Where to dive in Thailand

Hi everybody,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Thailand late August beginning September. We were wondering if anybody has some good advice on diving locations and operators.

Now we have the following problem: I've been diving for a couple of years, about 100+ dives, my girlfriend isn't certified and wants to do her open water there.

We'd really appreciate some advice on where to go so that we both can enjoy the diving. We were thinking about Ko Tao for certification and afterwards heading to the Similans. Don't know if this is a good idea.

Any info and experience will help

Thanks,

Edwin

Hi Edwin

You will find that the Similan Islands dont open until around mid of October. Also at that time of year there is still a very high chance of rain, Sept normally the wetest and the monsoon wind is changing direction so it can be choopy, particualrly in Oct/Nov.

However you can get lucky.

Late July to early/mid Nov are wet season. It's very wet ! Best time to visit Thailand is after or Thanks giving to end of January. March is hottest and May is off season but sometime have good weather. If you like a mix of eveyrthing Phuket island and PiPi island would be nice to visit, dive and certify, etc. If you want to feel a bit like surivor in Thailand, then try Ko Lanta, one of the South most island of Thailand and dive at Hin Daeng, Hin Muang which I vote the best dive site in Thailand, often better then Similian island to me. If you go to Phuket, the larget opertor in town is WarmWaterDiver, they are fair and cater to all levels http://www.warmwaterdivers.com/. I also dove with H2O before http://www.diveh2osportz.com/phuket/index.htm, they don't go as far and have smaller faster boat, perfect for 1/2 day dive. In Ko Lanta, Lanta Diver http://www.lantadiver.com/index.shtml and Blue Planet http://www.blueplanetdivers.net/ are 2 biggest operator. I had dove with both and they do fair business.

Hope it helps.

Spped boat off from the beach

Typical dive boat in Thailand

Hin Deang

I agree.The best time to dive in Thailand is end of January,this is also there peak season for diving and they go to more sites with more boats.I having been diving in Thailand for the past 8 years.Phuket is abit crowded at that time but they are many dive shops and it will be really easy for your girlfriend to get certified there.Also there are great dive sites for beginners over there like Racha Yai and for they more experienced like yourself there is Koh Doc Mai,Shark Point,Anemone Reef and of course the Kingcruiser wreck.Similan islands is amazing,really top notch diving not to be missed.Fantastic night diving too.I used Mermaid liveaboards and had really good service.

Once you dive Thailand you will keep coming back.Good luck

Genreally speaking, there are actually two seasons in Thailand. One for the Andaman Sea (Phuket, Similan, Phi Phi etc...) and one for the Thai Gulf (Ko Tao, Samui etc...). Most agree that the Andaman Sea has the superior diving, but the period you mention (august/september) is more correct for the Thai Gulf.

Regarding Hin Daeng/Hin Mouang, unfortunaelly they were hit by a strange phenomena last year which killed a lot of the coral and they are only a shadow of their former glory. Especially Hin Mouang, who used to be one of the best soft coral sites in the world and my favourite dive together with Richelieu Rock in Thai waters, was struck hard and is now a greenish/brownish barren rock. It can still be worth it though, considered you see something big. This season there was quite some manta action.

cheers

...

Regarding Hin Daeng/Hin Mouang, unfortunaelly they were hit by a strange phenomena last year which killed a lot of the coral ....

 

cheers

So sad to hear this ...

I was just about thinking Krabi and Ko Lanta in Christmas this year, may be not then ...

So sad to hear this ...

I was just about thinking Krabi and Ko Lanta in Christmas this year, may be not then ...

It was sad to see, I was there in january. But we had some great dives anyway, thank's to a group of manta rays staying all day long. Hin Daeng is still beatiful in most parts but Hin Mouang...

This is what it looks like now:

It was sad to see, I was there in january. But we had some great dives anyway, thank's to a group of manta rays staying all day long. Hin Daeng is still beatiful in most parts but Hin Mouang...

 

This is what it looks like now:

 

Wow ! That's really bad !!