Koh Samui or Manado beginning of February?

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JR_Strele

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Location
Singapore
# of dives
500 - 999
I am planning a 10-day dive-trip starting end of January. Can anyone volunteer information about Manado, Indonesia or Koh Samui, Thailand? Weather, visibility, seas, sights, $$'s, hotels, dive-shops. Any and all info welcome. Thx
 
JR_Strele:
I am planning a 10-day dive-trip starting end of January. Can anyone volunteer information about Manado, Indonesia or Koh Samui, Thailand? Weather, visibility, seas, sights, $$'s, hotels, dive-shops. Any and all info welcome. Thx
Almost all diving from Koh Samui takes place in Koh Toa so expect a considerable boat ride from there. I found Koh Toa a much nicer place to stay than Samui (quieter) I checked my invoice from Coral Grand Diving and 3 nights and 3 two tank boat dives cost me less than $200 CDN last october. Have fun.
 
I can help with Manado more than Samui. The two are like chalk and cheese. Manado/Bunaken/Lembeh is a real divers destination with a well known marine park, and some of the best "muck diving" in the world, great for critters and rare fish. Samui is a tourist island and as said above the diving is actually at Koh Tao. February is not really high season for either, but would be high season in Phuket and for the Similan Islands.

Some information for you:

Bunaken Dive Sites

Lembeh Strait Dive Sites

Manado Tourist Information

Tasik Ria Dive Resort (Manado)
 
No decision...Manado hands down...I was there this past summer..the real deal...The muck dive south of Manado is the jewel in the crown...the sheer amount of life in the water is up there with the Similans....
 
benny:
No decision...Manado hands down...I was there this past summer..the real deal...The muck dive south of Manado is the jewel in the crown...the sheer amount of life in the water is up there with the Similans....

Benny,

Welcome to Scubaboard !!! Good to see that you are contibuting in your first post !

I agree with Benny. Koh Samui is a very nice place to chill out or serious partying depending on what turns you on but for diving Manado gets the vote - no contest !!!
 
Definitely Manado. My first trip there was in 1998 and since 2000, I have made Manado my yearly diving ritual, sometimes 2 trips a year.

You will experience the best of everything in diving. Dolphins and pilot whales (whales only if you are lucky) on the way to Bunaken. Magnificent wall dives. Shoalling barracudas at Barracuda point. Neopolean Wrasse and turtle at Fukui and many more.

After you are sick of the wall and blue water dive, you can dive at any of the reefs along the coast of manado and look for critters - from pygmy seahorses to rhinopias scorpionfishes. Manado is really one of the best in this region.

Diving is all year round. However, there will be more rainfall from Oct to March. Having said that, I had experienced a whole week of sunshine during the month of December and the good thing about diving during off peak season is that you can have the whole boat to yourself!!! since there will not be many divers.

And if you are really into muck diving, make a day trip to lembeh straits, not to be missed if you wanna to see all kinds of critters.

Plenty of dive operators to choose from. I have dived with NDC, Eco Divers, Barracuda Divers and now Minahasa Divers. Check out their rates at www.minahasadivers.com
 
samui/tao area of thailand will still be in late monsoon season in february...nuf said :D
 
Thanks for all the incredible insight guys. based on this information, I think I will go to Phuket instead, since I have a family which doesn''t dive and when they're gone catch a Liveaboard to Similan. Manado will be for another time.

Happy New Year and happy diving to all.
 

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