Just returned from a wonderful two weeks in Thailand. Traveled March 25-Arpil 7, 2006
This is my first dive trip report, so please bear with me. I haven't figured out how to insert photos - but here's a link to our underwater photos : http://community.webshots.com/album/549448986PQKbjr
Bangkok - we spent our first 2 days in Bangkok and saw the main tourist sites - Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho and the Jim Thompson House. It was incredibley hot and humid. In order facilitate our tour and try to stay cool, we used a driver for our full day of site seeing and were very glad we did. He was a great driver and pleasant guide, and had cold water and towels waiting for us. Unfotunately his english was not as clear as we hoped for, but it was certainly better than our Thai.
The next day we hired a longtail to go up the river and through some of the smaller canals. We loved the longtail tour, especially the trip through Bangkok neighborhoods - seeing a komodo dragon on someone's front steps was quite a memorable experience.
Diving Aboard the Queen Scuba -
next we flew to Phuket for our 4 day scuba diving trip in the Andaman Sea aboard the Queen Scuba. This was an excellent expericence. Although my partner is an experienced diver, I am a novice (just got certified in December) so I was specifically looking for a shorter trip. I got very helpful advice in booking the trip from Siam Dive and Sail. The Queen Scuba is a "mid-priced" boat, but had very high quality service and some of the best Thai food we had anywhere on the trip. Once on board, we had to do little but dive, eat and sleep. The staff were efficient, friendly, and we had a great dive master, Vic. The "boat boys" set up your gear, switchover tanks, and help you on with your fins. Most dives were done off of the back of the "big boat" and then the "boys" would pick us up in a dinghy. Even though there we 20 guests, we entered the water in shifts, and it never seemed crowded. Most dives were planned for 60 minutes, 45 for later in the day. After an initial check out dive, the staff let each buddy pair dive their own profile. The seas were calm and flat, and a balmy 84*F. Some dive sites had pretty strong currents, as we were diving during the new moon.
For the first 3 days we did four dives a day, starting in the Similan Islands, then headed North to Koh Bon, Koh TaChai and Richelieu Rock. The diving ranged from good to phenomenal. The best dives were at Richelieu Rock - where we started our first dive off by seeing a tigertail seahorse and ended after seeing a 25 foot (8 m) whaleshark. Richelieu rock would've been a great dive even without those sightings as the marine life was vibrant everywere. We can certainly understand why this is known as the best dive site in Thailand. Elsewhere on the trip we swam with mantas, turtles, and leopard sharks. On most every dive we saw lionfish and scorpionfish, morays, and nudibranchs along with common reef fish like batfish, angelfish, triggerfish, groupers, anemonefish etc. We had a great time and highly recommend this trip.
Kata Thani, Phuket-
After our dive adventure, I was ready to relax on land, so we headed to the Kata Thani in Phuket. We really liked our stay here. We got a good rate on an oceanfront jr suite as prices fell as of April 1st. We were happy to relax and enjoy the 300 bhat 1 hour massages by the pool. We had our best meal of the trip at Mom Tri's Kitchen. The outdoor seting overlooking the sea is lovely - we were sorry not to have eaten there more than once. We took a trip into Patong one night for dinner and after seeing the crowds, we were so happy that we chose to stay in quiet Kata Noi. We would definitely stay here again.
My partner did a day of diving with Sea Fun divers, based at the Kata Thani. She was quite pleased with the trip. For $90 she did 3 dives - the King Cuiser Wreck, Anemone Reef and Koh Doc Mai. The marine life was full and varied, the boat was comfortable and fast and the staff were efficient. She said she'd dive with this group again in the future.
Phi Phi Island Village -
Next we headed to Koh Phi Phi Don via speedboat and stayed a Phi Phi Island Village (PPIV). The setting here is spectatular, the limestone islands arise out of the emerald green sea. We stayed in a deluxe room at PPIV and were glad we hadn't paid extra to be beachfront. The deluxe bungalows are one row back from the beach, but still have a view of the sea. The ocean in front of the resort is beautiful, but shallow - so swimming can be awkward, espcially at low tide. Fortuately the pool is large and quite lovely. Though often all the pool loungers were taken. The hotel wasn't full, so I can't imagine what the chair situation must be like at peak season.
