hin daeng/muang recommendations

[GeorgeBa]

Hi, Im planning to dive hin daeng and hin muang from koh lanta. Can anyone recommend a relaxed dive centre, ideally one that also caters to more experienced divers (something like Aldora in Coz) where you can have slightly longer dives, the day is not a rushed tour etc. Im only after day trips, not liveaboard or over night. Thank you

 

[Centrals]

The sites are far from Koh Lanta and most operators do not have the necessary fast boat to make the trip.
LANTA diver has monthly schedule published and has it's own small but adequate speed boat to make the trip for their own clients and may be others.
Blue Planat has a big and fast catamaran to make the trip comfortably. They accept booking from other operators.
Small group diving is very common on the island.

 

[Dubio]

Dive & Relax run their own speed boat. Embark/disembark directly on the beach in front of the base. Fast in, fast out. Can recommend. Gotta be aware that space is limited on the boat so spatial awareness when donning/doffing kit is key

 

[Barmaglot]

Dive & Relax run their own speed boat. Embark/disembark directly on the beach in front of the base. Fast in, fast out. Can recommend. Gotta be aware that space is limited on the boat so spatial awareness when donning/doffing kit is key

I recall a local divemaster describing Dive & Relax as Dive & (vomiting sounds). Doing a surface interval on a little speedboat out in the open sea (there's nowhere to shelter around Hin Daeng/Hin Muang) is not for the faint of stomach.

 

[Dubio]

And that is exactly true. I don’t tend to be seasick at all but after a few minutes into the surf I opted to stay floating in the water

 

[Pearlman]

I was there in 2013 and IIRC it was a long journey to the dive sites. You are better off on a bigger boat with an upper deck with its restaurant and coffee machine so that you can lounge around having relaxed conversations.

As posted above I would advice against a speedboat and recommend a slower bigger boat instead,

 

[Centrals]

I was there in 2013 and IIRC it was a long journey to the dive sites. You are better off on a bigger boat with an upper deck with its restaurant and coffee machine so that you can lounge around having relaxed conversations.

As posted above I would advice against a speedboat and recommend a slower bigger boat instead,

The availability of suitable big boats is very very limited.

 

[Barmaglot]

I dove with Kon-Tiki Lanta when I was there in 2019; their boat - the Tiki Queen - was quite comfortable. However, it appears that their operation did not survive COVID I wonder what happened to the boat.

 

[Pearlman]

Oh too bad. I checked some old photos and that’s the shop I dived with back then…. It was a decent boat.

 

[GeorgeBa]

used lanta diver in the end, big boats with a lot of divers but brilliantly run, great guides and an honest helpful caring dive centre. Would recommend