Koh Tao - Is this the right place for us?

[limbo]

Absolutely, have a look at my dive blog, second link in my signature, it has lots of pix of underwater live around Koh Tao.
Definately good diving around Koh Tao, although the Scubaboard members based on the West side (Andaman side) tend to promote the diving at that side only. I'm not caliming that the diving is better in the Gulf compared to the Andaman side, but there's nothing wrong with the Koh Tao dive sites, especially not during July/August, when they should have prime conditions.

 

[stevenl]

Let me ask this then;

When Stevenl says "Don't expect too much from the diving", it is not dead under the water is it? There is life and enjoyable dive opportunities, Kreepy Crawlies and fish ....

Regards

Richard

Yes, there is life, but not much diversity, in my experience less visibility than experienced divers expect, less life than experienced divers expect and too many divers/students.

Agree that Koh Samui is nice for a change, especially with kids.

 

[Quero]

Richard, I would say that since you have a good relationship with the instructors, you ought to begin your month on Koh Tao and get the certs done. That will give you a chance to reconnect with your instructors and get the kids certified (and do your own courses, too if you want). Once that's done, my own suggestion would be to leave Tao for a place with different dive sites. You could go down to Malaysia and stay at Redang, for example, or you could come over to the Andaman side (though the sea conditions may be choppy if your kids are prone to seasickness). Doing a split dive holiday/vacation would take care of all of your goals, but for variety's sake, I'd advise that you go someplace other than the Gulf of Thailand for the second half of your time.

 

[limbo]

Especially since the Gulf is rife with whale sharks during August!

 

[Arizona]

Chumpon, Sail Rock and Japanese Gardens are all good sites. Your instructor preference, Quero's advice combined with Limbo's time of year suggestion make starting your holiday on Tao a no brainer IMO. Check out Limbo's pictures. You'll get a good rescue course with most likely shore and boat training. In fact ask for that if it is not offered. Having your kids train with instructors you like is priceless. I have not been to Malaysia yet, but it sounds pretty tempting.

 

[TomLansford]

stevenl, that is a valuable perspective.

That being the case, it may be better for my wife and I to do our rescue course while the kids do OW (10 days-ish), and then move to another Island? Panang or Samui perhaps.

Any thoughts on this approach?

Best Regards

Hi Richard,

KT has a lot of different sites around the island, and the more you dive them, the more you appreciate them.

I agree about doing the extra training for you and your wife while there. I don't know that I would change islands, though. There are a couple of different training / activities that you can easily add after the rescue and the kid's OWD on KT that could be a great experience - Apnea, tech-diving, UW photography, or UW video come to mind. There is also a base that does Reef Check trainings and marine biology training. As for on-land activities, check out the yoga, the trapeze, thai kick-boxing, or hiking...

If you want to see video of KT marine life, just google the video companies, including Oceans Below, Deep Down Productions, Liquid Media, Day Off Island productions, and Ace Marine Images - and I think all of them have facebook pages, too. That will give you an excellent idea of what to expect when diving.

Have a great trip!

Tom

 

[tjbrowndiver]

Hi,
I dove Koh Tao in Augest and the sites are OK. They are not dead but Steven is right about not expecting too much. There will be mostly students and backpackers there. Your plan is sound though because you trust your instructors and it is a great place for your kids to learn. Taking Rescue and a specialty will keep you from getting bored while the kids are completing their certs. I enjoyed my seven days of diving there but would not repeat the trip. I highly recommend it for what you are doing and that is getting people certified.

Did you consider getting your Dive Master cert while the kids are getting their OW? If you had to stay 3-4 weeks on Koh Tao this could easily be done. I would study before you go.

After everyone gets their ticket you should head over to Phuket to break it up and visit some more sites. There are plenty of sites there for about six days of diving. Some of the real nice ones are Racha Noi & Yai and one of those islands has a nice little resort that I almost booked for a few days. Koh Lanta is another option for getting in some more sites while in Thailand. It's not that far if you take the ferry over to Surat Thani. I would recommend going to Phuket first then renting a car at the airport to get to Koh Lanta.

Here is a great web site for looking things up in Thailand sawasdee.com I've booked any number of hotels in Thailand through them and their prices are about as low as you can get on the web another hotel site for that area that is good is called agoda, sawasdee was the best for Thailand but Agoda that is based in Thailand got me a great price on a Dubai hotel. I wouldn't worry about pre booking in Thailand in August. You want to negotiate when you walk in and ask for the internet rate. Most of the hotels will be almost empty at that time of year; it's slow season.

 

[limbo]

Although tjbrowndiver may be right about the booking sites for hotels, I would definitely recommend booking hotels for July/August on Koh Tao and Samui, it's high season and the weather should be at it's best behaviour and you avoid disapointment, in contrast to the West coast where the weather is unstable during that part of the year and indeed all hotels are pretty empty and fantastic offers are to be had, because it's low season there. You may be lucky and get sunny days but the statistics are against you.

 

[stevenl]

You may be lucky and get sunny days but the statistics are against you.

Check the statistics, you will find surprising little differences regarding amount of sun. The main difference will be the wave height because of the prevailing wind direction.

 

[watboy]

Agree with Steve, the weather in low season is still rather pleasant and the diving is good as well. I spent June-Sept in Koh Lanta and the worst vis I encountered was 12-15m, with 25+ more of the norm. The issue is the wind and the ocean swells. But even then, the boat headed out at least 1-2x a week. Weather only grounded us for a whole week, twice during my 4 month stay. If the OP is going to come for a whole month, and does not want to dive everyday/is flexible on the diving dates, then the andaman sea I think is a viable option. Dive when the weather is good, do other stuff when its windy.