The staff were friendly and helpful. The food at dinner was somewhat disappointing. There is a Thai resturant, which is beautifully apointed and romantic, but the food is "Thai fusion" - which for the most part seemed to mean westernized and "blanded down". I couldn't help thinking how the food on the dive boat was better than what I was eating at this fancy restaurant.
We hired a longtail boat and toured Phi Phi Leh - where they filmed the Leonardo DiCaprio film "the Beach". The trip was a lot of fun, we saw incredible scenery and did some great snorkeling at Samah Bay.
We also went to Ton Sai Bay, which seemed to be in full swing - no tsumani damage visable to the tourist eye. Here I had my first Thai street food - a chocolate banana pancake and a pineapple smoothie. Both tasted great and were a baragin at about $1. That night I had shrimp and prawns for dinner. Not sure which it was, but I came down with a pretty bad GI upset.
I spent the next day recovering, while my partner did a day dive to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang. She took a speedboat arragned through the dive shop at PPIV, for 4800 baht. She was pretty disappointed with the day. The speed boat used was not equipped for diving - the tanks, gear etc, all were placed in the center cabin and the divers had to maneuver around them. The boat was crowded and hot. The dive itself was a letdown visibiiity wan't that great and it paled with what she'd seen on previous dives - which seemed surprsing since many people had told us this site was second only to Richelieu Rock for Thai diving. Perhaps it was more about missed expectations. In retrospect, she would've preferred doing a local PP dives on a more comfortable boat.
Flights - Thai Air direct from JFK
We live near Philly and drove to JFK in order to get on the direct flight to BKK. We did park, sleep fly at the airport Ramada and it was fine. We bought seats in Premium economy and thought the extra space and pitch was worth the price.
This is my first dive trip report, so please bear with me. I haven't figured out how to insert photos - but here's a link to our underwater photos : http://community.webshots.com/album/549448986PQKbjr
Bangkok - we spent our first 2 days in Bangkok and saw the main tourist sites - Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho and the Jim Thompson House. It was incredibley hot and humid. In order facilitate our tour and try to stay cool, we used a driver for our full day of site seeing and were very glad we did. He was a great driver and pleasant guide, and had cold water and towels waiting for us. Unfotunately his english was not as clear as we hoped for, but it was certainly better than our Thai.
The next day we hired a longtail to go up the river and through some of the smaller canals. We loved the longtail tour, especially the trip through Bangkok neighborhoods - seeing a komodo dragon on someone's front steps was quite a memorable experience.
Diving Aboard the Queen Scuba -
next we flew to Phuket for our 4 day scuba diving trip in the Andaman Sea aboard the Queen Scuba. This was an excellent expericence. Although my partner is an experienced diver, I am a novice (just got certified in December) so I was specifically looking for a shorter trip. I got very helpful advice in booking the trip from Siam Dive and Sail. The Queen Scuba is a "mid-priced" boat, but had very high quality service and some of the best Thai food we had anywhere on the trip. Once on board, we had to do little but dive, eat and sleep. The staff were efficient, friendly, and we had a great dive master, Vic. The "boat boys" set up your gear, switchover tanks, and help you on with your fins. Most dives were done off of the back of the "big boat" and then the "boys" would pick us up in a dinghy. Even though there we 20 guests, we entered the water in shifts, and it never seemed crowded. Most dives were planned for 60 minutes, 45 for later in the day. After an initial check out dive, the staff let each buddy pair dive their own profile. The seas were calm and flat, and a balmy 84*F. Some dive sites had pretty strong currents, as we were diving during the new moon.
