Diving on Honeymoon in October

[katecald2]

My fiancee and I are getting married the first weekend in October and then hoping to take a 2 week honeymoon to SE Asia. One country we'd love to explore is Thailand, so I thought if there are good diving options here during that time it might be easiest to spend the whole 2 weeks in Thailand (probably arriving around October 11 or 12th). We are both experienced divers (rescue and advanced open water certs). We used to live in Florida and had more opportunities to dive but we have moved inland and haven't been able to do a lot of diving in the last two years so I'd like a destination that isn't incredibly technical or at least eases in with some simple dives early in the trip. I'd love to go on a liveaboard but am option to dive resort options as well and would also be open to diving somewhere else (Indonesia etc) on the way to/from Thailand if there really aren't great dive options in Thailand at this time of the year. We don't have an unlimited budget but obviously don't want to stay on a low end budget liveaboard or resort on our honeymoon. Since we only have a few weeks for the whole trip and would like to explore on land some as well I'd like the diving portion of our trip to be somewhere between 4-6 nights long

One area I've looked at is the Similan Islands since it sounds like we will be arriving right when they re-open. Is it risky weather-wise to book a trip to the Similans in October since its still the shoulder of the rainy season? We don't mind a few hour thunderstorm in the afternoon (we are used to that from Florida) but I wouldn't want to be in the situation where its cloudy or pouring the whole trip and the seas are really rough. I've seen that some boat operators offer to take you over to beaches when possible during surface intervals so you can explore on land a little as well. Is this common for most boats? (I see it listed specifically for the Hallelujah Liveaboard)

It looks like another possibility is toward the south with a boat that doesn't do exclusively diving like Merdeka 3. I believe they go to Phi Phi, Koh Ha, Hin Daeng & Hin Muang.

Or maybe the best choice is to just go somewhere different entirely and then spend a week in Thailand afterwards....

Thanks for any help you can provide

 

[stevenl]

No, it is not risky, worst case would be you'd be limited with your diving to the east side of the island and have a rocky ride over. So the diving will still be very nice.

Boats will not take you to the beaches except on day 1 when you're at Similans, After that when you go to the other islands there are no beach option.

Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Koh Haa offer really nice diving, but are out in the open, much more so than Similans, so not a good alternative if you're looking at weather issues.Merdeka is not a diveboat, and does not go to Hin Daeng etc.

So all in all, for both daytrips and a liveaboard to Similans etc. Thailand would be an excellent choice.

 

[Barmaglot]

I did four days liveaboard on MV Pawara (run by West Coast Divers) this April and have only positive things to say about them. Purpose-built dive boat with dive deck right at the water line, very comfortable, free nitrox, free video of the trip at the end, great food, excellent organization, etc. It was my first liveaboard, and they have set a very high bar for the future trips to clear.

 

[Bubble Junky]

Koh Lanta is a great spot for a honeymoon - beautiful island, and has good access to diving at Koh Ha and Hin Daeng/Hin Muang.