Diving near Bangkok

[jasondcrawford]

Next year is my last year of grad school and I'm thinking of doing a semester abroad from January to April. One of the schools I'm looking at is in Bangkok and, being unfamiliar with the area, I was wondering how far of a drive it would be to some worthwhile dive sites. Is there anything I could get to in a short drive? What about a long drive for a 3 or 4 day weekend? Also

What would the water temp be like in those months?
How is the visibility?
How much does a typical 2 tank dive cost? Is shore diving an option?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[limbo]

Hi Jason,

Pattaya would be your nearest location to dive, pending on where you live in Bangkok about an hour and a half away from BKK. There's a very active thread about Pattaya and it's diving which you may want to check out on this Thailand forum.

For long weekends Koh Tao or Phuket and it's surround ing areas like Krabi, Koh Lanta and Phi Phi come to mind or possibly Koa Lak for for Similan diving.

 

[Apecks]

What would the water temp be like in those months?
How is the visibility?
How much does a typical 2 tank dive cost? Is shore diving an option?
QUOTE]

Water Temp 27-28'C
Vis Depends - 10m round islands near Pattaya, better in Samesan 30 mins down the road
Cost 2000 - 2500 without gear. THB 500 gear hire.

 

[milktrayman]

go to pattaya.... check out Koh Rin and Koh Man witchai... and if you like shipwrecks check out the Khram, the Kood and for something a little bit special.... go dive on the Hardeep off Sattahip

 

[lord khram]

If you want good diving, I would opt for taking a few days, and go to south thailand on the Andaman sea, jan / feb / march is probably the best time of year to dive there, with excellent viz.
There are at best description some ok dives around Pattaya, take care if you go there to pick the right shop, most are grossly overpriced and dont offer good service. Have a search on the Internet, there are a few Thai operators running trips in the Pattaya / Samae San area for about half the cost of going with one of the pattaya shops.

 

[Bowmouth]

most are grossly overpriced and dont offer good service. .

 

[kathydee]

If you want great diving - I'd suggest checking out airasia.com - very affordable flights direct to Bali or connecting in Kuala Lumpur and onwards to Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo or even Manado & Bunakan/Lembeh. All of these places have affordable diving.

I've posted very detailed information on threads in the Indonesia forum for both Tulemben Bali & Malaysia Borneo - feel free to PM me if you need anything more. Have fun & good luck with your degree - I'm also working on mine ;-).

 

[surinboy]

Many people from Bangkok head down to our neck of the woods (Khuraburi, Phang Nga) for the weekend. They travel on the overnight bus and take the morning transfer out to Koh Surin for snorkeling or diving. This can be done as a day trip or longer as there is accommodation on Koh Surin.

November to May is the best time to visit this area with water visibility ranging from 10m on a bad day up to 20m+ on a good day.

The water temperature here starts off the season perhaps around 27C and climbs slowly upto 29C by the latter part of the season.

The downside is that the diving on the Andaman side is generally more expensive. Shore diving is not generally very good, so this restricts operators from offering cheap diving deals as the better sites are a fair way from the coast.

As such, day trip diving is quite dear and, because of the transfers, not a very relaxing day out imho. It makes much more sense to stay for a night or 2 either on a liveaboard or on the islands themselves. This way you get much better value diving.

 

[katdiver]

If you want great diving - I'd suggest checking out airasia.com - very affordable flights direct to Bali or connecting in Kuala Lumpur and onwards to Sipadan in Malaysia Borneo or even Manado & Bunakan/Lembeh. All of these places have affordable diving.

Sure, check out the flights, as a quick hop south can get you some very good diving. The Air Asia service is good too, I have a shop in KL that sends referrals up to Krabi. Leave in the morning and splashing in for check out dives in the afternoon. You've got so much good diving within a short hop, you can be in Krabi or Phuket in the time it takes to drive out of Bangkok.