Thailand/Malaysia in September

[JJN]

I'm looking for recommendations for diving in either Thailand or Malaysia the week of September 17. It seems that September maybe too early for the Andaman side of Thailand and too late for the Gulf of Thailand--is this true? How is the diving this time of year around Krabi and Phuket? Many thanks for any advice y'all have to offer!

 

[Quero]

I'm looking for recommendations for diving in either Thailand or Malaysia the week of September 17. It seems that September maybe too early for the Andaman side of Thailand and too late for the Gulf of Thailand--is this true? How is the diving this time of year around Krabi and Phuket? Many thanks for any advice y'all have to offer!

When you say "Malaysia" I'm assuming you are not referring to Sipadan/Kapalai/Mabul (off Malaysian Borneo), which are diveable year round.... You can still catch the tail end of the diving season on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia in the second half of September. By October, places will be shutting down for the season.

As for Thailand, you can easily do day trip diving from Phuket on the Andaman side, though you might encounter rain; and you certainly can still get some flat water and sunny days in the Gulf.

Which of these areas would you prefer, weather permitting?

 

[JJN]

When you say "Malaysia" I'm assuming you are not referring to Sipadan/Kapalai/Mabul (off Malaysian Borneo), which are diveable year round.... You can still catch the tail end of the diving season on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia in the second half of September. By October, places will be shutting down for the season.

As for Thailand, you can easily do day trip diving from Phuket on the Andaman side, though you might encounter rain; and you certainly can still get some flat water and sunny days in the Gulf.

Which of these areas would you prefer, weather permitting?

Thanks, Quero. Yes, we were thinking of the east coast of Malaysia. Our dilemma is that we only have 4 days and because our starting point is Phnom Penh, we will need to take at least two flights to get anywhere (e.g., Phnom Penh-BKK-Phuket/Krabi, or Phnom Penh-KL-?) We can leave on a Wednesday evening and will need to be back in Phnom Penh on Monday.

 

[Quero]

Thanks, Quero. Yes, we were thinking of the east coast of Malaysia. Our dilemma is that we only have 4 days and because our starting point is Phnom Penh, we will need to take at least two flights to get anywhere (e.g., Phnom Penh-BKK-Phuket/Krabi, or Phnom Penh-KL-?) We can leave on a Wednesday evening and will need to be back in Phnom Penh on Monday.

Well, in that case I'll have to recommend Phuket.

To go anywhere in Malaysia you need to first fly from KL either to Kota Baru or Kuala Terengganu and then take a transfer boat (which only run at certain times, not always convenient to when your flight arrives). That will eat up precious diving time.

Something similar happens in the Gulf of Thailand; you fly to Samui and then take a boat transfer to Koh Tao (unless you stay on Samui and ride out to the dive sites from there).

On Phuket, you'll arrive at the airport on Wednesday evening (assuming you don't get to BKK too terribly late and miss the last shuttle) and go straight to your accommodations. Thursday morning you'll be off to the dive boat, giving you time for three full days of diving if you fly out of Phuket Sunday mid-afternoon. The boat rides for daytrip diving from both Phuket and Samui can be long--a couple of hours on average, which in a big boat of the kind we have on Phuket isn't much of an issue since the dive sites themselves are clustered (once you arrive there, travel time to the next dive site is brief).

Hope that helps a little. Feel free to PM me.