Viz and Swell at the start of the monsoon season

[bubblebubble]

Hi, my questions are very similar to miu's post and have probably been asked before by others but I thought that they deserve a new thread.

I'll be in Thailand from the 20th of September till the 10th of October this year. I'll arrive in Bangkok and intend to make my way overland to good dive spots.

I spent a lot of time on the web trying to identify the best dive spots for that time of the year. I know that only very few of you have a crystal ball to predict the weather but how does the monsoon generally effect the diving conditions? I have read so many contradictory reports, I don't know which ones to trust.

1. Is it true that diving at the Andaman Sea is basically impossible at that time?
2. Does this apply to all the places in the west (Krabi/Phuket) of Thailand equally?
3. How is the visibility in Gulf of Thailand? Does it vary from day to day or is it constantly bad/good?
4. Are there differences in the diving quality between Koh Tao/Koh Samui and Chumphon?
5. Is it better to stay in Koh Tao or Chumphon if I plan to do multiple day dives on the Chumphon pinnacles?
6. How does the diving in Pattaya compare to that?
7. Let's say I'd spend 10 days in Koh Tao, how many good days of diving could I expect on average?
8. Where would you go if you could stay 3 weeks in any location of Thailand during that period?

A lot of questions, would be great if you could answer a few of those.

thx anyway

 

[mikkylad]

As you say, trying to predict what will happen weatherwise at the end of the monsoon season is virtually impossible, but checking my logs for last year, certainly the beginning of October was really nice. And even if you get rain, it rarely lasts for long periods. I can't speak for the Gulf side of Thailand but here's an answer to your first few questions....

1. Is it true that diving at the Andaman Sea is basically impossible at that time?
Diving in the Andaman Sea is NEVER 'basically impossible', as anyone who lives here can tell you. Yes we get some choppy days but as most of the boats, unlike the gulf, are larger boats made for longer cruises this is generally not a problem. I worked for 2 years as a day trip tour leader diving EVERYDAY throughout the year. In that time I only remember us cancelling once due to weather. You cannot dive liveaboard at the time you specify, but that is because the national parks are closed, not because the weather is too bad.
2. Does this apply to all the places in the west (Krabi/Phuket) of Thailand equally?
Yes it applies equally. You can dive in all of these places year round. My personal opinion is that Phuket offers the best year round diving due to the quality of the local sites but as far as know both Krabi, and Phi Phi also offer year round diving too.

I've mentioned it on another thread, but there are whale sharks around Phuket at the moment too, see the Atitara Trip Report for the details.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy Thailand!!

 

[bubblebubble]

Mik,

thank you for your quick reply! What about the visibility? Is it greatly reduced at that time? what is the average? What are good places too see manta rays? How often are they encountered?

 

[mikkylad]

There is the chance of Manta Ray action if you want to day trip out to Racha Noi. About 2 and a half hours cruise south of Phuket, though they are certainly not guaranteed. In general you need to be visiting after new year to really get the best chance.

And the viz is generally OK, kind of depends where you dive. South of Phuket (Racha Yai and Noi) is normally very good year round (around 20m this week), especially if you avoid Siam and Bungalow Bays. Kingcruiser, Shark Point, Anemone Reef, and Ko Doc Mai are all changeable, even within a day. Last week we had 25m+ on Ko Doc Mai in the morning, and by the end of the day on Shark Point it was down to 12m or so in places. Phi Phi very similar.

Plenty of Leopard Sharks where they're expected to be right now too (east of Phuket), as well as Black Tips on Phi Phi.

 

[bubblebubble]

Hi,

I'll arrive in Bangkok next weekend to stay for a bit more than 3 weeks in Thailand but haven't decided yet where to go. What side (Andaman sea or Gulf of Thailand) offers the better diving at the moment?

I'm not very experienced with tropical diving. Can you recommend a book that I can use to educate myself about the habitat, species and eco-system there? are such books commonly available in Thai dive shops or should i get them before my trip?

 

[limbo]

Hi, my questions are very similar to miu's post and have probably been asked before by others but I thought that they deserve a new thread.

I'll be in Thailand from the 20th of September till the 10th of October this year. I'll arrive in Bangkok and intend to make my way overland to good dive spots.

I spent a lot of time on the web trying to identify the best dive spots for that time of the year. I know that only very few of you have a crystal ball to predict the weather but how does the monsoon generally effect the diving conditions? I have read so many contradictory reports, I don't know which ones to trust.

1. Is it true that diving at the Andaman Sea is basically impossible at that time?
2. Does this apply to all the places in the west (Krabi/Phuket) of Thailand equally?
3. How is the visibility in Gulf of Thailand? Does it vary from day to day or is it constantly bad/good?

In average it's still fairly good in the Gulf, although all of last week saw extreme strong winds with occasional rain, which is rather unusual for this time of the year.
Before the winds hit viz was excellent at Sail Rock, up to 30m. Right now it seems that the wind is dying out. In general the Gulf should be fine during this period.

4. Are there differences in the diving quality between Koh Tao/Koh Samui and Chumphon?

Never dived in Chumpon, so can't comment on this.

