Day trip dives from Khao

[manolism]

Hello. I am traveling to Thailand next week and am interested in day-trip dives from Khao Lak. Do you have any suggestions for dive sites and dive companies?

 

[Centrals]

Day trip to Similan. An expensive and a long bumpy ride on a speed boat. Your choice is very limited but it is so much better than those offered from Phuket.
I have been there but not for diving.
Khao Lak is really spread out and most operators are scattered along the main road. Talk to them and draw your own conclusion.
Have fun.

 

[JonnieB]

There are day trip speed boat runs to Similans and Richelieu Rock, which any dive shop can book for you. Seabees is one I can recommend. There is also local shore and boat diving of nearby beaches, reefs, and wrecks...for this I recommend Local Dive Khao Lak.

 

[Centrals]

Do not waste your money and time to dive those sites between Phuket and Koh Phi Phi.
If you have time then you should check out Koh Lanta or even Koh Lipe.

 

[mortenscuba]

I have not been to Khao Lak for many years. But if you like the small stuff (nudibranch etc.), have a look at Local Dive Khaolak. They have shoredives, local boatdives and trips to Similan Islands. They have a shop in the main road in Khao Lak. They post a lot in the Thailand Sea Slug site in Facebook. This is the company I would have dived with.

 

[passeparici]

From Kao Lak for a day trip dive your choices are limited. It is with speed boats and if the sea is a bit choppy it is very unconfortable. You can go to Richelieu Rock, a very very nice site, but it is a very long ride to go there. The "normal" dive site is Koh Bon if I remember correctly. It is an average site but if you are lucky you can spot big things there. If you stay around Kao Lak it is worthwhile to dive there with a day trip but the best would be to have a liveaboard for 3 to 5 days

 

[Pidan22]

I just had an amazing day trip with Big Blue. Get up late and back to town for the sunset. Even OK to big strike entry rather than back rolls in liveaboards. Just be aware that most day trips are limited to 2 dives per day.

 

[paulcalf]

I didn't find the day trips from Khao Lak too bad in terms of bumpiness etc.

Similan Scuba Adventures/DiversLandDay Trip to Koh Bon. 2 dives. I got lucky and saw Mantas.
I also did a two days one night trip: speed boat out, transferred to a 'liveaboard', 3 dives the first day and 2 or 3 the next day then speed boat back. The boat was Angel One. It was 2007, so my info is NOT upto date!
I went back the next year and did a liveabaord.

Khao Lak has grown massively since then. I went back in 2019, there are loads of dive shops up the main road, which stretches for miles.

Most day trips will probably be from Thap Lamu pier which is to the South of Khao Lak.

You may find Scuba places north of Khao Lak (towards Koh Phra Thong) that do quicker day trips to Richelieu Rock.

 

[passeparici]

I didn't find the day trips from Khao Lak too bad in terms of bumpiness etc.

That really depend of the day. Sometime it is smooth but if it starts to be rough... it is rough