Thailand in March; Recommendations? Water temps?

[sallyjay]

Hey guys, my fiance's brother is getting married in Thailand in a few days and we thought we'd try and get a few dives in, only problem is that it's all a great big secret as to where we're going to be going and we're not allowed to do anything else (he's even had a go at the parents for buying bug spray - that's how little we're allowed to know/do). All we know is that we need to be at Krabi airport at 9am and go with the program, so it's been a bit difficult making dive plans. With a bit of snooping, we think we've figured out that we might be going to either all or at least one of these; Ko Lanta, Ko Hai, and Ko Lipe.

Any good dive operators at any of these places to keep an eye out for? Also, we're flying out tomorrow and packing at the moment and are in 2 minds about bringing our 3mil full-suits with us (after all, we're going to a wedding, not a dive trip). I've got a 2mil shorty (which I surf with) and my partner's got a 3mil. Keeping in mind that my partner get's cold real quick, which would you suggest? Would we even need them this time of the year? What are the temperatures like in these areas at this time of the year?

Thanks!

 

[Buadhai]

I've been diving in Thailand since the late 80s. I've never worn a wetsuit. I wore one once on a dive in Burma and didn't much like it.

 

[MikkelBC]

People are different. I just did 34 dives from Thailand in the Andaman Sea in my own 3.5 mm full suit. I liked it, it has good pockets exactly where I want them. I have previously used a shorty. I would not dive there without a wetsuit. The water temperature was 28 degrees C. We sometimes encountered thermoclines with temperatures below 25 degrees C.
That said, the dive op you choose will definitely have 3mm shorties for you to rent, so I would probably not bother bringing your own for just a couple of dives unless you are really fond of them.

Lanta is an excellent base for diving Koh Haa and Hin Daeng and Muang on daytrips. There are heaps of dive operations to choose from.

I have not dived from Lipe myself, but I have heard there is plenty of diving from there too. Koh Hai I don't know about.

I hope you get some great dives!

Mikkel

 

[Buadhai]

I had a look at my logbook for the two Andaman dives we did last year.

North Andaman in January water temps ranged from 27-29ºC.
South Andaman in November temps ranged from 29-30ºC.

I agree with Mikkel that renting is a better option for the amount of diving you'll be doing.