Where to dive out of on a liveaboard, Phuket or Khao Lak?

[Almchenry]

Hello To All,

My husband and I are looking to dive the Similan Islands late December 2012 on a live aboard. I've been going back and forth on on where to 'hang out hat', whether that be Phuket or Khao Lak.

My initial gut feeling says Khao Lak for a couple of reasons: 1. It's closer to the islands 2. I feel it's not a commercial as Phuket (but because I feel that doesn't mean that it's necessarily true). Also, my husband will be getting his OW cert. wherever we end up.

We're going to be on a fairly tight budget so if you guys have any great recommendations or insight to help us make a decision, that would be great!

Cheers!

 

[exposure]

Just to add my 2 cent, you'll probably find more offers starting from Phuket than Khao Lak. I did a liveaboard there last December in the Giamani and I highly recommend it.

For the OW course, I don't think that there is a big difference but, before going to a liveaboard you should think of doing the AOW after the OW and doing some dives. This way you will really enjoy diving the similans. Awesome place...

 

[Scubysnaps!]

You mean Patong not Phuket? Just go with whichever suits your budget then, I've joined a liveaboard from both places, when I joined from Khao Lak, they picked us up from Patong in a minibus, it didnt take too long

 

[Almchenry]

Exposure,

I am AOW cert however my husband is not. Would you recommend that the Similan Islands be the place to go (or wait), taking into consideration that he's going to be OW?

---------- Post added May 2nd, 2012 at 06:29 AM ----------

Scubysnaps,

I've been doing a lot of looking around and haven't really deciphered which one is budget friendly. Good advice?

 

[limbo]

Is he going to be OW during the trip, just before you go out to the Similans? Maybe he can get certified during your travels? Some dive centers can complete the certification dives during the live aboard. your husband will dive different sites, shallower than you. Many options possible.

I would advise Khao Lak , exactly for the reasons mentioned. I'm pretty sure you will prefer Khao Lak over Phuket.

In Khao Lak there are some 20 or such different dive centers offering live aboards, you will find something, also in your budget. Try Seadragon for instance, they have various boats for different budgets.

 

[Scubysnaps!]

Most dives we did in the Similans were around the 25m mark also. He'll be annoyed when he gets to Richelieu Rock that he cant go to the bottom to see the Mantis shrimp and other wonderful creatures down there if he is just OW. Time on the boat around the Similans would be wasted IMO doing a course, I would do it beforehand. See if you can get a deal weith the company you end up booking with to do it this way. I went with www.thejunk.com from Kata Beach initially - an excellent adventure not just a liveaboard trip, the second time I went with Queebn Scuba who went from Khao Lak.Because they went from Khao Lak the trip was shorter...hence less expensive, this may be another reason to choose one from Khao Lak

 

[Quero]

The advice I give my divers about Phuket vs Khao Lak depends on a lot of factors, some of which you've touched on, and in your case they intersect, making it somewhat more complex.

First of all, apologies to limbo, but I do not recommend doing the OW course on a liveaboard to the Similans. As Scubysnaps notes in post #6, certified divers will get the much more out of the trip than OW student divers, and I can't see any advantage to wasting time on the LOB on OW training dives rather than on actual fun dives. In the case of the AOW cert, though, doing it on the LOB is a great idea. The student isn't depth-limited, and the training is an integral part of the "fun" of the dive in most cases. So my advice is to do the OW course while you're land-based. Phuket has a better variety of nearby daytrips for OW training, IMO, than Khao Lak does.

Next, Phuket is Thailand's largest island, and in a nod to Scubysnaps again, in post 3, places like the beach town of Patong really are overly-commercialized, but there are plenty of other areas on Phuket that are convenient, pleasant, and not overbuilt. I personally find Khao Lak tedious, but I don't like to book a resort and spend most of my time at it. For people who just want to get away and relax at a resort like a home-away-from-home, Khao Lak is brilliant since there are lots of really nice 5-star places on beautiful beaches there. When I go up there, I stay in a budget guesthouse, and I find the town a bit of a drag. So if you are looking for a budget-minded beach stay in the Khao Lak area, you really want not to be in Khao Lak, but instead at a beach village like Bang Niang.

For budget minded-divers who are arriving by air, it's usually a little less expensive to stay at Phuket because most of the liveaboard boats offer transfers from Phuket as part of the package. It costs quite a lot to go from Phuket airport to Khao Lak by taxi (1500-2000 THB each way), whereas a taxi from the airport to most places on Phuket runs THB 500-600 max. On the other hand, for those arriving by bus from Bangkok or other points north, it's often more convenient to simply get off at Khao Lak rather than continuing south to Phuket. Saves some travel time, but once at Khao Lak, you still need to organize transportation to your lodgings.

Hope that helps!

 

[limbo]

I was merely pointing out that some companies offer the Open Water certification dives on a live aboard trip, I agree that it is not the best way to get the most out of a LOB trip. Ideally you get your OW cert before boarding the LOB and it is indeed great fun to complete your AOW cert during the LOB, as Quero pointed out.

 

[stevenl]

Some boats depart from Phuket, others from Khao Lak. These days most of the boats depart from Khao Lak, but there will always be a transfer from Phuket included in the trip price.

If you're on a tight budget, Phuket will be the cheaper option for the open water course. Also Phuket will be the cheaper option to reach your accommodation, so with transfers included all in all Phuket will be cheaper than Khao Lak.

But both places have their pro's and con's, really a personal choice.

 

[bruges00]

my wife and I stayed on surin beach, which is in the north of phuket (island)
sort of in between the patong/karon/kata area of phuket and kaho lak
lovely place but probably more expensive than the varege accomodation in phuket

we took the AOW on the liveabord (one of those leaving from kao lak, namely the peter pan) and found it both feasible and enjoyable