Poll:Krabi vs Samui diving and side attractions

[Diver_City Boys]

Side attractions: natural beauty, more Locals not outsider thais (like pukhet), good coffee shops, Movies, food varity,...I'm not bothered whethere these is nightlife

Hi,

If i don't go to bangkok this time, i might go either to Krabi or Samui for doing OW and AOW (DM for phuket). Never been to either places except phuket for total of 4 month and searched every hole with my motorbike

No "Kou Tao" please, too small place for guy lived long time in Dubai and bangkok.

Please recommand me:
1-Good dive company with a website, good facility and service, and where they will take me for my course dive, king cruiser, shark point, hin mueng, richilue.., phi phi....?

2-Hotel or Accomdation not too close to main tourist district, less than 500 Bhat daily

3-Somewhere close to public swiming pool ( Can swim over 200meters, trying speed up for divemaster 400 meters under 5 minute)

4-Is Krabi bigger than samui? How about overall cost? Is it easy to get a motor bike in
krabi, without risking your passport

 

[stevenl]

Krabi both for scenery and for diving.

 

[Vie]

I prefer Krabi - quieter, easy to reach great sites like Hin Muang/Hin Daeng, Ko Haa, King Cruiser Wreck/Anemone Reef, etc.

In Krabi, I can recommend Aqua Vision (Ao Nang Dive Center) for recreational diving.

http://www.aqua-vision.net/

For more challenging stuff or AL80 doubles/deco bottle rental/EANx/trimix fills, I would recoommend One Stop Dive Centre (aka Krabi Dive Supply).

http://krabidivesupply.com/

The dive shops will be able to recommend a hotel to suit your needs. Other than hotel pools, there is a nice swimming pool in Krabi that is private but the dive shops do have access to it.

 

[buksida]

Have to agree with the above, for me anyway Krabi wins hands down for diving, scenery, attractions and laid back lifestyle. Have been to both several times and still enjoy Samui but if I were to make a choice and diving was a factor I'd definitely go with Krabi.

Krabi dive sites
Samui dive sites

 

[Diver_City Boys]

Thanks StevenL and buksida. , looking for futher advice

Vie,

I thought Krabi should be cheaper for diving than phuket, but looking at the prices found to be most expensive dive in TH ,are they like walk-in rates with discounts afterward?

http://www.aqua-vision.net/Pages_English/courses.htm
They are not anything near going rates

Also the pool from accomdation they offer is diving pool, not suited for swimmers

Are there better deals in krabi, i need some details to 4 points that i wrote. Thanks everyone for help

 

[jiveturkey]

I'd choose Krabi over Samui. Dive sites are better and closer too.

You don't have an open water license and you're already planning to do your DM course?

 

[Vie]

Vie,

I thought Krabi should be cheaper for diving than phuket, but looking at the prices found to be most expensive dive in TH, are they like walk-in rates with discounts afterward?

Probably, best thing to do is to call and ask.

http://www.aqua-vision.net/Pages_English/courses.htm
They are not anything near going rates

I've never trained with them. I do however like their boat and their people very much. I'm sorry I can't help you very much when it comes to prices as I do not work in the industry; however, from my experience, cheapest usually means sub-standard training - you get what you pay for...

Also the pool from accomdation they offer is diving pool, not suited for swimmers

Like I said in my previous post, there's another pool that some of the dive shops have access to - you have to ask them about it.

 

[Diver_City Boys]

I'd choose Krabi over Samui. Dive sites are better and closer too.

You don't have an open water license and you're already planning to do your DM course?

How about attractions, because i will be there 3-4 weeks, more details. Thanks

I have no urgency to be DM anytime soon, and i need to do a lot of dives too, not a demanding job financialy, infact sucks for that reason, it's just an achivement to me. I'm middle age with very bad stamina, because doing PC jobs for over decade couldn't swim even 5 meters first day, so i need to be in swiming pool everyday, and making it a extreem HABIT

 

[Bowmouth]

Krabi isn't all that cheap anymore and it's not easy to find accomodation in the 300-500 Baht range in Ao Nang or at Raillay Beach. Still, it is a beautiful province and an excellent place to get started with scuba diving. To find a cheap place you're probably best of with staying in a Krabi Town guesthouse and renting a motorcycle to get you to Ao Nang where most of the diveshops are located.
Another option is to try to make a deal with a dive shop and get atotal package price including diving, accomodation and food. It's low season now in Krabi and there may be diveshops that are willing to give you a good price.
Don't count on being able to visit Ko Ha, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang from Ao Nang this time of year. All those places are FAR away and weather is fairly unpredictable and seas can be rough.
Local diving in Krabi is fine for training purposes and only a 30 to 50 minute longtail boat drive away from the beach.

Personally I recommend you to do Phuket instead; bigger and better boats, more interesting dive sites, and excellent training facilities for student divers. Kata is a really nice beach area to stay at and guesthouse prices are comparable with those of Krabi.

 

[Diver_City Boys]

Personally I recommend you to do Phuket instead; bigger and better boats, more interesting dive sites, and excellent training facilities for student divers. Kata is a really nice beach area to stay at and guesthouse prices are comparable with those of Krabi

I know it, but Phuket isn't in my plan this time, because i like to see a new places in thailand this time as well, phuket will be in my future plan only

Krabi isn't all that cheap anymore and it's not easy to find accomodation in the 300-500 Baht range in Ao Nang or at Raillay Beach. Still, it is a beautiful province and an excellent place to get started with scuba diving. To find a cheap place you're probably best of with staying in a Krabi Town guesthouse and renting a motorcycle to get you to Ao Nang where most of the diveshops are located.

I think more people visit recently because of new krabi airport opened march. I read that i can go to krabi from phuket by bus 2 hours time, may be i should combin krabi with phuket in one journey later

Don't count on being able to visit Ko Ha, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang from Ao Nang this time of year. All those places are FAR away and weather is fairly unpredictable and seas can be rough.
Local diving in Krabi is fine for training purposes and only a 30 to 50 minute longtail boat drive away from the beach.

Actually the main reason i choosed Krabi over samui, i thought i get chance to see better dive sites, in that case why shouldn't i go to samui for a 7 day (open water)
and 7 days kou Tao (AOW) then head to kou phangan for few days also, can anyone give a plan what the best route to visit these three island

It's seems to me that Krapi is much less developed than samui (virtualtoursit.com) in
term of shopping, coffee shops, food chains,...Some times i miss city life too

Btw bowmouth, i appreciate your detailed reply, further comments please...