Suggestions for short trip

[divingjd]

I have a business trip to Bangkok coming up in January and I am thinking about staying in Thailand for a few days to go diving. I have never been to Thailand. I will not be able to manage more than three or four days for diving. Because I only have a few days, I’m looking for a place that is fairly easy to reach from Bangkok. If travel from Bangkok requires four different modes of transport and an entire day of travel, it won’t work well for this trip. I am looking for someplace relatively quiet. I’m not into partying and I will be there to dive, relax, and maybe see a few sights. High-quality dive sites would be a plus, but I recognize that my timing constraints may mean that it will be difficult to get to the “best” sites. I am an experienced diver (about 1,000 dives), but have never been in the Indo-Pacific, so much of this will all be new to me. I will not be bringing a camera, but I have a great appreciation for macro life. I won’t be pinching pennies (it sounds like Thailand is a pretty good bargain to start), but I won’t be looking for anything like Amanpuri Resort, either. I am an adventurous eater and am eager to try local cuisine.

I would appreciate any suggestions you might have regarding locations, lodging, dive sites, and dive shops that would fit into my plan. I will probably bring my gear, but might want to lighten the load and rent. Any comments on availability and quality of rental gear would be greatly appreciated. I am thinking of this as a land-based trip because of the time, but I would also consider a liveaboard with a short (3-4 day) itinerary.

My ideal dive shop would cater to advanced divers and have small boats.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[stevenl]

Best diving is on the Andaman site. Looking at your requirements, Khao Lak seems to fit the bill: good diving, direct flights to Phuket. There are options for smaller daytrip boats, but if I were you I'd look at a short liveaboard.

I'd be happy to help you with this.

 

[Barmaglot]

Concur with stevenl that Andaman side has the best diving, but on the downside, you pretty much need a DMK -> HKT flight, plus a several hours long car ride from Phuket airport to Khao Lak, plus a 24 hour period after diving before you can fly back to Bangkok. Alternatively, you can go to Pattaya/Jomtien - the diving won't be as good, and Pattaya is anything but quiet, but it's much more convenient. There is also Koh Chang, but getting there from Bangkok is basically just as much of a full-day affair as it is to Phuket/Khao Lak area.

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

Koh Tao is nice, Not so easy to reach as some other places, but if you count in that you need 24 hrs after diving before flying it can be quite good.

If you can go in the evening from BKK you can arrive in the morning to Koh Tao. (combined bus/boat with Lompraya, BKK 9pm to Koh Tao 8:45 am)

And if you take the afternoon boat from Koh Tao you can arrive BKK at 0:30 with Lompraya or around 05 am if you go with Songserm.

You can go on afternoon dives the day you arrive, and morning dives the day you leave.

And you can go both morning and afternoon dives other days. 2 dives in the morning and 2 dives in the afternoon.

I prefer the morning dives, better dive sites.


Last time i got on the night ferry from Koh Tao, Leaves 11pm and arrived to BKK in the afternoon.

Its most of the time better to buy a combined ticket boat and bus or boat and train, much less waiting time. And for me its good to take the night bus down and arrive in the morning, I don't loose a day to travel if i travel in the night.


Most good diving in Thailand is long travel time from BKK, but if you plan your travel you need not loose to much time.

 

[Barmaglot]

Good point on Koh Tao - while the diving isn't as good on the Andaman Sea side, you can get in and out on overnight routes, saving time. I've been there three times, getting in via plane (Don Mueang to Surat Thani, then minibus transfer, then ferry), bus (Lomprayah overnight to Chumphon, then ferry) and train, and train was by far my favorite option. As pointed out by Magnus, you get to the island early enough to go on the afternoon dives on the same day, but unlike a bus, you get a bunk to sleep on, so you don't arrive dog-tired. With the dive sites close to the island, you can do 4-5 dives a day, much like you would on a liveaboard - other places in Thailand limit you to 2-3 dives a day when doing day trips.

https://12go.asia is very helpful in booking tickets for traveling around Thailand.

 

[stevenl]

Concur with stevenl that Andaman side has the best diving, but on the downside, you pretty much need a DMK -> HKT flight, plus a several hours long car ride from Phuket airport to Khao Lak, plus a 24 hour period after diving before you can fly back to Bangkok. Alternatively, you can go to Pattaya/Jomtien - the diving won't be as good, and Pattaya is anything but quiet, but it's much more convenient. There is also Koh Chang, but getting there from Bangkok is basically just as much of a full-day affair as it is to Phuket/Khao Lak area.

All true, except for the several hours long car ride. From Phuket airtport to Khao Lak is about 1 hour.

 

[dm_junkie]

It all depends on your available time. Generally Khao Lak or Phuket or Phi Phi seems to be the right place for your LOB choice.
If you just want to dive , get wet regardless what you see in the waters, Macros or Pelargic even Chumphon or Pattaya is good enough.

Checkout the LOB sales websites and you will be able to see pretty much the few available LOB for Jan that you are planning. Some of the LOB would only charge a flat fee of 500 baht per day or 2500 baht throughout the period. LOB usually provides transfers directly from the Phuket airport or Hotels; perhaps arrive and hop onto the boat. After the dive, their transfers will send you to your hotel for the night saving you more money for better food or beer.

If I remembered correct, Jan is a good time to dive there and most land based dive operators include the gears in their day trips.

 

[chillyinCanada]

At Koh Tao, do the dive ops still use the old fishing boats? I had a bit of difficulty with the drop off the side and then a struggle to get back up the long ladder. This was years ago and I was much stronger than I am now.

 

[dm_junkie]

Am not so sure but given the development and advancement of the diving business at Koh Tao as compared with Phuket, Khaolak ...etc, some operators would have decent boats while some others probably the same or improved ladder access. If you can recall the dive school or operator, do a google and check them out for more information. Happy Diving !

 

[Barmaglot]

At Koh Tao, do the dive ops still use the old fishing boats? I had a bit of difficulty with the drop off the side and then a struggle to get back up the long ladder. This was years ago and I was much stronger than I am now.

In three trips to Koh Tao, last one in March this year, I don't recall ever seeing a boat with a dedicated dive platform. In fact, the only dive boat that I ever saw there that was not a converted fishing boat was a large longtail with a sun shade in the middle. I think I saw people diving off speedboats a couple times, but those were probably from Koh Samui, and they looked to be more awkward to dive from than the fishing boats.