H2Andy
Contributor
stevenl:
actually, i believe that was a slow day given the recent seismic events
Guiness World Record Most Simultaneous Scuba Divers in Koh Tao!
- Thread starter Shader
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actually, i believe that was a slow day given the recent seismic events
Master Divers are a pretty good outfit. Have dived with them on a few occassions. They do have accomadation, which is very reasonable (but Koh Tao basic!). Dunno if you can post links here, but a web search will bring them up easily.
Thinking about it, must be nearly time to head back there!
-j-
Thinking about it, must be nearly time to head back there!
-j-
Helipilot
Registered
Thanks a lot Shader, a lot of good info there. Will let you know what shakes out.
You could also try Koh Nang-Yuang (a group of 3 tiny islands joined by coral beaches off the coast of Koh Tao). They operate the only resort on the island, and their divemasters were very relaxed and safe.
You can get discounted accommodations on the island through the dive shop (we didn't know this beforehand, so we paid full price ($50/night for an air-con room). They have 3 daily boat trips to Chumpon and southwest pinnacles, as well as green point. They also do night dives as well as unlimited beach dives. If I recall correctly, if you dive at least 10 times, you pay $10 per dive (with equipment)! It was probably the cheapest diving we've done.
Chumpon was crowded when we dove there (3/04), but it was stunning noneless (no whalesharks though...). I really liked green point also. The divemasters, Arnon (a french twenty-something guy), and Sally (an Auzzie, I believe), were great and fun to watch interacting!
One of the downsides to the resort is that twice a week they allow at least one hundred "snorkellers" from a cruise ship come to the island and "snorkel" - or more like stand in the small beach and get knee-deep in the water with bright-orange lifesavers putting only their faces underwater. They were very very loud, and they definitely spoiled those 2 otherwise perfect sunsets on the beach....
In general, it's a nice, relaxing place to go diving for 2-3 days, but for more interesting underwater life I would try Phuket or the Similans.
http://www.nangyuan.com/
Have a good trip!
J.
You can get discounted accommodations on the island through the dive shop (we didn't know this beforehand, so we paid full price ($50/night for an air-con room). They have 3 daily boat trips to Chumpon and southwest pinnacles, as well as green point. They also do night dives as well as unlimited beach dives. If I recall correctly, if you dive at least 10 times, you pay $10 per dive (with equipment)! It was probably the cheapest diving we've done.
Chumpon was crowded when we dove there (3/04), but it was stunning noneless (no whalesharks though...). I really liked green point also. The divemasters, Arnon (a french twenty-something guy), and Sally (an Auzzie, I believe), were great and fun to watch interacting!
One of the downsides to the resort is that twice a week they allow at least one hundred "snorkellers" from a cruise ship come to the island and "snorkel" - or more like stand in the small beach and get knee-deep in the water with bright-orange lifesavers putting only their faces underwater. They were very very loud, and they definitely spoiled those 2 otherwise perfect sunsets on the beach....
In general, it's a nice, relaxing place to go diving for 2-3 days, but for more interesting underwater life I would try Phuket or the Similans.
http://www.nangyuan.com/
Have a good trip!
J.
Bahhhh! You beat me to it. Except I was going to say "760 divers, that's almost as many as were on my boat".stevenl:
Phil
Guest
Shader:
Shader,
Heading back to Thailand this month, but instead of Phi Phi west side of the mailand we are headed to Koh Tao. We are diving with Coral Grand Divers for 15 days. We are staying at Coral Grand Resosrt.... any place in town you can suggest if we want to get away from the resort for awhile? Any really special dive sites you recommend
if asked where we want to go? Water temp right now is how much?
Anything about the island you think a newbe to Koh Tao should know?
Phil
Sun Tan Man
Registered
I was diving in Koh Tao last week and I agree there is alot of people taking there courses there, but there are so many dive shop on the island that you can actually pick and choose. This was my third time to Koh Tao so I kinda know the run around. Rule # 1 don't book anything in Bankok. 2 # Get to the Island on your own and find your own bungalow. Rule # 3 Don't book alot of dives with one dive shop because they usually keep going back to the same sites. I did exactly that and rented a scooter so I could go around and see what boats were going out to what sites on what days. Plus if you book a bunch of dives with one shop and your stuck with them til the end. Chumphon Pinnicle is the cats *** of sites there. I just had my dream come true swimming with the whalesharks in excellent visibilility. I can tell you I chose a company called New Way because they are the early risers and for that reason is why I was one of the few divers diving with the sharks in calm water. After the first dive the whole Island showed up as we were taking our S.I. They dove in and we waited til they got out, we jumped back in. Alone again with the whalesharks Rip! Rip! Anyone that would like to know more about that dive with the sharks can check my other posts.
Phil:
Phil,
If you really want to get away from the resort, downtown Mae Haad is not the place really for it. There are great restaurants there such as Cafe del Sol, Farango, Zest, and Yang's. It is quite busy down there at night and can be dusty during the day. I would recommend getting a scooter or taxi over to Chalok Bay and having a go at the restaurants over there as it is much more chilled out. Buddha Beach BBQ can't be beat and the bar on the beach is a great place to eat your food and relax. Also over there is Tropicana on the beach which has a wicked sizzling seafood platter. If you walk all the way south west on the beach and over a couple of rocks you will be rewarded with the Viewpoint restaurant. Beautiful view of the bay and nice and out of the way. Great relaxed night spot and great food. If you want some real nice unique Thai food I would go to Famous House which is on the way to Chalok Bay. You can also take a taxi over to secluded Tanote Bay an check out the hill top Tanote View restaurant. What a view there and a nice place to njoy a beer and food. DO NOT try and take a scooter over there. The jungle roads are quite treacherous and you could end up standed or injured. Even with the big MotoXross bikes it's really only for the experienced dirt bikers.
Sun Tan Man makes a good point:
Rule # 3 Don't book alot of dives with one dive shop because they usually keep going back to the same sites.
You may wanna see where other OP's are going since you will be diving White Rock, twins, 3 rock, Mango Bay, and Green Rock most of the time. Mostly the boats seem to go to Twins and White Rock alot. The best sites 4 sure are Chumpon and Southwest Pinnacles but boats don't seem to go there as much, although they may be going there more now since the viz has cleared and whale sharks come around. If you scoot or call around in the afternoons you will usually see where the other shops are diving on their postings. Some do special excursions to Sail Rock or different places like Shark Island or Aao Lok. I did the Unicorn deep wreck dive one day with Master Divers and found out about that through word of mouth and the instructors at Buddha View. I think you will want to definitely look around as I think you will be bored diving with Coral Grand for 15 days.
Oh yeah don't forget to check out Thai Boxing as Sairee stadium and go to the Sairee hilltop bar and see one of the best views on the island. Hope this helps you some.
Same Same...
...but different
Having worked for both Master Divers and Coral Grand, I can definately recommend CG over master divers. MD are lazy, dont comply with padi standards and the instructors just wanna get back to the bar asap... CG are super pro and have a lot of special trips to the marine park, sail rock etc.
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