a few dives off some other islands, and some excellent snorkeling off Ko Kraden. The Philippines- I've dove Dauin/Apo Island Loved it, great sea life, not crowded, and Alona/Balicasag area, also very nice not crowded.
Overall I like the diving in the Philippines much better. It's got incredible corals,incredible macro,good pelagic action, and good vis with not to crowded sites.( I tend to get lost/left behind in crowds). If we go back this year I want to hit Puerto Galera and check it out.
Now the above water differences are many- the food, the beaches,the tourist infrastructure. To long to get into. I loved traveling to Thailand and have been over much of the country, and I love the Philipines also. Many people say the Philippines today are what Thailand was like 10-15 years ago.

 

[bobshreve]

Ronondo Rico – I have no idea how they compare, but . . .

Jigo – Thanks for letting Ronondo and I know. One of my reasons for going is just to check it out, to see what is unique about diving in Thailand. I hope it isn’t the bubbles. Actually, the Similans are supposed to be a step above anything else in Thailand. Because we’re going before the high season, it may not be as crowded there.

U/Wdiva – Thanks for the info; pls let me know if anything new surfaces. I know that everybody talks about going in late October, but I read somewhere that the marine reserve is not open until Nov 1 (whatever that means and however true it is). You can see my confusion. I did get in contact with a dive operation there, Gekko Scuba Divers , aka Quero/Marcia. Marcia says they can get us a day trip out to the Similans.

Babydamulag – I didn’t think you’d mind if I hijacked your forum. Here are a couple of interesting stats from my post for info on diving in Thailand:
Scuba Diving forum Travel Posted 7/23 4 replies 647 views
ScubaBoard forum Thailand Posted 7/24 9 replies 118 views
ScubaBoard forum PPD Posted 7/24 11 replies 106 views
No overlap between the Thailand and PPD posts. This is just a good forum, where people try to help each other and have a good time. So sit back and have fun . . .

Joebubbles -- very nice picture. Thank you for the info (especially Richlieu Rock). Sound like the Similans are definitely the place.

Dirtfarmer – very interesting comparison. From what you say, maybe we should keep the Philippines more of a secret.

 

[shoturtle]

If you want to have a more relaxing stay, I would recommend staying in Khao Lak, it is about an hour north of phuket airport. You can do day trips to the similan island, about an hour out of Khao Lak. I stay about 15 min out of town, at a resort with a private beach. All the dive ops I uses picked us up in the morning. Sea Dragon, Liquid and Sea Bees were really friendly and nice dive ops. They all have live aboard if that is the route you want. Khao Lak area did get hit hard in 2004, so the reefs are still recovering.

I just dived Krabi in Feb. Ao Nang is the big town there it is 30 min north of Krabi airport, it is not as touristy as Phuket. But it was still to crowed for my taste, I stay about 15 min out of town in a little town of Klong Muang Beach. I used IQ scuba, they picked us up form our hotel for our day trips. Railey beach was way to crowed for my taste also. You can get tours to koh lanta, koh phi phi and other sites from Ao Nang. Phi Phi is worth the dive, I would not stay on the island though.

 

[bobshreve]

Thanks, shoturtle, good information.

 

[shoturtle]

you are welcome

 

[shoturtle]

PS,

from Khao Lak you can do day trips to the similian island. All the dive ops I mention have day trips to different similian islands each day. You can generally find a trip to the island you want on the day you want going through each ops schedule. There are 2 local wreak dives, and one local reef dive, if you do not want to spend the whole day on a speed boat. They are about 20 min out, you will see more micro then big fish. They go out with 2-6 people on a long tail boat. So it is an options. By speed boat the similian islands is about an hour out depend on which island you want to dive from Khao Lak. Depending on the day, there are between 8 to 16 divers on the boats.

 

[World Wide Diver]

Richelieu Rock is a fabulous dive site with plenty manta and good macro. However, we experienced 'body shaking' impacts from blast fishing over the border in Burma while diving there (the only minus).

Similan liveaboards are slick and good value (compared to other places).

But, corals in the PI's are far superior to anything we saw in Thailand (spent 3 months there).

And, you easily find nice and uncrowded places in the PI's for good value.

Depends upon what you want. We can easily take liveaboard to Similans again - great dive vacation for organisation and good standards of planning and safety (regardless of tragedy a few months ago).

 

[bobshreve]

shoturtle -- thanks, again. The smallest details can be real stumbling blocks in a new country, so more information is good. I feel much more prepared to make choices re diving in that area of Thailand.

WWD -- I appreciate your comment. I learned to dive here, and my only dive out of country was on the Big Island of Hawaii. We saw an awesome group of mantas, but the coral there was virtually nonexistent compared to the Philippines. The reason we're diving in Thailand is just to see what it is about. I am slowly learning that I've been even luckier in my diving here than I realized. BTW, your comment about the blast fishing is sad and chilling.

 

[HSA CHUCK]

Devon Diver - Thanks for the idea; you are the 2nd person to mention Khao Lok. I'm also hearing that Phuket is pretty intense and I'm not very interested in that.

HSA Chuck - Do you mean on Mindoro? I've dived a lot at Anilao, haven't dived at any Sabangs.

Hi Bob Sabang Puerto Galera