Where to Dive - Feb 2019

[Divemaster No.1]

Feel free to tell me somewhere worse

 

[Barmaglot]

Define 'worse' - many islands have no diving options at all, and the sites in the Gulf of Thailand are, on average, not nearly as good as the ones in the Andaman Sea. If you stay on Koh Samui, for instance, you'll be paying around five thousand baht for a two-tank trip to Koh Tao.

 

[Buadhai]

Feel free to tell me somewhere worse

You're missing the point. Using a word like "worst" to make an unqualified judgement about a hugely varied place like Phuket makes no sense. Saying something like, "I dislike Phuket because…" makes a lot more sense and has much more value as a matter of opinion. In the past I have been, more or less, forced to spend a night or two on Phuket because of liveaboard scheduling. Some of those visits have turned out to be very enjoyable. My wife and I have had a couple of unavoidable but very nice sojourns at Nai Yang Beach.

I happen to have an intense dislike of Koh Tao. I've never had any good dives there and I'm too old to enjoy the kind of fun that attracts people who seem to all be younger than my daughter. But, just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's OK for me to categorize it as a "worst" place.

BTW, I also don't much like Phuket. One of the reasons my wife and I prefer Thai liveaboards is that they make it unnecessary to spend a night on the island either before or after the trip. Direct from the airport to the boat and back again. No hotel needed.

 

[stevenl]

Define 'worse' - many islands have no diving options at all, and the sites in the Gulf of Thailand are, on average, not nearly as good as the ones in the Andaman Sea. If you stay on Koh Samui, for instance, you'll be paying around five thousand baht for a two-tank trip to Koh Tao.

Depending on what you're looking for all islands have their pros and cons. Why does some place have to be bad of worse?

I'm sorry, I'm not participating in this trolling and denigrating the thread.

 

[Buadhai]

I'm sorry, I'm not participating in this trolling and denigrating the thread.

 

[Vikram14]

Woah! I actually returned from Thailand after doing most of my diving from Ao Nang with Poseidon and The Dive Ao Nang - both operators good. The diving in local islands was okayish - not too great visibility but still interesting to spot unusual things. Diving around Phi Phi Islands was actually quite good (lots of sharks at Viking Cave, school of snappers at Ko Bida Nok, jellyfish explosion at Maya Nui... okay the latter was not so nice but hadn't seen so many jellyfish before). Did go to Phuket to catch my return flight but did a day of diving (Shark Point, King Cruiser, Ko Doc Mai) - overall everything in Phuket (including diving operations) seems bigger and crowded, so in future would definitely not do that. Liked the more relaxed vibe in Ao Nang dive operators. Avoided Patong beach!!!

 

[Centrals]

Any reason for choosing Ao Nang over Koh Lanta?
I am planning a trip to visit either one of them later this year.

 

[Vikram14]

Any reason for choosing Ao Nang over Koh Lanta?
I am planning a trip to visit either one of them later this year.

It was my first time in Thailand and was supposed to travel with a friend (who was planning to learn diving). Since my buddy bailed out later decided to make it a diving trip and did not want to travel too much. Landed in Phuket, took a ferry to Ao Nang and that was pretty much it. I think its even easier to reach Ao Nang if you get a direct flight to Krabi.....I have heard good things though about Koh Lanta and its definitely on my radar for future plans!