Thailand - Accomodation and Diving

Hi All,

We are going to Thailand at the end of August this year as part of our Honeymoon, and I would appreciate some advice on the islands.

The current plan is to stay on Koh Samui for 10 nights. We are looking at the Tongsai Bay. Have any of you stayed here, and if so would you recommend it?

With regards the other Islands, we have about another 10 nights to visit some of these. What Islands would people recommend and how long would you spend on them? The islands we were looking at are Koh Tao, Krabi, Phuket and Phi Phi. I know we won't be able to do them all in 10 days, but which ones are best?
Also, is it better to have the accomodation booked on these Islands before getting to them, or doing it when there?

Finally, have any of you done the Padi open water dive course on Koh Samui, if so, would you be able to recommend a good dive school?

Thanks in advance,

Jason.

Hi Jason,

We did our open water PADI course at Crystal Dive in Koh Tao last year. We found the course to be very good and our instructor was very professional. The accommodation on site is pretty basic but you can pay a bit extra to stay in a newly built air con room a few minutes away by car. They will collect you from there and bring you to the resort centre each day. Their website is www.crystaldive.com.

Koh Tao is the best island for diving. It is not very developed but lovely all the same. Koh Samui in my opinion is over developed and a bit dirty. Those islands are on the eastern side of the mainland
Krabi is beautiful and if you want totally underdeveloped you should try Rai-leh beach,a small island off the coast of Krabi.
Phuket is again overdeveloped. I havent been to Phi Phi since the Tsunami, I first went there about 8 years ago & it was lovely, not too developed, went back just before the tsunami and it was more developed, I thought it was a bit spolied.

We stayed in Koh Samui during our honeymoon last year.

Stayed in Phuket 2 years ago following the tsunami. Loved it, it is developed so if you want nightlife then it's there for you but you can get away from that if you like.
We stayed in Cape Panwa which is very quiet but just a short journey to the hustle and bustle if that's your bag.

Stayed here

[broken link removed]

I cannot recommend it enough.

We did day trips to Phi Phi which was also stunning.

We went through travelmood.co.uk.

No connection with either.

Would second the Crystal Dive recommendation in Kho Tao. It's over three years now since i did it with a friend but enjoyed it so much we stayed on and did the Advanced Dive course. Found the instructors very friendly and approachable, fees at the time were very reasonable and they do a great video set to music of one of your dives when you do the beginners course.

Diving on Kho Tao is over rated-a supermarket conveyor for PADI courses. The best diving in Thailand is on the West Coast-Surin Islands, Similian Island, Tarutu Island (National Park).
If you want you could do a 2 centre and stay mon the beautiful islansd of Langkawi, in Malaysia, which would be a beautiful place to Honeymoon. You can go direct from Satun in Thailand by boat and it takes one hour. about 6 crosings a day each way. Alternatively do both the East and West coast.

Jason,
I've been to Thailand three times in recent years and I must admit I don;t know anything about diving but I personally wouldn;t spend a whole 10 days in Koh Samui. It's a small island, really marketed as a honeymoon destination. It's usually included in package deals as a 3 or 4 days break. A better bet might bePhuket, the biggest island, with lots to do and terrific boating.
The previous posting suggesting Langkawi is worth checking out. Easy to get there from thailand with AirAsia (check their website, http://www.airasia.com/site/sg/home.jsp)

Safe travelling

If youre booked into koh samui, wait til you get there before booking any trips, you'll get better deals off the local organizers. I'd recommend you get a trip which goes to the marine park, its about 1.5 hrs on a speedboat or 4 hrs on the big slow boat so try to get the speed boat. When you get there the diving is spectacular. Theres a load of hits on .
Id agree with the others, no more then 5-6 days on samui as life is very slow there, try and combine with another resort, and def. 4-5 days in bangkok.

went diving in Pattaya with a local by the name of lucky. booked his speed boat for the day and he brought us to meet his mates moored off some island out there. it was a cash deal, no certificates on offer and we aren't even sure if it was his boat.his mates didnt have a word of english and instructions were kept to a minumum(as in none). we were literally thrown into the water with more weights than were required and it's fair to say we were very shook afterwards with no instructions to equalise our ears etc. later on he brought us to some other island to a rifle range and we used ak-47, magnums, pump action shot guns etc. i claimed to have the bends after our excursions but i think it was just heart burn after a feed of singha beer. dived the barrier reef a few weeks later and boring in comparsion to our adventure.

The Phuket side (which includes Krabi, Rai-leh) will all have rough seas and be very windy. Phi Phi is sheltered somewhat from the winds for swimming.

If you’re going to the Samui side for the 20 days you may as well stay on that side and concentrate on Samui, Phangan and Ko Tao. Samui is very developed and has a Tesco to rival Clare Hall.

You can beach hop around Ko Phangan and get speed board day trips from there to Ko Tao to try out your diving skills.

On a recent trip we stayed in Kao Tao for 5 and Koh Samui for 7 nights. The Tongsai Bay looked incredible but we didn't stay there. We stayed in the Baan Haad Ngam resort which wouldnt be at the same level as the Tongsai bay. Chaweng, as mentioned in previous posts, is a little seedy and not really what I expected. The beach is beautiful there but the street scene is very crowded. My experience in Kao Tao was a truly wonderful one. For pure relaxation we stayed in the jamahkiri resort and spa ([broken link removed]). I cannot recommend this resort highly enough. Pure heaven and very reasonable considering the quality of accomadation from rooms to restaurant and pool area with views overlooking a stunning bay. We organised diving just after we got off the ferry. You'll find places there where you can book dives and then go off to your hotel.

I would have to strongly agree with Luternau's post re diving on Koh Tao.I dived with a company(can't remember them for a day & I wasn't impressed with either the company or the diving).Didn't dive anywhere else in Thailand,but in comparison to diving in Vietnam or Malaysia,not very impressive.
If learning to dive,pay a bit extra for a reputable company & u'll see how it's done properly.
By all accounts diving the Andaman see is far superior to Gulf of Thailand.