Please help plan 5 days diving / 5 days top side in SE Asia

[mpagri]

I just came into the opportunity to get away for a few weeks in mid June (june 17-july 1 approx). I realize this is very last minute so I'll take any help you can offer.

I had my heart set on Similan Islands until I realized that it will be officially closed. Bummer!

Now I don't know what to do. Should I still dive around Phuket, Phi Phi, etc. Or switch to The gulf side and do Koh Tao?

I am also open to switching gears entirely and trying Indonesia as well or instead.

Some details before I ramble too much:

I would love to see large pelagics (whale sharks??), but am also very into macros (nudibranchs and octopods!!).

I have logged about 20 dives across panama and the red sea, so not total beginner, not pro by any means.

My budget is about $2000 not including airfare from NY (actually philly) - SE Asia.

I am going mostly for diving, but would also like to spend some time hiking in jungles, fishing sustainably, and finding good photography vistas and landscapes. I'd be ok with an affordable LOB for 4-5 nights and then maybe hike around topside the rest of the trip.

I would prefer a place with easy (cheaper) access so I don't blow my entire budget getting to where I want to. I am open, however, to traveling between islands and countries if it leads to be a better all around experience.

Can you guys please suggest a decent travel itinerary or just some tips on the best dive spots in that region during June.

Thanks!

 

[Wingy]

I love Indonesia but sounds like Thailand may be a good mix of diving and topside stuff with plenty of variety and accomodation options within your budget. I personally like Krabi but if you are into hiking, think about Sumatra or Sulawesi or Malaysian Borneo and Sipidan.

 

[Kokeldil]

I think both, Thailand and Indonesia might work for you, although when it comes to land activities (in the mix with diving) I would clearly prefer Thailand. The sites in the Similan Marine Park might be officially closed by this time of the year, however, I believe there are a couple of spots in the Andaman sea which don´t belong to the national park and can also be reached by boat within a day trip. You might want to check out possibilities to go a bit north of the Similans.
Anyway, also diving around Phuket is wonderful. You won´t have the viz you have in the Andaman sea, you won´t have those currents, but there´s still a chance for spectacular dives - admittely I fear your chances on whale sharks won´t be too good in June. Next to this - what I really cannot recommend is the gulf side of Thailand so IF you choose going there you might stick to Phuket diving and then hitchhike up north. The Khao Sok national park is really worth a visit. I´ve been there 2 times, lived in a bamboo house on the lake and I guess sometime soon I will be going there again. Spectacular landscapes and actually there´s also the chance for lake and cave diving there. I would provide photos if I knew how >_<

After all, I think I agree with Wingy and for the combination of underwater/above water nature travels Thailand is just IT!

 

[mpagri]

Thanks so much for the replies. Thailand seems like the place to go. I am looking more into Krabi now, it seems like it might be less touristy. Will it be running boats in the low season and is the diving equal to Phuket?

Can you drop a name for one of the places north of Similan Islands? Thanks!

 

[Wingy]

Ahh Krabi my favourtie province in Thailand. Yes it is less touristy and has the fantastic Railay beach for partying (east side backpackers heaven, west side sunset heaven) but also the hot springs and the emerald pool are great topside excursions that you can do with a taxi or an organised tour from Ao Nang. To me this is the nicest province in thailand for diving and chilling and enjoying the friendliest thai people - just hanging at Nopparathara beach in the afternoons and eating at Kruaathara are memorable days. My dive guy in Ao Nang has a boat and runs in low season weather permitting out to Phi Phi and does the 3 dive superday - anenome, shark point, king cruiser wreck. I can pm you his timetable. Diving around the local islands is also fun although viz can be a bit murky in low season. Krabi also has an international airport now so depending on where you are from you may be able to get a direct flight or if you do go to Phuket catch a taxi (about 2 hours really lovely drive and about 2000bht). You get more local thais holidaying in Krabi than drunks on Bangla Road although there still is some nightlife and plenty of accomodation and eating choices. I happily eat soi food in ao nang but wouldnt do so in phuket. So to answer your question is the diving equal, well yes because you are often diving the same spots, just a bit longer boat ride to get there - the local islands can sometimes throw up real suprises too and are better IMO than Racha Noi. If you want a contact there Id be happy to pass along a pm and give you some advice on where NOT to stay

 

[Kokeldil]

Will it be running boats in the low season and is the diving equal to Phuket?
Can you drop a name for one of the places north of Similan Islands? Thanks!

Well, Wingy here seems to be a Thailand expert so you better do what he suggests. I have been there 5 times though (each time about 22 days) and know most regions - even though my insight in every one was relatively short - naturally. It might be that Krabi didn´t leave such a great impression on me because I knew the Andaman sea and the Similans already and also the Khao Sok national park I mentioned above. I know quite some dive sites also (20 different in my logs), also the ones Wingy mentioned. Of course I´ve only had 1 single dive at each. This is just so you know what my opinion derives from and that there is of course plenty of room for misjudgement still.

