SentinelAce
Contributor
We are traveling to Thailand in January and looked at Ko Tao, but the flight costs are $6-$700 from Bangkok. So we are looking to see how the diving is in Bangkok. Any advice?
Diving experience in Bangkok
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drk5036
Contributor
Err are you sure you’re looking in the write place? Seems really expensive...did you search for JUST BKK airport? Many more options are out of DMK, especially domestically. Not many domestic flights from BKK.
train or night bus are also options to get there.
but anyway, in January, you’re much better off diving the west side of Thailand. Fly to Phuket, and you have many options for Andaman sea. Lots of two day liveaboards, for example.
UFOrb
Contributor
I think you'll find there's no diving in Bangkok. Closest would be Pattaya I believe.
Easiest way to Koh Tao is to fly to Chumphon, and get the high speed boat from the pier. The flights should not be anywhere near $600-700! Were you looking at flights to Koh Samui? Those flights are pricey.
But as @drk5036 says, you are better off on the Andaman coast that time of year.
Easiest way to Koh Tao is to fly to Chumphon, and get the high speed boat from the pier. The flights should not be anywhere near $600-700! Were you looking at flights to Koh Samui? Those flights are pricey.
But as @drk5036 says, you are better off on the Andaman coast that time of year.
divinh
Contributor
For Koh Tao, look into NokAir's inclusive ticket (flight/bus/ferry), which is flight from DMK to Chumphon or Surat Thani, bus to pier, then Lomprayah ferry to Koh Tao. They make it pretty easy and straight-forward. When you check-in at DMK, you get a sticker that the reps use to guide you to the right bus and ferry. In September of 2018, it cost me $178 USD for the round-trip. Oh, and that's paying a bit extra for +15kg. It's worthwhile to pre-pay for extra baggage weight in advance, as NokAir is a budget airline and they will weigh the bags.
As noted, for this time of year, you can dive the Andaman side, which is much nicer diving. For that, I've been flying from BKK or DMK to Krabi, then catching a shared minivan to Koh Lanta. For the flight, pick whichever airline is the cheapest, and that can vary from NokAir to Thai Airways. In April 2019, DMK to Krabi was $45 on NokAir, then Krabi to BKK was $57 on Thai Airways. Both have web discounts, so check their sites. For the shared minivan, it's 600 THB to Koh Lanta, then 300 THB back. Road travel times vary from 4 hours to 1.5 hours, which is a huge variation. I can't explain it.
Koh Tao is a fun island, good year-round for activities other than diving.
Koh Lanta has much better diving, but on-land activities aren't as good.
As noted, for this time of year, you can dive the Andaman side, which is much nicer diving. For that, I've been flying from BKK or DMK to Krabi, then catching a shared minivan to Koh Lanta. For the flight, pick whichever airline is the cheapest, and that can vary from NokAir to Thai Airways. In April 2019, DMK to Krabi was $45 on NokAir, then Krabi to BKK was $57 on Thai Airways. Both have web discounts, so check their sites. For the shared minivan, it's 600 THB to Koh Lanta, then 300 THB back. Road travel times vary from 4 hours to 1.5 hours, which is a huge variation. I can't explain it.
Koh Tao is a fun island, good year-round for activities other than diving.
Koh Lanta has much better diving, but on-land activities aren't as good.
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