where to dive in thailand? (early april)

[Christian]

thanks everyone.. my friend mentioned koh tao, near koh samui... he really liked the diving there, it was cheap, and short boat rides...so I might try there....

one downside is that the airfares from singapore to koh samui are alot more than to phuket....... has anyone dove from koh tao?

I'm not in the mood for a liveaboard or long boats rides this trip...

thanks again for the replies so far, Scott

Generally diving in the Thai Gulf (Ko Tao, Samui etc.) is not as good as in the Andaman Sea. And early April is more correct season wise for the Andaman Sea due to the monsoon.

One option for you is to go to Phuket and then take a ferry to Phi Phi Islands (couple of hours). Stay on Phi Phi for two or three nights and do two or three days of diving. The boat rides to the local sites are fast, maximum 30 minutes, and the diving is decent and sometimes good if you are a bit lucky with the conditions and the sightings. Wiz is normally not so good, but you can see zebra (leopard) sharks and if you are lucky, whale sharks, that cruise by in this area. Plenty of fish. I'd rate it behind Shark Reef and Anemone Reef, but ahead of the local Phuket sites. And it should be possible to squeze in three dives/day and also to do night dives.

My experience with Phi Phi is all pre tsunami, so I don't have any reccomendations considering dive shops or accomodation. However I know, that the island is up and running. Accomodation is a bit more expensive than Phuket though. Diving used to be a bit cheaper.

good luck

/c

 

[slipslop]

i disagree with comments about the dive sites at kop tao being lousy, i just came back from ko tao and thought the diving was pretty good, particularly sail rock, mango bay, japanese gardens at nangyuang and ao leuk i even enjoyed diving with leopard sharks and black tips off sairee beach, i found the water clear and the coral colorful and the fish life plentiful. i dived with bans and asia divers both situated in the main town of mae haad. there are heaps of other dive operators there. the island is really beautiful,
i had a great time.

 

[Bowmouth]

i disagree with comments about the dive sites at kop tao being lousy, i just came back from ko tao and thought the diving was pretty good, particularly sail rock, mango bay, japanese gardens at nangyuang and ao leuk i even enjoyed diving with leopard sharks and black tips off sairee beach, i found the water clear and the coral colorful and the fish life plentiful. i dived with bans and asia divers both situated in the main town of mae haad. there are heaps of other dive operators there. the island is really beautiful,
i had a great time.

It's great that you were lucky and had a good time, enjoyed the diving at and around Ko Tao and had good visibility. Yes, the diving at Sail Rock and Chumporn Pinnacle can be pretty good but the majority of dive sites around Ko Tao are damaged, barren and lacking good marinelife. There's LESS diversity than the Andaman Sea, in general LESS good visibility and sites can be awfully crowded with student divers and their instructors. Try the Westcoast of Thailand next time you're here and see the difference for yourself!

 

[jigo]

Shoredives, with IMO the best options in Kata.

Koh Tao is a nice island with a very relaxed atmosphere, it is all about diving there. However, most of the diving done there are Open Water Courses, so quite often big groups and not that much to see either.
If you decide to go there, I think the best divesites in that area is Chumpon Pinnacle. Just make sure you're on the first boat to reach the site. The other sites, with maybe the exception of Sail Rock, are mediocre at best.

thanks for the response.

 

[scottfiji]

ok, new plan!!!

the airfare to koh samui (near koh tao) is double the airfare to phuket. So, I'm thinking maybe its better to fly into phuket, and dive in the Adaman sea.

But - I don't want long boat rides, I don't want to stay in phuket.

I'd like to stay somewhere closer to the diving, like Ko Phi Phi. Thanks for the idea Christian! So I'll fly into Phuket and take a ferry to an outer island.

Is the Phi-phi islands my best bet? or does anyone have other options? it sounds like there the dive sites will be close by, the diving good, and I can still fly into phuket. I'd love to see a whale shark. I've seen lots of mantas so I don't care about those. Fish and invertebrates are also cool, I do a lot of underwater photography.

Scott

 

[manhattandiver]

I would recommend diving Shark Point and Anemone Reef in addition to the local sites around Phi Phi. You can do them from Phuket since the trip isn't that long (sometimes with a third dive on the King Cruiser wreck). As far as dive sites go, both options are better than Koh Tao. New divers often rave about Koh Tao diving only because they don't have much basis for comparison. The vast majority of sites there are average at best, visibility is not great and most of the dive boats are like cattle cars. DMs on Koh Tao also have to deal with a lot of inexperienced divers, so dive times are kept short. Many times the DMs themselves are new divers (having gone straight through Open Water, AOW, Rescue and DM), so often they're not that good about pointing out interesting things either. Koh Tao is a great place to relax and hang out, but I wouldn't recommend the diving at all.

 

[Bowmouth]

.... Koh Tao is a great place to relax and hang out, but I wouldn't recommend the diving at all.

I HIGHLY agree with you there Manhattandiver! I've had my fair share of Ko Tao diving in the past and have seen the reefs detoriating more and more every single time I went there. And then the line-ups of boats at some of the dive sites....BRRRRR!

 

[pinklizard]

Sail Rock has a special place in my heart...the very 1st time i got attacked by a trigger. Phuket wins, hands down. Fly Tiger Airways from Singapore to Phuket, it costs nothing, like SGD$200.

I'd go for Phuket though, its looking beautiful now. Did Hin Daeng and Muang in December, mantas everywhere. Similans last week was great, no mantas nor whale sharks but had 2 minkes in a distance which was a bit of a treat.

But if you're not in the mood for a liveaboard, perhaps day trips to Anemone Reef, King Cruiser, etc.

 

[Batfish]

Looks like you want to dive a long weekend. Agree with above that Phuket would be the best bet from Singapore. Plentiful flights, quick and easy to get to. Over the weekend there are several 3-4 dive trips, such as a "Super Sunday" to Phi Phi ( 4 dives includes night dive) and a 4 dive trip (with night dive) to Racha Noi on Monday. These are LONG day trips. Starting 7:30am (ish) and back not before 9pm. Will include all meals and will certainly get you dived to the max!

There are 3 tank day trips every day to the King Cruiser Wreck, Shark Point area.

What about an overnight trip to Hin Daeng/Phi Phi? Theres one scheduled from 3-4 April (6 dives with hotel on Phi Phi).

Plenty of choice to be sure!

Have fun.

Jamie

 

[manhattandiver]

Sail Rock has a special place in my heart...the very 1st time i got attacked by a trigger. Phuket wins, hands down.

Forgot about those little &%#$@ for a bit. Yet another reason to avoid Koh Tao. There are a ton of Titan Trigger Fish there and when they're spawning, they are the most aggressive I've ever seen. Shortly before I got to Koh Tao one diver had a piece of his scalp taken out and while I was there another lost a chunk of a fin. One tip I learned in dealing with them though is that they defend a verticle cone around their nests. If they come after you, the best way to get away from them is to swim away from their nests and DOWN. If you swim upwards, you just stay in their defensive cone that much longer.