I for one believe if you have seen the Andaman, especially the Surin national park then it´s OK to go diving around Phuket, but off the shores of Krabi it can be a bit disappointing. But it´s also a fact that the spots a little farther out on the sea (anemone reef, sharkpoint 1-3, I think even Koh Racha could be doable from Krabi?, but especially the famous Phi Phi Islands) are very beautiful. My 2 dives at Anemone reef have been, a bit surprisingly, been the best ones on that side of Thailand. If you have never been anywhere else in Thailand before you should be totally fine with Krabi and diving S, SE of Phuket. So as for the question quoted above about diving being equal to Phuket - choose those spots for your daytrip which are the typical Phuket-spots (Wingy mentioned a few) and you´ll be fine.

My first post was a bit premature though - I knew that some sites are closed during rain season and summer, especially those belonging to the marine national parks but I wasn´t aware of which exactly those were. So the spots I was talking about are most probably closed as well. The spots north of the Similans however are named Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Suring Islands (very limited diving there) and Richilieu Rock. Richelieu Rock is hard to be reached within a daytrip though - it is possible but you´ll have a hard time finding some dive shop or guide who does so. I´ve never dived on the Surin Islands, but I´ve been snorkeling there a couple of times and must say that this is the most beautiful place on earth I have ever seen - no doubt about that. You instantly forget the Similans. Same about Koh Tachai. I´ve been there in january and the viz was just knocking me down. 150 ft. ... easily ... and beyond that. I am far from being an expierienced diver, but I´ve had my share of different locations and conditions already. Koh Tachai easily ranks in the top5 of my personal favourites and even beats some of the spots in Indonesia. But that´s all just a matter of taste.

I can only repeat my recommendation to go to Khao Sok, however. It´s easily reached from Krabi too and will certainly leave some ever unerasable and fantastic memories and pictures in your mind.

 

[stevenl]

All the divesites in the Similans and Surin national parks will be closed, so that includes Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.

Best would be daytrips to sites like Racha Islands (only reachable from Phuket), Shark Point area (from Krabi, Phi Phi and Phuket, sometimes also from Koh Lanta) and Bida Islands (from Phi Phi, Krabi, Lanta and Phuket).

There are also some liveaboard options, but getting a liveaboard trip copnfirmed is very difficult.

 

[Wingy]

LOL no expert Kokeldil, just a long time visitor to LOS - probably one of my favourite countries to spend time in tho I do totally second your opinion on Khao Sok!

 

[Bubble Junky]

If you're in the Krabi region, Koh Lanta might be worth checking out too... Hin Daeng and Hin Muang accessability will depend on the weather, but Koh ha and the Phi Phi dive sites shouldn't be an issue... Lanta's a beautiful island topside too...

 

[Quero]

If you're sure you want to come to Thailand primarily for the diving, I would say to base yourself either at Phuket or at Koh Lanta. I prefer both of these to Krabi where daytrips don't go as far west as the Racha Islands and seldom get as far south as Hin Daeng at this time of year. From Phuket you can get to the nicest dive sites nearby to Krabi--the ones around Phi Phi--as well as those between Phi Phi and Phuket--Shark Point/Anemone Reef/King Cruiser wreck--and also those at the two Racha islands. From Lanta you get to the wonderful Koh Haa group as well as to the Phi Phi area, plus, if there are enough customers and the sea conditions allow, you may get down to Hin Daeng/Hin Muang, which are reminiscent of the Similans. You might also enjoy the Gulf of Thailand side of the country to dive around Koh Tao and visit Ang Thong National Park (fantastic scenery and wildlife) rather than the Andaman side. The diving isn't as varied, but it's certainly pleasant and worth considering. But no matter where you dive from in Thailand, for daytrip diving you won't have five days of dives at different dive sites every trip--there will be some repetition just because most trips do two or three dives at different sites on a single day and the geographic range for daytrips is, naturally, limited.

However, to be perfectly honest with you, at this time of year I'd go to Indonesia if it were me or alternatively Sipadan. In the case of Sipadan, for example, you could spend five days at Mabul Island and go nuts with the macro on dives there and at Kapalai, and you could still get the big animals like schooling bumpheads, sharks, barracudas at Sipadan. Then you could spend the other five days on Borneo and visit an orang-utan sanctuary, do some trekking, etc. In Indonesia, for somebody with your experience level, I'd suggest Bali, in the Tulamben area. You can hike up the volcano (if you're quite fit), visit lots of temples, and see wonderful scenery for your land-based days, and you can dive at Tulamben for both macro life and big animals around the wonderful, shallow shipwreck there.