BKK on the week of March 18th

[w0nger]

I’ll be travelling to Bangkok around the week of March 18th and leaving on the 24th and am wondering if there are any short liveaboards around 2d/1n or 3d/2n that are around BKK? Or if I need to get down to Phuket, what’s the quickest and most economical? Unfortunately, I’ll only be in Thailand for a total of 6 days… flying in and out of BKK. If I make it to Phuket, it won’t be for long…

I was hoping for something that i could arrange once i get there, as my schedule isn't set in stone so i won't know where i am at any given moment...

i will be coming from Cairns via Hong Kong... but after a few days in Thailand i'll be heading back to Canada...

 

[limbo]

There are three day live aboard trips to the Similan islands or North of the Similan islands (the Surin islands) departing from Khao Lak and Phuket, just a matter of finding the right dates.

If you don't go on a live aboard, Koh Tao in the Gulf and Pattaya near Bangkok might be options. Alternatively Phuket, Koh Lanta and Khao Lak may be good and easy to reach destinations for diving in the Andaman Sea.

 

[Quero]

All good advice.

For the most economical way to reach Phuket--the overnight bus is the cheapest, but don't take the ones from Khao San Road. They are notorious for theft of valuables of passengers. Air Asia flights are also very affordable, and quick! The bus takes about 12 hours; the plane about one hour. If you take the bus and want a liveaboard, get off the bus at Khao Lak instead of going all the way south to Phuket. That will save you some time and money since you won't have to pay to go back to Khao Lak from Phuket. We'd have to look carefully at the three-day options to see if they fit in with your dates.

 

[iamafish]

Based on some recent personal experience, I recommend you fly to Phuket and continue to Khao Lak and do either a live-a-board, or "day trip to a live-a-board" with Khao Lak Scuba Adventures. The good thing about the KLSA's Manta Queen III is that this nice boat stays in the Similans, so even if you only have one or two days, or a live-a-board does not meet your exact schedule, you can do speed boat day trips out to Manta Queen III.

One obvious good thing about this is that you get to dive from a huge, well run, dive platform (Manta Queen III); and you can even opt to stay the night if a cabin is free, or take the evening speed boat (huge and fast with four Honda outboards) back to Khao Lak.

Khao Lak Scuba Adventures owns a fleet (at least three, I think) live-a-boards, and a number of speedboats. In fact, I think they have the most boats of any operation in Khao Lak. The staff is excellent, and they have a number of creative and logistically interesting dive programs to choose from. Personally, I like the "speed boat to the Manta Queen III for day diving" adventure; but that's only me!

Highly Recommended.