why do some people trash koh tao?

[buksida]

What about Chumphon? Isn't that pinnacle worth the boat ride from Samui/Koh Tao?

Chumphon is both the name of a pinnacle northwest of Koh Tao and the provincial capital of the province due west of the island, there are some good islands off Chumphon on the mainland, a bit more info is here:

Chumphon Pinnacle
Chumphon Dive Sites

 

[drbill]

I've dived both coasts as well. Enjoyed Koh Tao and saw a few things there that I didn't see in the Andaman Sea. Speaking as a marine biologist, the diving was different in the two regions... buyt I like "different."

Chumphon Pinnacle was a very crowded dive site when I went. However we were doing a deep dive so most of the divers were circling above us. It was amusing to see so many "levels" (depth-wise) of divers there.

 

[Bowmouth]

i cannot inderstand why people trash koh tao. its just as good (if not better) than anywhere along the Andaman coast. it has great reefs with beautiful colorful coral....

I dived Ko Tao as early as 1991 and since then have been back there several times. I have the reefs there steadily seen declining and the island becoming first a construction site and later an overcrowded, littered "paradise". Same thing happened to Phi-Phi, Ao Nang, Patong Beach and all the other once beautiful and pristine areas in Thailand. It's a given thing that where tourism flourishes the natural beauty of the land and ocean will disappear. We humans just never seem to learn and treat the natural world like something that should be either tamed, killed or completely wiped out.

It's both sad and frustrating but it is what it is. Most of the divesites around Ko Tao miss the diversity and health compared to the divesites around Phuket and the Andaman Coast. It should be noted though that unfortunately divesites on the Andaman Coast are now also under severe threat from tourism, fisheries and "development".

 

[bubblemonkey]

the words diver and soup spring to mind, that was what it was like when we dived Chumphon pinacle and sails rock and most of the sites around Tao
Dont get me wrong when we changed dive operations and went with a smaller outfit that stagered its times so that it arrived at the big dive sites as the big boats were leaving and it was like diving a diferent site as soon as we decended to 32m there were 2 grey reef sharks within 5m of us and as we looked around at least another 5.
I think the trick is to avoid the crowds and avoid the big diving operators and the diving is great.
nothing worse than decending down the chimney with 20 other divers LOL

 

[dm_junkie]

I've read reviews that there are still good dives in Koh Tao. Though have not actually tried as I have been covering most of the East West coast of Phuket. WOuldn't mind taking a plunge in the near future if I can find good dives.

A group of my friends from Penang has been there early this year have been giving positive feedback about this place.