Diving Thailand In Early September

[Flamebug818]

Hey All,

My girlfriend and I are heading to Thailand in early September( 1st to 7th) and are looking to go diving.

I know this is the 'off-season' and thus the weather/vis can be kind of bad.

I have two big questions:

1. Andaman Sea or Gulf Side?

2. Which is the best location in either place?

Thanks!

 

[stevenl]

My opinion: Andaman side. A bad day on the Andaman side is still better diving than a good day on the Gulf side. That time of year: considering availability of dive options, base yourself in either Phi Phi, Ao Nang or Phuket.

Time of year has no influence on the visibility by the way.

 

[kassj0peja]

I kind of agree with the post above but I would not recommend it to go to the Andaman coast. Ko Tao/Ko Phangan have a few dive sites that can compete with the the best ones on the other side. Sail Rock, Chumphon Pinnacles, Hin Wong Pinnacle are great dive sites with chance to see whale sharks. And there are many other nice dive sites as well. I just would not recommend to stay at the west coast. Tanote Bay is a quiet and very beautiful bay with two dive centres and there are other quiet bays as well. There is a reason why Ko Tao became so popular and this reason still can be found in some parts of the island.

 

[lord khram]

I agree with Steven. For me the Andaman Sea has by far the best diving in Thailand. This has been discussed on here at length in a number of threads in the past and most seem to draw that same conclusion.
I have been to both Koh Tao and koh Phangan several times, yes there are a handful of decent dive sites as pointed out in the last post. But quite simply I have no desire to go back to either place to dive or for any other reason.
One advantage of KT is that most of the diving is very close to the Island, consequently boat trips are short, which is perhaps as well because mostly I have found them to be grossly overcrowded. Diving there is also the cheapest in Thailand, many other things such as accommodation there can also be inexpensive, consequently it attracts a lot of younger backpacker type tourists, then there are the infamous beach parties which many enjoy.
To the OP, it simply depends what you are looking for from your holiday / diving.

 

[Buadhai]

Or, you could dive Koh Tao from a liveaboard that departs from Chumphon. That way you avoid the overcrowded sites close to Koh Tao and can get to the better sites earlier than the day trip boats. I've yet to do this, but I'm planning to do one or two of these trips this summer:

Tapana - Chumphon/Koh Tao

The new Tapana catamaran looks like a fantastic boat is and is probably worth the extra baht. That said, the "other" Tapana is also a very decent dive boat.

 

[stevenl]

How are those trips Mike? I was wondering whether they get enough people together, but with a new boat added to the 'fleet' it looks like they do.

 

[Buadhai]

Steven, I'm not really sure. I haven't done one yet. As you can see, the trips are designed for weekend divers from Bangkok. You can travel from Bangkok to Chumphon on Thursday evening after work. Dive Friday, Saturday and Sunday and back to Bangkok Monday. You can sleep on the boat Thursday evening through Sunday evening so no need for a hotel room in Chumphon.

I was on the Tapana only once, but that was a South Andaman dive last October. I was very impressed with the boat and crew.

Although the web page is in Thai, all the dive guides and most of the divers speak English.

 

[Buadhai]

My wife has reserved one of these Chumphon/Koh Tao trips for us in late June. I'll do a trip report when we return.