Great and very helpful posts everyone, I appreciate it. As for the pacific vs caribbean I'll agree. We've dove extensively throughout the caribbean and while it has a special place in my heart for spearfishing/lobstering/diving .....the sites we saw in Thailand were unbelievable. I thought I was in a saltwater fishtank. The coral, especially the soft corals were fantastic. The fish are similar but the major difference is the colors with the coral.
As for the shore dives what about if we went free diving without a guide? Anything to see or do you need to be farther off? This would be a great way to get some cheap adventuring in. That or rent tanks and dive by ourselves if that's a possibility.
Keep the trash notices coming as well. We picked where we ended up staying in Thailand because of the conservation/eco tourism aspect. There were cheaper places but after reading about the trash that's left behind we had no interest in visiting. The beach where we ended up staying was very nice but one day we took a kayak and explored up the coast and it was very disheartening to see the amount a garbage that was piling up.
As for the shore dives what about if we went free diving without a guide? Anything to see or do you need to be farther off? This would be a great way to get some cheap adventuring in. That or rent tanks and dive by ourselves if that's a possibility.
Keep the trash notices coming as well. We picked where we ended up staying in Thailand because of the conservation/eco tourism aspect. There were cheaper places but after reading about the trash that's left behind we had no interest in visiting. The beach where we ended up staying was very nice but one day we took a kayak and explored up the coast and it was very disheartening to see the amount a garbage that was piling up.