I need recommendations for a diving liveaboard company from Samui. It would be in September and also considering staying in Koh Tao. Hotel recommendations for Koh Tao with a nice beach to lay out when not diving?

I don't think you need a liveaboard in Koh Tao as most of the dive sites are less than 30 mins from the island. In fact, I am not sure there are any operating from Koh Tao. I have dived there a couple of time albeit several years ago. The deal used to be that if you booked a course or dive package you got free accomodation wit a lot of the places ( usually very basic) but I am not unsure if that is still the case. The big player on the island was Bans Diving but we were not impressed. Big boats and a bit impersonal.

This place is worth a look http://www.nangyuan.com/en/home.html as I recall there were a couple of good dive sites very close by.

I have 2 choices as some people are divers and some are not. Stay in Samui and the divers do a liveaboard or everyone stay in Koh Tao but nice beach is important for the non divers. Looking for hotel in Koh Tao around $60-80

I only know of one liveaboard that works around Koh Tao, Scuba Explorer, which caters almost exclusively to Japanese clientele (and it was a bit shaby the last time I was on it).

There is another alternative, and that's staying on Koh Phangan. One of the best dive sites in the area is actually between Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. You could stay on the quieter north side of Phangan, where there are also a few dive shops that can take you to sail rock, etc. It's worth looking into.

BTW, the dive sites around Nang Yuan are where they take all the newbie divers. They're okay, but the better sites are further away.

I had not thought about staying on Phangan. Any recommends for hotels $60-80 price range with good beach? What would you consider the quieter side of the island? Thoughts about a dive operator?