Best Diving conditions in Oct. Thailand
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Pleiades
Registered
stevenl:
So you are saying Jan and Feb are the most recommended period to dive in Phuket?
I believe this must has been asked many times, but well you know I'm too lazy to do the thread search. So, Could you drop me a name or 2 of any dive operator whom I could sign up with. Thanks...
stevenl
Contributor
There are plenty of dive operators here in the area. You are of course more than welcome to sign up with me (check www.thailand-scuba.com for liveaboards), or maybe sunrise, also very active on this board?
if we sign up with you??
stevenl
Contributor
Hi Beth,
Will send you a PM.
Will send you a PM.
seems everyone is fixed on Phuket area diving...I just got back from Ko samui area and had some great dives with good visibility , clear skies . much better than I have experienced in phuket area last dec/jan ( I went twice ) perhaps I was lucky in ko samui and not so in Phuket . Two years ago I went to similan in Feb for a livaboard and there was plenty of sealife but also plankton but did not catch a glimpse of any whalsharks or mantas......I am thinking of tyring kao lak next . interested to know from anyone who has been there and what the day trips to similans are like .
stevenl
Contributor
Hi Michael,
It really sounds like you have been unlucky in Phuket and lucky on Samui. Normally the visibility is quite good, both during the low season and the high season, and quite often better than in the Gulf of Thailand.
Starting February the vis can get less at the Similans (normally a bit later in the year though), due to the growing amount of plankton in the water. But than with the plankton the manta rays come, last year already half December and in great abundance. Again later in the year, normally April, there are whalesharks, but you have to be really lucky to spot those.
The daytrips to the Similans both from Khao Lak and Phuket are nice. The Similans are quite far though, so that either means lots of travel time for 2 dives or traveling by speedboat, what is not my personal preference. Also the boats operate on a fixed schedule, so it can happen that when you arrive at a divesite, there are already divers from other boats in the water. On a liveaboard normally the boat can switch sites, on the daytrips they don't.
Plenty of operators in both Khao Lak and Phuket, so simply make your pick.
It really sounds like you have been unlucky in Phuket and lucky on Samui. Normally the visibility is quite good, both during the low season and the high season, and quite often better than in the Gulf of Thailand.
Starting February the vis can get less at the Similans (normally a bit later in the year though), due to the growing amount of plankton in the water. But than with the plankton the manta rays come, last year already half December and in great abundance. Again later in the year, normally April, there are whalesharks, but you have to be really lucky to spot those.
The daytrips to the Similans both from Khao Lak and Phuket are nice. The Similans are quite far though, so that either means lots of travel time for 2 dives or traveling by speedboat, what is not my personal preference. Also the boats operate on a fixed schedule, so it can happen that when you arrive at a divesite, there are already divers from other boats in the water. On a liveaboard normally the boat can switch sites, on the daytrips they don't.
Plenty of operators in both Khao Lak and Phuket, so simply make your pick.
October is basically an embarrassing month to dive in Thailand, difficult to pick which side to dive. The Samui side is getting worst while the Phuket side isn't quite in good season yet.
Recently two HK divers got quite an accident in Phuket. They went with White and Blue dive shop to Koh Doc Mai. Visibility was bad and the sea was choppy. The DM was reportedly new, only 4 days on job. They got lost and seperated from the DM and the boat. Stayed at sea until midnight and finally found by a Thai boat 15km from the dive site.
Recently two HK divers got quite an accident in Phuket. They went with White and Blue dive shop to Koh Doc Mai. Visibility was bad and the sea was choppy. The DM was reportedly new, only 4 days on job. They got lost and seperated from the DM and the boat. Stayed at sea until midnight and finally found by a Thai boat 15km from the dive site.
stevenl
Contributor
Correct travelem, a new DM and he made some basic mistakes: no surface orientation to the reef, then trying to find the reef at depth, he had no SMB and at the surface he lost contact with his guests.
I find it difficult to judge wether the boat crew made a mistake in not spotting the divers when they surfaced (way ahead of time, but then again, that is what normally happens in case of any problems), but with the choppy seas and the DM not having a SMB?
But whatever happens, the divers must have been terrified, exhausted and not too happy with what happened.
I find it difficult to judge wether the boat crew made a mistake in not spotting the divers when they surfaced (way ahead of time, but then again, that is what normally happens in case of any problems), but with the choppy seas and the DM not having a SMB?
But whatever happens, the divers must have been terrified, exhausted and not too happy with what happened.
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