Malaysia/thailand In August

[JONATHAN A]

HELLO,

I'LL BE IN MALAYSIA/THAILAND FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF AUGUST ON HOLIDAY AND WOULD LIKE TO SPEND A FAIR PROPORTION OF THAT TIME DIVING. I'M STILL RELATIVELY NEW TO THE SPORT, ONLY HAVING PASSED MY ADVANCED LAST YEAR, AND AM LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK FROM YOU GUYS ON WHICH PLACES WOULD SUIT ME BEST.
SO FAR I'VE DIVED OFF PERHENTIAN AND KOH PHI PHI AND THIS TIME AROUND WAS THINKING OF GIVING EITHER TIOMAN OR ONE OF THE WEST THAI ISLANDS A GO. I'VE ALSO THOUGHT ABOUT DOING 3 OR 4 DAYS ON SIPADAN BUT NOT SURE WHETHER I'M SUFFICIENTLY EXPERIENCED YET ?
APPRECIATE ANY COMMENTS YOU MAY HAVE

CHEERS
JONATHAN

[BlueGirlGoes]

Hi Jonathan,

I'm a new diver who just returned from Sipadan, Kapalai, and Lankayan. All of them were within my limits. I'd stay on Kapalai, which allows you to dive it as well as Sipadan and Mabul. Say hello to Elvis for me. (He's the giant lazy eel under the oil platform at Mabul.)

Cheers,
Cyn

[ssra30]

It is off-season for diving in the Andaman Sea (western) in Thailand. The season is usually around November to May. Similan is closed from May till mid October this year. Diving around Phi Phi and the surrounding islands are possible but you have already been to those. Right now, it is the season for the Gulf of Thailand side but you have already been to Koh Tao (which I think is the best place to dive on the Gulf of Thailand).
Personally, I am going to Sipadan tomorrow , take awhile to get there but I was told that it is well worth it.

However, Koh Tao might be good in August even if you have been there before. A boat captain there told me that the best time to see whale sharks around Koh Tao are April/May and August. I was there in April and there were at least 3 whalesharks there. You might get lucky in August.
Alternatively, Chumporn might be good. Chumporn Cabana used to be very good but I have not been there in over 10 years. About 10 years ago, there was a major storm that destroyed much of the reefs around there but by now they should recover quite a bit. If everything go as plan, I might go there at the end of July.

[JONATHAN A]

HI,

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPLIES, I HAVEN'T MADE IT UP TO KOH TAO AS YET SO MAYBE I'LL TRY AND DO A WEEK THERE AND 4 OR 5 DAYS ON SIPADAN....ANYONE GOT ANY IDEAS AS TO THE BEST WAY TO REACH KOH TAO FROM KL ?

JONATHAN

[mleong]

You must go to Sipidan. Stay there for at least a week and make your time there worthwhile since you comes all the way. Tioman, I just got back 2 weeks ago. IT is good to dive there now. My recommendation: stay at Personna Ressort, Dive with Tioman Dive Center( Julian) in Kg.Tekek.

[ssra30]

Hmm, I am not sure how to get to Koh Tao from KL.
Usually you have to take a boat to Koh Tao either from Chumporn or Surathani. There are plenty of buses that go to both from Bangkok. I have not tried going to Koh Tao from Surathani. From Chumporn, it is about 3 hours by day boat or 6 hours at night by slow boat. You might be able to catch a train from KL to Bangkok.
They usually will stop in Chumporn on the way. Most likely you will have to stop overnight in Chumporn because the day boat leave Chumporn at 7am. The pier is about 10 minutes by car from the town itself. When you arrive in Chumporn town, it should not be difficult to get on a boat to Koh Tao.
Alternatively, a faster and more expensive way would be to fly to Bangkok or Phuket. From there, you can fly to Koh Samui and take a boat to Koh Tao. There is a boat that goes to Koh Tao daily but I am not sure what time.

[agstreet]

Bankok Air has daily flights from Singapore and Bangkok to Koh Samui. Probably the easiest way to get to Samui from KL is to fly to Singapore then to Samui (although with the *long* drive to your new airport, maybe it would be faster to take a ferry :-).