similan islands, Thailand

[garywhiteeye]

Hi all,
Was wondering if anyone has ever dived on the Similan islands in western Thailand? I gather its pretty special out there.
Any info is appreciated, especially tips on camping.

Cheers.

Gary.

 

[2Dive]

Hi there,

Have dived Similans, they are amazing and have managed to cope quite well after the Sunami, only some minor damage to coral reefs. I went with a company called Pro-Similan Divers who do live-aboards at a very reasonable price. There season is mid Oct through to end of April with the best time being Dec-Mar, but it is always good. Large fish, leopard shark, turtles and Dec you get to see Manta ray - some strong currents so a lot of drift dives. There are other companies, but I found these guys who have been operating for years, know exactly where to go and avoid all the other larger dive boats.

I have dive shop in Koh Samui so often go diving there. If you are interested or want any further info you can contact me on our website.

As for camping, they did have a campsite in Khao Lak but not sure of the name, you could check out the lonelyplanet website...

Have a great time.

2Dive
info@a-seadivers.com

 

[Akagin]

2Dive,

I'll be hitting that area of Thailand in December. Could you offer up some more info?

Are there any websites/links to the company you mentioned? Contact Info, addresses etc?

Also, do you know if the company offers all the equipment required to go spearfishing? I don't wanna have to drag my gear around the World, if I can rent decent gear there. Thanks for your time and info!

 

[2Dive]

Hello,

Yes, I dived through A Sea Divers - Scuba Diving Koh Tao & Koh Samui Thailand (email was info@a-seadivers.com) we went on a great boat, small groups lovely live-aboard. Contact them I am sure you will get all the info. Will check into spearfishing. There are some stringent laws against it but I know people do it. I am certain you would not be able to do it from a dive boat, none I have ever been on have offered it. Also consider if you brought your own spear gun the tougher airport controls on dangerous weapons - not sure you would get it through.

2Dive

 

[Sergiu]

i am also off to Thailand in December - January, likely will end up in Koh Tao for some freediving/diving.

cant wait!

serge

 

[2Dive]

if you need any info or help (diving or non diving) then do contact michelle on info@a-seadivers.com

Have a grea trip!!!

 

[Sergiu]

thanks 2dive, will do get in touch with Michelle.

Serge

 

[salibandy]

Hey I'm heading to Similan during Dec on a liveaboard. I was also planning to go to Koh Tao during March.

 

[2Dive]

March is a great time to be diving Koh Tao area (try Sail Rock, Chumphon Pinnacle, SouthWest Pinnacle, Shark Island - they are all great dive sites - not as good as the Similans but have their own charm, I also find it depends on the company you dive with that helps towards a normal or great dive! There are some good operators over there. Salibandy, who are you diving in the Similans' with, always interested in other people's opinions.

 

[salibandy]

I'm going with White Manta liveaboard, on their new boat the Black Manta. This company is based here in Singapore.

As of right now I don't have much of an opinion of them, since I haven't dived with them yet. But I went to see the boat when it was still docked in Singapore, and boy was it awesome.

 

[2Dive]

sounds fantastic, keep us posted! so are you then off to Gulf of Thailand side afterwards? they have direct flights from Samui with Bangkok airways.

 

[salibandy]

I will, in the scuba section. Don't hope for pictures though, none of us going has one. Haha.

Yes I most probably will, in March like I said. I am hoping to go to Ko Tao for a freediving course or two. I haven't planned it all out yet, but i will probably be flying Tiger airways from here to Bangkok, and see what flight brings me from there to Ko Samui.

 

[2Dive]

have a great time!

 

[Sergiu]

I dived in Similan islands once, for a 3 days liveaboard. probably the best dive sites i ever seen, in diversity, visibility and professional staff. The "odd" part of the story is that i left the liveaboard heading back ashore to Phuket on 25th of December 2004 only to wake up next morning to see a tsunami... i still have a problem going there again.

 

[salibandy]

Woah. That must have left quite an impact. I was supposed to go to Phuket that year, right during the time when the tsunami hit, but some family members couldn't make it then and we shifted it forward to June. Thanks goodness we did, or we might not be here today.

 

[2Dive]

it was definately a terrible time, my partner and staff were on a boat at Island number 9, had finished morning dive and then just felt the boat rock (were totally unaware until we managed to get a phone call in from the USA (coudn't reach them from Thailand due to phone lines so busy) and find out they were ok. However, we still go diving there and love it.

 

[Sergiu]

I still have video footage and fotos from before and after the tsunami that i never made public, fortunatelly a big part of the similan islands were not really affected by the tsunami as they are well off shore no really in shallow water so the waves could not build up to wipe out everything as it happened on mainland. Still i heard from people who were in the water at the time that a very strong "current" hit them to the extent that the regulators was pulling out of his mouth!

but back to freediving and Thailand, i cant wait to get there, damn i love that place. serge