What's the deal on Koh Tao?

[superhelix]

Dear all interested peoples,

My girlfriend and I are planning on moving to Koh Tao for 3-6 months in October, we are both certified, she OW and me AOW. I was happily certified by Phil Preston from Sea World Dive Team in Phuket a year and a half ago (PS - WHERE ARE YOU PHIL?!).

Our plan was to stay with either Buddha View or Planet Scuba, as they seem the most professional that I can determine via the Internet, and emails with Mark and Lisa respectively.

My goal was to do Rescue through Instructor, and then work for a bit getting my dives up to 250+, and basically relax for a while in a beautiful location with great diving and cheap living.

But I have been reading all the posts I can on this site about Koh Tao and I must say I am seriously considering changing our target destination.

My questions for people with experience with the area are this:

What is the deal with Koh Tao in terms of quality of diving, quality of instruction, and quality of life?

Is there somewhere else we should be headed to that has better diving for the same price with better lifestyle?

Does anyone have a good or bad reference on either Buddha View (Mark) or Planet Scuba (Lisa) or another dive shop they would recommend?

What about living accomodations?

Thanks,

superhelix:mean:

 

[Red Rover]

Here is an article that might help you:

http://www.asiandiver.com/themagazine/thailand/koh_tao.html

Oddly, I am wearing my Sea World Dive Team T-shirt at this very moment! I love it! Its held up through 5 liveaboards and still going strong!

I hope that article helps you out and good luck in Koh Tao!

Red Rover

 

[superhelix]

Red Rover,

Thanks for the article - definitely a great information source on Koh Tao...the author seems very bullish on the whole scene, and makes me think that the Koh Tao naysayers have some sort of aversion to fellow divers eager to get lots of cheap diving in at one of the best dive locations in Asia...

Hopefully there will be some posts that can also take the counter argument...

superhelix:japanese:

 

[jamespitt]

i have perhaps slagged off Koh Tao in this board before, but for good reason.
firstly i have been to KT and spent a super 3 weeks there (had to leave for visa reasons). i was tempted to stay and complete the holistic padi challenge and "GO PRO". there are a couple of reasons why i loved it there:
1. where we stayed - sai dang beach (SE corner) at new heaven huts. best beach in KT and most quiet and remote. great food and hosts are incredible. alright snorkelling and close to shark island.
2. where we dived - new heaven dive shop in rocky bay (keeping it in the family, also ate at new heaven restaurant and got bread from new heaven bakery). small personal diveshop.
3. chumporn pinnacle and the whale sharks. saw them twice but so did 60 other divers on the site too!

the reason i dont like KT is the diving and the industry there. 24 dive sites and 25 dive shops. fly-by-night operators with sub standard kit. admittedly planet scuba, bans and budda view are the biggest on the island and have capital for nicer kit and attractive remuneration for experienced instructors. but this is also crap, cos you are just another fast-track backpacker on the well-worn route from bangkok to bali. at work at 8am and leave at 5.30pm every day. filling numerous tanks and cleaning kit & ushering novices from dive platforms 4 times a day. plus, in my experience and opinion, i dont rate the diving in KT as one of the best in SE Asia. the best in thailand would be the similians, koh lanta, hin duang, and even phuket and maybe krabi/phi-phi. the coral is bleached because the water in the gulf is so warm (probably global warming, which being from prague u are experiencing right now - i hope all is ok). also some boats, notably Bans and buddah view, or rather floating fortresses have up to 60 divers on boards and this inevitably leads to trashing of coral. my most magical moment with the whale sharks was tempered by the view of numerous idiots trying to grab its dorsal fin.
i cant really comment on the quality of instruction on KT, only that they tend to hire from their own ranks, so you could be lumped with a 20 year old instructor with a head full of padi propoganda who has been diving for 6 months and has 102 dives. OTOH i have met some wonderful instructors from KT, namely Alain and Anouk from Carabou on KT. check if they're still there and not still in the maldives.
i have also met divemasters from KT who have no experience in current (because there is hardly any) and reduced vis, and deepest they have been is 30msw. you cant really go any deeper without a shovel.

KT is a wonderful place, but recently one of the owners of Bans (or was it buddah view??) was gunned down on sairee beach by a suspected thai mafia member. it seems there is a dangerous underworld in KT.

for other destinations in SE asia for good diving and cheap living (in no order of importance):
1. perhentian islands - malaysia
2. tioman islands - malaysia
3. any of the gili islands - just off lombok, indo
4. nha trang - vietnam
5. pulau weh - sumatera, indonesia (cheapest and world class diving)

head out there and try avoid the crowds and the pushy touts. KT is succumbing to over tourism. go explore different places. be open to differnt ideas and research research research!

peace...
jim

 

[cmdasia]

3 to 6 months is a long time in anyone's book - and in all honestly I would recommend going with a "tentative plan" and listening to James - he has written some very honest comments.

The crux of it all (irrespective of where you choose) is do you fit in comfortably with the local "scene" - Tao is young backpacker scene for example - so if you are a young backpacker you will probably fit in (if you are an old fart like me you will probably hate it after a couple of weeks). But why limit yourself, go to Tao for a couple of weeks and see if you like it - if you have cash venture off to Phuket, Malaysia or Indonesia for some diving later - but leave your options open - if you went to the UK , say, for 6 months would you stay in one place?). Also life does not revolve 100% around diving - if you are planning 6 months in Thailand go out and see Thailand because Tao is definitely not indicative of the delights of Thailand or the Thais.

