Hello---My husband and I are planning a trip to Thailand in Oct-Nov of 2012. We would visit Bangkok first, then the second half of the trip would be beach and scuba. In your opinion, where are the best places to scuba in Thailand at that time of year? Our main criteria is pretty beaches, easy to get to from Bangkok, and safe dive operations. Of course we know of Phuket, but want to explore other options too. We have been diving in the Red Sea, Caribbean, and Pacific Ocean--but are novice divers. Much thanks.

Khao Lak for the Similan and Surin Islands probably has the best diving but check out the timing as I think you will be on the cusp of the dive season (although that is a moveable feast these days with climate change!). Good for novice divers as many of the dives are reasonable shallow and currents were not a problem for us.A liveaboard would be preferable as it is some distance to the main sights. Also, do a search on hanuman's name for an article re some of the sights being closed. On the gulf coast, Koh Tao is a major dive centre but not as good as the Andaman coast and again, check the seasons.
The diving is good but not as good as the Red Sea, GBR or pacific.

Are you considering a liveaboard or just day trips? I have only done liveaboards, so I am not sure how far the day boats travel, but in the Andaman Sea, above the Similan Islands, is Richelieu Rock. Many dive boats go up there and it is one of my favorite dive sites. It is quite a large site and there are great things to see (of course nature is unpredictable as to what you'll see at any given time). I have had good manta ray encounters, pairs of harlequin shrimp, seahorses and tons of other stuff. Unfortunately, it's a very popular spot, so there are often many boats there. Try for a boat that gets there before the crowds.

My dive experience in Kho Phangan & Kho Tao were excellent.Sail Rock was a memorable experience.Visibility is very good.Down to around 40m.Mantas,barracudas and an occasional whale shark can be encountered,with ofcourse plenty of other fish.Currents are very strong.Check with dive schools for more info about weather during that time of the year.

I agree that October and November in Phuket/Khao Lak the Similans and other parts of the west coast of Thailand are not ideal diving months. See weatherbase.com and other weather websites for an idea of rain. As you know, even if it is not raining, cloud cover really affects a dive in terms of colours of fish and coral. In addition, currents are also stronger in the monsoon season and there is more churning of sand on the sea floor which affects visibility. All in all, I would say to opt for the east coast of Thailand or Malaysia, place like Koh Samui or Kho Phangan or the Redang islands off the east coast of Malaysia. You are going to run into a bit of rain in areas from late October, but it is better than the west coast. There is one monsoon advancing and one retreating in SE Asia in Oct/Nov which makes it a bit difficult for diving (and beaches) in many places.

Is there any way you can move your trip one month later or so? Late November on the Phuket side/ west coast is a better time. (Dec – May are even better if you can do that.) Conversely, if you want to dive the east coast, then going a bit earlier (like September) would give you quite dry weather.

Another option if you have to stick with Oct/Nov is to go much further south and east, like Bali, Lombok and those areas. You can do live aboards for those dives, or just dive for the day out of Bali or Lombok. If you have a week in Thailand and a week diving further south, IMO, that might work well. (Of course please do other things in Bali besides diving, as there is so much else there.)

Sipidan, off of the north east coast of the island of Kalimantan/Borneo (shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei), has supberb divingk, and is in good weather in those months. It’s kind of a pain to get to. But if you have a whole week, it may work. Look up info on Sipidan on dive websites, it’s one of the 10 best dive sites in the world. It’s sometimes hard to get the passes to dive Sipidan, but there are other good dive sights in the area. You can also consider areas like Layang Layang, which is well-known for Hammerhead sharks.

I would second Sipidan and/or Mabul in Sabah.Both are fantastic dive destinations.Pretty exorbitant compared to the others suggested above.As Cicerone mentioned,there are limited guests, dive operators can take.The Mabul Water Bungalow are beautiful,has to be booked well in advance.
Kota Kinabalu is pretty easily accessible,with Air Asia & Silk Air flying from KL & Singapore respectively.Lahad Datu is an hr flight from KK.

The Similans officially open for diving on the first of November, although some live-aboard boats do go out late in October. I did do a early season trip in late October a few years ago. The crossing out (all the way from Phuket) was horrible, but conditions once we got to the Similans were perfect almost the whole time.

The Similans and Richlieu Roack are at least a two hour trip from Khao Lak, which is why a live-aboard is really the only way to go. There is one operator that leaves its boat in the islands during the season and ferries people there and back by speed boat, so people aren't bound by a live-aboard schedule, but they don't have the best reputation. The dive operators I would recommend are Wicked and Liquid.

Of course, depending on what kind of diving you like, there are some good day dives you can do out of Khao Lak. One of my personal favorites is the Boonsong wreck, an old tin mining dredge that's now home to a lot of interesting tiny things (and by night, huge harlequin morays). Both of the dive operators I suggested organize regular day trips to this site and others.

just piggybacking of this thread... .Are there any dive operators in Thailand that folks here would suggest? esp on the Kho Tao side as I believe that area is best for beginners? Thanks!

There's no area that is particularly better for beginners. The advantage Koh Tao has is that there are several dive sites within a few minutes cruise of the island. But there are some other destinations that also fit that bill. Which destination to choose will depend on the time of year, since the monsoons affect different areas at different times.

On Koh Tao, I've heard good things about Master Divers, but there are dozens of operators to choose from.

Hi there! I'll be going later this month... is this a good time to go diving on the Kho Tao side? What are the currents like in that area? Anyone have any opinions?

I went to Manado last year in August and found the currents there quite strong. Much preferred Togean Islands, also In Sulawesi, which were just tamer waters I felt.

Currents obviously vary from site to site but we found them weak for most of the sites and the diving was very relaxed . The exception was some of the pinnacle sites further offshore (can't recall the names)where the currents were fairly strong but even those were probably ok most of the time. we were there in June /July which seemed a good time for diving.

Hi Crellston - thanks for replying, Are you referring to Kho Tao in your post? Also, may I ask which diving operator did you dive with? I am thinking of approaching Scuba Junction. I've read good reviews about them. Also, thanks for your post on Sri Lanka! I will contact the driver you mentioned directly.

Garima - Yes I was referring to Koh Tao. Sorry, but I cannot recall the name of either of the dive schools we used. I do remember that we were going to use Bans Diving but then we found out the size of the dive groups they send out and changed operators as we prefer diving in smaller groups. The diving is pretty easy and some good site close to the island notably around koh nang yuan (may even be worth staying there as it will probably be a bit quieter than teh main island which is now a bit like backpacker central now (fine if that is what you are looking for.)