Koh Tao or Koh Samui?? Help!

[Zynyx]

Hello Everyone!

I'm going to be bringing a group of 3-6 divers to the southern islands in Thailand this Christmas season and I could use a bit of advice finding dive locations.

Group Question/Informaion
First, some information about my group. The diver's experience are of varied levels, I myself have my AOW and recently got my Nitrox certs in April, one of us has their OW and would like to get their AOW and the rest will be going for their OWs.

I went to Koh Tao last year to do my AOW, but while my classes were fine my travel partner, who was going for her OW at the time, did not have a very good experience with her dive instructor. Keeping that in mind, since I am bringing mostly new divers along and Koh Tao has a bit of a reputation, I thought it might be best to scour the boards a bit and see what I came up with. I've seen a number of ringing endorsements for Master Divers and I also see one of their representatives, Ayesha, posts rather regularly on the boards which I find encouraging. If we go to Koh Tao, I'm considering them.

That said, on my last visit the only island I saw was Koh Tao. I was hoping to maybe branch out a bit; so, could anyone recommend some good dive schools on Koh Samui? Is Koh Samui even worth going to? Or will going there essentially just cost me more money to go dive some of the same sites I would on Koh Tao?

I myself am considering going for my rescue diver certifications while I'm on the island, but would like to make sure wherever I go is thorough about the job. I've about 30~40 dives under my belt and I've had my license for slightly over a year now, but I have to say I'm still not always comfortable in my diving abilities and I'm hoping to sharpen them a bit. What typically happens is I feel great at the end of a dive trip, but then don't dive again for 3~ months and my first 1-2 dives are like I'm reteaching myself stuff I should already remember to be doing instinctively anyway! This hit home on my first dive of a recent Okinawa trip in April with a dangerous near miss. I was fine afterwards, but it was enough to prompt me to finish buying my own gear so I could practice proper assembly at home and not only when I go on a trip!

I now realize this thread is rapidly becoming a ramble: to sum it up- Any good advice on dive schools in Southern Thailand?

 

[stevenl]

Nearly all diving from Samui is done i the Koh Tao area. So staying on Koh Tao would make more sense.

Having said that, considering the weather but mainly the quality of diving: the Andaman coast has much, much more to offer.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

Hi there Matt !

While you mentioned Master Divers and myself in your mail - I will try my best to remain unbiased !

Koh Tao is a good location for the spread of divers that you have and what they want to do.

As its a while before you are coming I would suggest that you discuss, with the soon-to-be-ow-certified, the option of taking the theory online before they come. This will save then holiday time.

Both PADI and SSI offer the option to do this. SSI is free and PADI US130. The links for the two options are below.

SSI :: SSI Scuba Schools International :: take your dive @ diveSSI.com

Welcome to PADI eLearning

As with anywhere Christmas is a busy time and with quite a large group its really important that you get the accommodation booked early so that you can all be in the same place. I am happy to help you with some suggests (no obligation) but you need to mail me with a rough budget and how many rooms / single / twin double....as Im sure you are aware this can be a little complicated......

With regards to Samui - well it depends really - if you want to see a different island - then great - but if you want to dive then remember that the operators on Samui visit the dive sites on Koh Tao. Which means you will spend more time traveling to the sites. The max travel time here is about 45mins.

Also consider that its quite possible, depending on your flight arrival times, that you might just have to spend a night at the beginning and at the end in Samui anyway - so that might be a nice way to see a bit of each ....

With regards to the experience that you mentioned - Im sorry this happened. We do recommend a refresher for anyone who has not dived for more than 6 months - I know it was only 3 for you.... However there is nothing to stop you doing this if its been less time. Many divers find it an excellent review of everything that they learnt in their open water course. Its not very often you get to re-practice and refresh all of those skills - so you are welcome to do that too. Your Rescue Course is a great way to further your skills too but there are other specialty courses that might interest you which will also further your skills and techniques... Further - for a refresher - you too could also log onto the SSI website and do the elearning - its free and it doesnt matter that you are certified and it will re-affirm aspects of learning to dive. It might be quite interesting for you to see how a different agency presents and teaches the theoretical part too.....

The Rescue Course is actually quite intensive and I would recommend that you also consider doing your theory online before you come too - this will allow you to concentrate on the water work and the time with your instructors. Only PADI offer this at the moment and you can see it at the same link above....If you wanted to try an SSI course though, I'm sure the centre you choose would be able to send you the book so that you can read through it before you come....

If you have any more questions, feel free to message me, its no problem !

Ayesha

---------- Post Merged at 10:09 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:07 AM ----------

I forgot to say - if you look in the link on my signature "Check out the dive conditions...." you can scroll down the page and see what the conditions were like and what we were seeing over the Xmas period too...

 

[limbo]

If you're there for diving purposes mainly, than Koh Tao should be your choice.

However, if your group would like to participate in other activities or have a bit more convenience at hand, than Koh Samui might be an alternative. As already mentioned, most of the dives from Samui are conducted around Koh Tao but we have one added bonus on Koh Samui, every day boats leave for Sail Rock, in my opinion the best dive site in the Gulf. Diving is more expensive on Samui compared to Koh Tao. What are you and your group after?

Another option may possibly be Koh Phangan, prices are very good and Sail Rock is even closer compared to Koh Samui. Phangan is a very relaxed island as long as you stay away from Haad Rin beach, the Full Moon Party beach.

 

[Zynyx]

Ayesha, I actually wrote a considerably long message full of questions, but Scubaboard has a 1000 character limit! Not to threaten you with a wall of text, but is there somewhere else I could send this?

---------- Post Merged at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:20 PM ----------

Limbo,

You can count on the fact that we will be at that Full Moon Festival on Phagnan; however, the rest of our trip is diving so perhaps Koh Tao is a better fit.

Out of curiosity though, how difficult is it to get to Koh Lanta or Phuket from Koh Tao or Samui? We were considering going there next for a few days for more diving.

---------- Post Merged at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:20 PM ----------

Scratch that message about the 1000 character limit! I was using the wrong option... small novella sent!

 

[stevenl]

Ayesha, I actually wrote a considerably long message full of questions, but Scubaboard has a 1000 character limit! Not to threaten you with a wall of text, but is there somewhere else I could send this?

---------- Post Merged at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:20 PM ----------

Limbo,

You can count on the fact that we will be at that Full Moon Festival on Phagnan; however, the rest of our trip is diving so perhaps Koh Tao is a better fit.

Out of curiosity though, how difficult is it to get to Koh Lanta or Phuket from Koh Tao or Samui? We were considering going there next for a few days for more diving.

---------- Post Merged at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:20 PM ----------

Scratch that message about the 1000 character limit! I was using the wrong option... small novella sent!

You can fly from Samui to Phuket. Alternatively with ferry and bus takes 1 day.

 

[limbo]

Hi Matt,

Flying will land you from Samui within an hour on Phuket, from there it's about another hour by taxi to the Southern beaches like Patong, Kata, Karon etc.
Over land by bus or minibus, count on pretty much a whole day.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

Matt - I have seen you mail and replying ....

 

[Ste Wart]

Neither.

The Gulf of Thailand is completely the wrong side of Thailand to be diving.

Look into dive schools/ islands on the Western side of Thailand. You can find smaller less developed islands that retain Thai character and more importantly have amazing diving with great viz and loads of marine life.

Have a look at Koh Lanta, Koh Lipe and Koh Mook. You can even get a decent days diving from Phuket if you're prepared for a long haul boat trip to the dive site.

 

[limbo]

Are you also so one sided during your research, the wart?