Thailand Recommendations

[decidedlyodd]

So today I booked roundtrip airfare to Bangkok for two weeks at the end of December/beginning of January. My partner's mother teaches at an American school in China (Shanghai). It's become somewhat of a tradition every couple years to travel with her somewhere for the holidays. Last time it was Spain. This time it'll be Thailand. As part of the trip, we're budgeting for about a week's worth of time for diving and relaxing on the beach.

From what I've managed to find out from some online digging, the Andaman Sea side of the country is most likely the way to go at that time of year. But where specifically? The Similans or Phuket or many other places sound great. My partner and I dive but she does not, so liveaboards are not really an option. Staying in one place the whole time isn't strictly necessary, but I don't want it to be too hectic running around too much either.

By the time of the trip, I expect us both to have about 100 dives (mostly in cold Pacific Northwest waters). We're both AOW certified at this time.

Any recommendations?

 

[Quero]

If you are planning on land-based diving and don't want hectic and yet want the best diving we can offer, you should stay at Khao Lak for the week you are diving. There are lovely resorts there that will pamper Mom and provide all sorts of options for her to escape her school routine. For you, you will want to use a company that provides speedboat daytrips as the dive sites are a long way off shore.

For the non-diving week, if you'd like a place with more options than a resort provides, move down to Phuket. From here you can visit lots of temples, do a trip into Phang Nga Bay (a UN World Heritage site) for some sea kayaking, visit a sea gypsy village, go to the Gibbon rescue park, visit beautiful beaches, go to a floating seafood restaurant, etc.

Let me know if I can be of any help to you.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

I would also check out Koh Lanta - lovely diving and lots to do and explore when not diving.....

 

[limbo]

Ayesha points out Koh Lanta, which imo is a good choice/option. Especially if you go and dive with Scubafish, they are located in the South of the island and are the only operator that offers 3 dives a day at Hin Daeng/Hin MUang, providing there are Manta's! If you prefer to stay in the Northern part of the island, my recommendation is Blue Planet.

 

[Centrals]

One big question for you:
Your partner's mother does not mind being left behind for several hrs while u2 gone diving.
If the answer is YES then u2 would have big problem regarding diving on this trip.