South Andaman Vs Similan and Richlieu

[Lriemann]

Thank you for the feedback.
I might hold off the Thailand trip altogether.

 

[Centrals]

Lanta Diver | Ban Koh Lanta

Lanta Diver, Ban Koh Lanta, Krabi, Thailand. Gefällt 16.812 Mal · 76 Personen sprechen darüber · 1.219 waren hier. PADI 5 Star Career Development Diving Centre (CDC), Koh Lanta, Krabi Thailand

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Bull shark!
3 days ago.

 

[JonnieB]

Thank you for the feedback.
I might hold off the Thailand trip altogether.

For pelagics think Komodo, Nusa Penida, Maldives, Palau.

 

[JonnieB]

Pretty much this. I've got 300-ish dives in the Andaman Sea, from Lipe in the south to Mergui Archipelago in the north. I have seen a grand total of three whale sharks, two of them extremely briefly (like, a few seconds and it's gone briefly) and one manta. One very brief encounter with a tiger shark, one nurse shark, a couple zebra sharks, maybe half a dozen reef sharks total. There are places to go for large pelagics - Thailand is not one of them.

The highlight of one trip was a large guitar shark at Ko Tachai, but most trips bupkus for any sharks or mantas; often not even any turtles. Like many things in Thailand, the diving is over-rated.

 

[Centrals]

The highlight of one trip was a large guitar shark at Ko Tachai, but most trips bupkus for any sharks or mantas; often not even any turtles. Like many things in Thailand, the diving is over-rated.

LOL.
Are you working in the Kingdom?
So ungrateful to a lovely country. Are you moving out soon and replace by someone who would show more appreciation to what is being offered in Thailand? Do you know how many tourists come to the country last yr(2023)? They have contributed significantly to the economy in the Kingdom.
It is imperative to stay well away from Kata beach. There are many nice places to stay other than that s$%t hole.
Diving is NOT only for pelagic as there are plenty other interesting organisms to see.

 

[Centrals]

Thank you for the feedback.
I might hold off the Thailand trip altogether.

April is the lovely time to dive the Andaman sea in Thailand.
Koh Lanta is NOT that difficult to reach from Phuket. Just make sure to stay in the Old Town of Phuket not those tourist traps eg. Kata Beach.

I am going to spend about 3 wks next yr in Koh Lanta + Koh Lipe again.

 

[shimmer]

I went diving in Koh Lipe a couple of weeks ago. I thought visibility was bad. I asked the DM and DMT who were with us about the visibility and they replied it was probably one of the best they've had recently.

There were thousands of huge jelly fish on the surface and many more tiny ones below. Got stung many times on my exposed lips. Not a good experience. Sealife was decent. Saw a small shark under a rock, can't tell what type. Moray eels were the largest I've ever seen.

The island was a pain to get to from BKK. The speed boat ride back was scary. I thought the boat was gonna break apart at some point. Some passengers screaming on the two hours or so journey. We took the train back from Hat Yai. That was cool.

Beautiful place but really surprised to see lots of trash on the island. Probably won't go back.

Going to Koh Tao in a couple weeks to check it out. Probably poor timing but the discounted dive voucher is expiring this month.

 

[JonnieB]

I went diving in Koh Lipe a couple of weeks ago. I thought visibility was bad. I asked the DM and DMT who were with us about the visibility and they replied it was probably one of the best they've had recently.

There were thousands of huge jelly fish on the surface and many more tiny ones below. Got stung many times on my exposed lips. Not a good experience. Sealife was decent. Saw a small shark under a rock, can't tell what type. Moray eels were the largest I've ever seen.

The island was a pain to get to from BKK. The speed boat ride back was scary. I thought the boat was gonna break apart at some point. Some passengers screaming on the two hours or so journey. We took the train back from Hat Yai. That was cool.

Beautiful place but really surprised to see lots of trash on the island. Probably won't go back.

Going to Koh Tao in a couple weeks to check it out. Probably poor timing but the discounted dive voucher is expiring this month.

About a month ago, the entire Andaman Sea side of Thailand was swarming with jellyfish There was an unseasonal thermocline that rolled in for a couple weeks that brought in the jellies and the bad visibility. It cleared up in a couple weeks and all is back to normal but it's unfortunate you happened to be there when it hit. Lots of nuddies and frogfish and other marine life if you have a recommended local guide. People can PM me if they want a recco.

 

[Centrals]

I went diving in Koh Lipe a couple of weeks ago. I thought visibility was bad. I asked the DM and DMT who were with us about the visibility and they replied it was probably one of the best they've had recently.

There were thousands of huge jelly fish on the surface and many more tiny ones below. Got stung many times on my exposed lips. Not a good experience. Sealife was decent. Saw a small shark under a rock, can't tell what type. Moray eels were the largest I've ever seen.

The island was a pain to get to from BKK. The speed boat ride back was scary. I thought the boat was gonna break apart at some point. Some passengers screaming on the two hours or so journey. We took the train back from Hat Yai. That was cool.

Beautiful place but really surprised to see lots of trash on the island. Probably won't go back.

Going to Koh Tao in a couple weeks to check it out. Probably poor timing but the discounted dive voucher is expiring this month.

I was diving at Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe in Jan and the conditions were awful ie cold, jelly fish and poor vis.
The speed boat journey in that part of the Kingdom is well known to be uncomfortable and can be dangerous as well. A speed boat on the way from Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta around Christmas sank with 70+ passengers on board but luckily all survived the ordeal.
Speed boat is the ONLY option to get to Koh Lipe unless travelling from/to Langkawi(much bigger boat).
Judging by the shear number of tourists on the island, I am not at all surprised to see lots of trash.
You will be alright at Koh Tao.

 

[Barmaglot]

About a month ago, the entire Andaman Sea side of Thailand was swarming with jellyfish There was an unseasonal thermocline that rolled in for a couple weeks that brought in the jellies and the bad visibility. It cleared up in a couple weeks and all is back to normal but it's unfortunate you happened to be there when it hit. Lots of nuddies and frogfish and other marine life if you have a recommended local guide. People can PM me if they want a recco.

I was just in the North Andaman area (Mergui Archipelago) and there were still lots of jellies (ended up in a thick soup of tiny - just a few millimeters - but quite stingy ones at one safety stop), thermoclines (my computer registered 24C at one point) and intermittent visibility - sometimes we could see the 30-40m deep bottom from the safety stop, sometimes it was down to ~5 meters.