Chris

PS

I have dove with Lisa and also with PS Samui - very professional and recommended, there are a lot of "chancers" operating in Thailand but Planet Scuba (Bangkok, Tao & Samui) is a serious company with serious standards - it was a pleasure to dive with them and see how responsible they are - Lisa is top notch.

 

[superhelix]

Chris and James,

Thanks for the excellent feedback. In response to some of your comments:

I would not consider myself a backpacker. In fact, to be honest, I don't really relate to the concept - I took a semester off from school in '95 to live in Prague for 9 months, lived in Copenhagen for six months in '96 in a study abroad program, and moved to Prague again after working for a year on wall street in '98 to start a company. I am now 27 years old and have become a little to used to creature comforts to throw on some gear and take off.

Overall, I rather enjoy arriving with luggage, settling in a bit, and getting to know a place and its people really well, as opposed to lugging around a smelly pack of gear with a map in one hand and a camera in the other.

Not that there isn't something romantic to me about being so mobile that I could just pick up at a moment's notice for some trek across Cambodia... but especially now that I am travelling with my girlfriend, who is not exactly the backpacking type, it is not really an option.

But to the point - I will definitely look into the places you two have mentioned, and take what you say to heart.

One of the reasons I am also interested in Koh Tao, is as an entrepreneur, i figure that KT would be a good place to learn more about the diving industry. I can't think of a better lifestyle right now than to be hopping around exotic locations in SE Asia and the Pacific, checking up on my dive shops and going on fantastic dives with excited DMs. I figure Koh Tao will enable me to also observe diving from the business perspective, and perhaps work there not in purely an instructor capacity. Also, my girlfriend would like to find some work, either in a dive shop or in a resort (nothing fancy, something to pay the bills mostly). KT seems like a good place to do that.

Do you think that given this "new" information, these other more exotic locations you have listed still fit the bill?

Thanks again for your excellent feedback - this resource blows away hours of surfing on the web for information - nothing beats firsthand information and opinion from an objective source.

Cheers,

Adam

 

[AdTravels]

Hi Adam,

I spent 5 months on Tao ending last march. There are plenty of work oportunities but there are lots of people looking for them, it is just a case of luck.
Many of the points made by others are valid, yes it is a factory island, especialy if you dive with the bigger schools (Buddha, Banns etc, where numbers mater not people....) I worked (DM) for Carabao (no, Alain and Anouk are no longer there) and they have some good instructors, but I know some of them have moved on......
Although the Island has, and still does cater for the 'backpacker' market this is changing. There are some new developments where quality takes priority over price (koh Tao Cottage for one)
All I can recomend to you is that you go there try it, see if you ilke it. I loved my time there but it is hard work, 10hours a day 7 days a week. The diving is average, yes there are a few great sites, but on the whole average. This is offset buy the island its location and atmosphere.

I hope you enjoy wherever you end up. Give Tao a go.

Ad

 

[superhelix]

Can you recommend where to stay / where to learn?

Although Buddha View looks very professional and Mark has been very responsive and helpful via email, I don't think I want to be on a boat with sixty other divers - sounds rediculous.

Can you recommend a place on the island that does IDC training but in a much smaller group, emphasizing quality vs. quantity?

Also, where to stay? Is it possible to get a small pad with a living area and kitcheonette on the island so my girlfriend and I can do some of our own cooking? Are there supermarkets there to shop in with decent food / prices?

Sorry to inundate you with questions, and thanks in advance for your advice and feedback. I really appreciate it!

Adam

 

[travelem]

I am aslo a fan of Sea World in Phuket. They are one of the best dive shops I ever visited.

But I am really disappointed with diving or dive shops in Koh Tao.
The only good thing in Koh Tao is cheap (but not really cheapest compared to Malaysia's Perhentian or Philippines's Moalboal).

If you are serious about your diving certificate, avoid Koh Tao like hell.

Go to Perhentian or Phillipines fro real great budget diving.

 

[Sea Squirt]

I just got back from KT this morning. I must admit I was loathe to go there myself, since the first time I went there (17 years ago - ahem!) we had to take our own generator, tents, water and food to last for 3 days, and hope that the boat came to pick us up.

Both my OW and DM instructors did their IDC in Koh Tao, but have since changed locations because they got sick of the lifestyle there.

True, it is similar to Khao Sarn Road on the beach and everybody is just gorgeous, and yes it is a real dive factory. EVERYBODY is a diver, and I can imagine the scene getting really tiresome after a while.

However I was pleasantly surprised that it hasn't taken on the total sleaziness of Patong Beach Phuket, or cheesiness of Chaweng, Samui. There are some pretty decent and nice looking bars and restaurants to go to - they reminded me of Ubud, Bali.

Decent dive shops - I did part of my DMT at New Way Diving on Sairee Beach. It is a smallish operation and very friendly and relaxed. The manager, a Dutchman named John, is more into quality and not quantity, and you don't feel as though courses are being brutally forced down your throat.

The first dive goes out at 7am (to be the first boat to hit the dive sites) so you are half way through your dive before you get hit (literally) by the hoards from Bans. By the way - the last two dives I did at Chumphon pinnacle were ripped by a ferocious current, so don't believe all you read about there never being currents!!

As for accommodation - a new resort has just opened on Sairee called Coral Grand - apparently they have some fairly decent accommodation at a decent monthly rate, and they are also looking for DMs, AIs and Instructors.....

Anyway, that's just my opinion!