5. Is it better to stay in Koh Tao or Chumphon if I plan to do multiple day dives on the Chumphon pinnacles?

Koh Tao, unless weather prohibits, there's always at least one, most likely more companies per day that go out there.
IMO Sail Rock is the better dive site though.

6. How does the diving in Pattaya compare to that?

PTY is consistent, all year round inbetween 5 to 15 m viz. Not great but consistent. Has some great wreck diving with the Hard Deep, Kut and Krahm.

7. Let's say I'd spend 10 days in Koh Tao, how many good days of diving could I expect on average?

Possibly all 10.

8. Where would you go if you could stay 3 weeks in any location of Thailand during that period?

Why not mix'n'match, you seem to have enough time to visit Phuket and Koh Tao and even possibly PTY.

A lot of questions, would be great if you could answer a few of those.

thx anyway

Just commented on the Gulf side, since that's where I live and have the most knowledge and experience.
Maybe consider visiting my dive blog, it has pix and stories from recent dive trips around Samui, Sail Rock and PTY.

Have fun and enjoy your trip.

 

[huskychemist]

I dove Pattaya yesterday (two coral dives off Koh Sak). The waves were pretty large so we didn't go out to the far islands. Visibility was pretty typical, maybe 5 meters. I've seen better vis, but I've also seen worse. Once the winds calm down, I'd predict the visibility to get a bit better, but not much.

And I highly recommend diving the Hardeep. It's a very beautiful wreck, and in my opinion a much better dive than the two more common wrecks off of Pattaya. (The Khut and Kram.)

Have fun and Happy Diving.

 

[katdiver]

I agree with mikkylad with the conditions for the west coast. Here in Krabi we dive all year round. I would say the conditions around the sites we visit on Phi Phi are the most consistent. Vis on our local islands and Shark Point vary mainly on the state of the tide. I've dived on the King Cruiser with the rain chucking it down with less vis above the water than below! We've also seen those whale sharks on the King Cruiser and Anemone Reef.

 

[Aquasam]

Hi,

I'll arrive in Bangkok next weekend to stay for a bit more than 3 weeks in Thailand but haven't decided yet where to go. What side (Andaman sea or Gulf of Thailand) offers the better diving at the moment?

I'm not very experienced with tropical diving. Can you recommend a book that I can use to educate myself about the habitat, species and eco-system there? are such books commonly available in Thai dive shops or should i get them before my trip?

Hi there,
Diving around phuket is no problem right now, for the books, we do provide a selection of them on board, so you can educate yourself first and then buy the one you prefere later on. These books are available in many places in Phuket area

 

[AsiaTechDiver]

Hi, my questions are very similar to miu's post and have probably been asked before by others but I thought that they deserve a new thread.

I'll be in Thailand from the 20th of September till the 10th of October this year. I'll arrive in Bangkok and intend to make my way overland to good dive spots.

I spent a lot of time on the web trying to identify the best dive spots for that time of the year. I know that only very few of you have a crystal ball to predict the weather but how does the monsoon generally effect the diving conditions? I have read so many contradictory reports, I don't know which ones to trust.

1. Is it true that diving at the Andaman Sea is basically impossible at that time?
You can go diving, i mean you can dive anywhere, but the conditions are not the best as their season would just be starting near the end of your trip

2. Does this apply to all the places in the west (Krabi/Phuket) of Thailand equally?
I could be wrong but i think the entire west coast would be the same, a friend of mine came back from that side and said the snorkeling was great but didn't go diving because of the conditions
3. How is the visibility in Gulf of Thailand? Does it vary from day to day or is it constantly bad/good?
Around the full moon time visibility can drop rapidly, i would say about 4 days after full moon things are a bit murky but still good. We're having typically 15-20m visibility but that can change overnight. At the moment we have higher than normal winds so that can kick up the shallower sites
4. Are there differences in the diving quality between Koh Tao/Koh Samui and Chumphon?
Most of the diving companies in Samui come to the dive sites in Koh Tao by speed boats. You have one site called Sail Rock which is between both samui and koh tao. I don't know about Chumphon as a departure point for diving but i do know you wouldn't want to spend much time there in the evenings.
5. Is it better to stay in Koh Tao or Chumphon if I plan to do multiple day dives on the Chumphon pinnacles?
6. How does the diving in Pattaya compare to that?
Never dived there myself.. however i have heard it's quite shallow and commonly poor visibility but that could be one of those rumours no one can shake
7. Let's say I'd spend 10 days in Koh Tao, how many good days of diving could I expect on average?
At the moment dive schools are conducting full diving business with 2 morning dives, 2 evening dives and every other day a night dive. This ins't exclusive to any company so diving conditions are good
8. Where would you go if you could stay 3 weeks in any location of Thailand during that period?
At the moment you're kind of between a rock a hard place. Koh Tao is having weird weather of sun and cloud but with good diving and the other coast has very similar but a lot of schools there are closed waiting for their season to start so i guess it depends what you're looking for.

A lot of questions, would be great if you could answer a few of those.

thx anyway

I've answered above for you...