conditions on khao lak?

[Island Hoppa]

hey everyone
i will be staying in koh tao for 3 months starting around feb 1. i orignally wanted to stay on the west coast but things happened with the tsunamis as everyone knows. i think im going to be pretty happy however with koh tao as i will be doing some diver education with coral grand divers. anyway i was kind of interested in shooting over to khao lak for maybe like a week to do some diving in and around the similians and khao lak. does anyone know the situation there? i am hearing different points from different people. if there is damage to marine and coral life i do not want to go. and if there is severe damage to the island i wont go either. id rather go in maybe a couple of years when things kind of clear up. is it worth going or can anyone maybe point me to a different location? any input will be awesome! thanks!

 

[drbill]

You should try a search on it here. I think the reports have suggested it was very hard hit. Don't know the status of any of the dive ops there. Several of our Thai members have been offering input on related threads so I think a search would be helpful to you.

Dr. Bill

 

[Batfish]

hey everyone
i will be staying in koh tao for 3 months starting around feb 1. i orignally wanted to stay on the west coast but things happened with the tsunamis as everyone knows. i think im going to be pretty happy however with koh tao as i will be doing some diver education with coral grand divers. anyway i was kind of interested in shooting over to khao lak for maybe like a week to do some diving in and around the similians and khao lak. does anyone know the situation there? i am hearing different points from different people. if there is damage to marine and coral life i do not want to go. and if there is severe damage to the island i wont go either. id rather go in maybe a couple of years when things kind of clear up. is it worth going or can anyone maybe point me to a different location? any input will be awesome! thanks!

Sorry but Khao Lak will not be possible. The area was hit harder than anywhere else in Thailand. Not to be gloomy, but it will take a year or more to build anything back again. Khao Lak has only just got going over the last few years and now it's gone.

As you are diving with Coral Grand in Koh Tao, you can check with them. They had an office in Khao Lak, but have now moved base to Phuket to run their liveaboard, Queen Scuba. They were using our office temporarily, but have very quickly got sorted out and the liveaboard has already been out this month.

Dive Site damage is minimal. Only a couple of sites affected. I hear only good news from the boats. One of the damaged sites was said to be Christmas point, but then the manager of Coral Grand said they dived it on the last trip and it was fine.

So, if you want Similan islands, you'll need to get to Phuket.

Happy Diving

 

[Island Hoppa]

im glad to hear about the coral and marine life, but it is so terrible to hear about khao lak. i really wanted to go there. i hope everyones safe. such a shame. anyway thanks for the info ill try to get to phuket.

 

[scubamaria]

Hi im actually living and working in Khao lak and it is amazing how quick they have rebuilt please dont listen to what people are saying as all is ok hear and you should come and look for yourself

 

[scubamaria]

Hi im actually living and working in Khao lak and it is amazing how quick they have rebuilt please dont listen to what people are saying as all is ok hear and you should come and look for yourself there are a lot of dive shops opperating and plenty of boats going out every day to the similans,.

 

[Ringo]

Khao Luk most definitely is possible now for some great diving. This area is being rebuilt and tourists should not avoid this area completely. February is not the best time to go to Koh Tao - their season is from May to October. Also there is no comparison between the diving around The Similans (closely located to Kao Luk and with many Liveaboards also running from Phuket) and Koh Tao. If you do go to Khao Luk for a week - enjoy!

 

[phuketpat]

Sorry sunrise
your information is out dated. khao lak is now definitely back on the map & as anyone who has been to the similans knows Tapla Mu which is 10km south of khao lak is still the main jumping off point for both daytrips & liveaboards to the Similans. There are now lots of bungalow places & hotels open here ranging from 200 baht to 20,000 baht per night so you have a good choice. khao lak was never a big party town but more of a family resort with long beaches and tree covered hills & mountains where people came to do things, diving, trekking, etc. Yes Khao lak was the worst hit and suffered the most casualties but we are definitely STILL on the map
give us a call when you want to come over on 076420632

 

[Quero]

LOL, it's so easy to forget that we're now in 2006...don't you just hate it when you mix up the year for the first couple of weeks of January? If you look again, you'll see that while the original posting was in January, it was last year, meaning that follow-up postings made at that time were accurate. Thank goodness that just one year on things have turned around for Kao Lak.

 

[Batfish]

Sorry sunrise..your information is out dated.

Don't you just love it when someone digs up an old thread..That post by Sunrise (that was me) was a year ago. Thank God its 2006. We are all praying for a truly happy new near. Khao Lak is up on it's feet now, no worries.