Best time to dive around Koh Tao, Thaliand

[TomGoodacre]

I'm new to this board and also to the world of diving so please bear with me . My girlfriend and I are currently travelling in Thaliand and are looking into doing our Open Water PADI in Koh Tao in the next few weeks. Can anyone tell me if now is a good time to dive around Koh Tao with regards to visibility? I shouldn't see why there would be a problem as the rainy season has long gone.

If anyone also has any tips on good diving schools / good past experiences with schools on the island then please let me know! Any advice much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[subaquaman]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the board!

Am planning to travel to Thailand myself for few months around May and was thinking about doing my IDC in Koh Tao so I would be very interested to hear how you find it. A friend of mine is currently doing his IDC in Phuket, I'll ask him but I don't think he's been up as far as Koh Tao yet (He arrived Jan 1st).

Sorry, I know that doesn't answer your question but I'm sure you'll get the info your looking for around here. If I can help you at all PM me! (Just click my username and choose send Private Message).

Happy Diving!

 

[jiveturkey]

I don't think it's a good time to dive on the east coast although I've never been there at this time of year. I think it's still monsoon season. Either way, it's high season on the west for a reason. You'd be better off on the Andaman side where the diving is much better anyway. Koh Tao may be a cheap place to get certified but the diving doesn't come anywhere near the west coast.

 

[Phil TK]

. Can anyone tell me if now is a good time to dive around Koh Tao with regards to visibility? I QUOTE]

Like most diving spots the visibility can change by the day so it's pot luck wherever you go -the same seems to be true with the weather in the Gulf of Thailand thesedays. All last year the weather on Koh Tao and it's neighbours was very unpredictable but on the whole is wasn't too bad -some squalls but still plenty of sunshine most of the time!
Koh Tao is a good choice if you want value for money both in terms of courses and accommodation. What many people fail to mention about the island is that it is actually a very beautifull place with some great walks, many water sports, rock climbing and canoeing etc. I much prefer it to staying in Phuket myself and I'm not the only one.
As for dive ops, I'll make it easy for you and reccommend Dive Point (you'll see their shop as the ferry/boat pulls in to the harbour) I know all their instructors and they are as good as anybody, plus everyone knows their boat is easily the best on the island.
Phil TK

 

[TomGoodacre]

As for dive ops, I'll make it easy for you and reccommend Dive Point (you'll see their shop as the ferry/boat pulls in to the harbour) I know all their instructors and they are as good as anybody, plus everyone knows their boat is easily the best on the island.
Phil TK

Thanks for the suggestion although when I looked at dive ops in the Koh Tao area on www.padi.com they don't seem to be listed? How do you know about them? Thanks again.

Tom

 

[bubblemonkey]

Koh Tao may be a cheap place to get certified but the diving doesn't come anywhere near the west coast.

there are a number of fantastic dive sites on this side of Thailand, chumphon pinnacle and Sails rock are but 2, too be honest initially we didnt like the dive culture on Koh Tao compared to Lanta it was very regimented and took alot of the fun out of it (we were diving with planet scuba at the time) it was very much leave at 8 - first dive 40 mins - thats it - out - second dive 40 mins - out back to shore - bye, then we found a much smaller dive operation on one of the northern beaches and it was far more relaxed.
For instance with Planet scuba you went to the dive sites like sails rock in the morning the same time as all the other big dive companys would arrive from Tao, Phan gan and Samui so it was like diver soup but with the other company they would purposly delay leaving for an hour and when you arrived there would be maybe 2 other boats if any and you would be able to see the stuff that really inhabits these sites I.E planet scuba dive nothing of much interest, the other company well over 15 grey reef sharks.
the other thing about diving on Tao and the east coast is that it is much cheaper than the diving on the west coast.

my advice find your self a nice relaxed company with whome you can dive safely and have fun...after all thats what its all about.

 

[subaquaman]

Has anybody dived with crystal dive on koh tao? What were they like?

 

[Phil TK]

Thanks for the suggestion although when I looked at dive ops in the Koh Tao area on www.padi.com they don't seem to be listed? How do you know about them? Thanks again.

Tom

This is their site Tom
www.divepoint-kohtao.com

I know them because I've worked on their boat a few times! -I don't have an interest in promoting them though -honest.
The DP boat is almost always the first to the dive sites in the morning (kick off for them is 7am) -so you won't really have the problems that bubblemonkey experienced with Planet Scuba, There are around 30 dive ops on the island so there is a huge choice if you are not happy. If you want a really laid back op then Easy Divers is another good choice, both DP and Easys do very good packages of dives for a good discount plus accomodation deals. Most people take advantage of this for the first night and then poke around for more choice accomodation the next day. (Pssst...keep it quiet, but check out the resorts/huts around the Jansom Bay area -it's a nice walk round there too)
Phil TK

 

[subaquaman]

Has anyone dived with Crystal Dive on Koh Tao? Or even heard reports?

 

[TomGoodacre]

This is their site Tom
www.divepoint-kohtao.com

I know them because I've worked on their boat a few times! -I don't have an interest in promoting them though -honest.
The DP boat is almost always the first to the dive sites in the morning (kick off for them is 7am) -so you won't really have the problems that bubblemonkey experienced with Planet Scuba.

Thanks for all the info Phil (and also thanks to everyone else who has posted). My girlfriend and I have decided that we will be heading down to Koh Tao in the next week or so. All quite exciting!

I will post a message on this thread to let everyone know which op we finally went with and how we found the OW course! Until then.....