For the first 3 days we did four dives a day, starting in the Similan Islands, then headed North to Koh Bon, Koh TaChai and Richelieu Rock. The diving ranged from good to phenomenal. The best dives were at Richelieu Rock - where we started our first dive off by seeing a tigertail seahorse and ended after seeing a 25 foot (8 m) whaleshark. Richelieu rock would've been a great dive even without those sightings as the marine life was vibrant everywere. We can certainly understand why this is known as the best dive site in Thailand. Elsewhere on the trip we swam with mantas, turtles, and leopard sharks. On most every dive we saw lionfish and scorpionfish, morays, and nudibranchs along with common reef fish like batfish, angelfish, triggerfish, groupers, anemonefish etc. We had a great time and highly recommend this trip.
Kata Thani, Phuket-
After our dive adventure, I was ready to relax on land, so we headed to the Kata Thani in Phuket. We really liked our stay here. We got a good rate on an oceanfront jr suite as prices fell as of April 1st. We were happy to relax and enjoy the 300 bhat 1 hour massages by the pool. We had our best meal of the trip at Mom Tri's Kitchen. The outdoor seting overlooking the sea is lovely - we were sorry not to have eaten there more than once. We took a trip into Patong one night for dinner and after seeing the crowds, we were so happy that we chose to stay in quiet Kata Noi. We would definitely stay here again.
My partner did a day of diving with Sea Fun divers, based at the Kata Thani. She was quite pleased with the trip. For $90 she did 3 dives - the King Cuiser Wreck, Anemone Reef and Koh Doc Mai. The marine life was full and varied, the boat was comfortable and fast and the staff were efficient. She said she'd dive with this group again in the future.
Phi Phi Island Village -
Next we headed to Koh Phi Phi Don via speedboat and stayed a Phi Phi Island Village (PPIV). The setting here is spectatular, the limestone islands arise out of the emerald green sea. We stayed in a deluxe room at PPIV and were glad we hadn't paid extra to be beachfront. The deluxe bungalows are one row back from the beach, but still have a view of the sea. The ocean in front of the resort is beautiful, but shallow - so swimming can be awkward, espcially at low tide. Fortuately the pool is large and quite lovely. Though often all the pool loungers were taken. The hotel wasn't full, so I can't imagine what the chair situation must be like at peak season.
The staff were friendly and helpful. The food at dinner was somewhat disappointing. There is a Thai resturant, which is beautifully apointed and romantic, but the food is "Thai fusion" - which for the most part seemed to mean westernized and "blanded down". I couldn't help thinking how the food on the dive boat was better than what I was eating at this fancy restaurant.
We hired a longtail boat and toured Phi Phi Leh - where they filmed the Leonardo DiCaprio film "the Beach". The trip was a lot of fun, we saw incredible scenery and did some great snorkeling at Samah Bay.
We also went to Ton Sai Bay, which seemed to be in full swing - no tsumani damage visable to the tourist eye. Here I had my first Thai street food - a chocolate banana pancake and a pineapple smoothie. Both tasted great and were a baragin at about $1. That night I had shrimp and prawns for dinner. Not sure which it was, but I came down with a pretty bad GI upset.
I spent the next day recovering, while my partner did a day dive to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang. She took a speedboat arragned through the dive shop at PPIV, for 4800 baht. She was pretty disappointed with the day. The speed boat used was not equipped for diving - the tanks, gear etc, all were placed in the center cabin and the divers had to maneuver around them. The boat was crowded and hot. The dive itself was a letdown visibiiity wan't that great and it paled with what she'd seen on previous dives - which seemed surprsing since many people had told us this site was second only to Richelieu Rock for Thai diving. Perhaps it was more about missed expectations. In retrospect, she would've preferred doing a local PP dives on a more comfortable boat.
Flights - Thai Air direct from JFK
We live near Philly and drove to JFK in order to get on the direct flight to BKK. We did park, sleep fly at the airport Ramada and it was fine. We bought seats in Premium economy and thought the extra space and pitch was worth the price.
