69 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

NOTE: This trip will now be on the 2010 calendar. Thank you all for your participation and input.

Thailand seems to be DEFINITELY one of the places that SD will be going too in 2009 and will probably be one of the first ones we get planned.

Quero and I have been talking and I'm looking at some of her recommendations and I'm sure that others have been there and wouldn't mind sharing their findings with us and who their favorite operators were (are).

Please let us know if you prefer landbased or liveaboard or a combo of both.

Again I think the best time of year to dive there is Jan - Mar timeframe....

Please use this thread to help us plan this trip if people want to dive there.

Edited by WreckWench, 30 September 2008 - 11:24 PM.

[georoc01]

Check out this trip report here. The pictures are awesome!

[drbill]

Was on my dream list, but I already went. However, it was so much fun I'd probably consider going again!

I dived the Gulf and the Andaman Sea in 2001, spending a month (almost to the minute) in the country. I "snuck" out of the country into peninsular Malaysia about 3 minutes before midnight on the day my visa ran out. Loved southern Thailand. Dove mostly in the Krabi-Phi Phi area. I wanted to go back and help out after the tsunami hit, buyt my contact on Phi Phi said they were actually doing pretty well with volunteers in the area already.

If I went back now (before hitting my priorities of South America and Africa), I'd want to be on a liveaboard to the Similans or even further north.

Edited by drbill, 27 February 2008 - 05:17 PM.

[ASDmike]

I'm very interested. Elsewhere, I am looking at a 10 day land tour for Jan '09 that includes Thailand, Vietnam and a half day in Cambodia too. I think that trip would only give me a single day opportunity to go diving, so anything that includes some sightseeing (like your Aussie trip?) would be

Quero, have you made it over to Vietnam for diving? Just curious...

[shawnabbott]

Thailand seems to be DEFINITELY one of the places that SD will be going too in 2009 and will probably be one of the first ones we get planned.

Quero and I have been talking and I'm looking at some of her recommendations and I'm sure that others have been there and wouldn't mind sharing their findings with us and who their favorite operators were (are).

Please let us know if you prefer landbased or liveaboard or a combo of both.

Again I think the best time of year to dive there is Jan - Mar timeframe....

Please use this thread to help us plan this trip if people want to dive there.

it's on my list! i'm interested...

[a_fl_mermaid]

Thailand has been on my wish list a while now!

[timalso]

Yes I'm dreaming on all these 2009 trips proposed so far.

[Quero]

Well, you KNOW I'm in, and I'll be here to you all to my playground!

I also know it's a long way to come for just a week, so I would suggest a week of diving (LOB is really the way to do it since the best sites are hours from the coast), and another week of optional tours pre- and post- LOB trip. That way people could have some flexibility in their bookings and pick the add on (pre- or post-) that most appeals to them, with the obvious option of doing both pre- and post-!

For additional tours, I'd suggest some city-based touring (Bangkok and Chiang Mai especially) for shopping and cultural experiences, and also some land-based nature touring such as Khao Sok National Park, which is convenient to the Andaman coast (where Phuket and the Similans are located).

Anyway, I'm here for any who have questions.

Q.

[Quero]

Was on my dream list, but I already went. However, it was so much fun I'd probably consider going again!

I dived the Gulf and the Andaman Sea in 2001, spending a month (almost to the minute) in the country. I "snuck" out of the country into peninsular Malaysia about 3 minutes before midnight on the day my visa ran out. Loved southern Thailand. Dove mostly in the Krabi-Phi Phi area. I wanted to go back and help out after the tsunami hit, buyt my contact on Phi Phi said they were actually doing pretty well with volunteers in the area already.

If I went back now (before hitting my priorities of South America and Africa), I'd want to be on a liveaboard to the Similans or even further north.

Bill, I was going to "remind" you that you didn't make it to the Similans during your last trip. The diving in the southern Andaman is indeed great, but it's so much richer up north! I would strongly advise that any LOB we consider for charter go beyond the Similans to the Surins, including the justly famous Richelieu Rock (our very best site of the entire country).

[Quero]

Quero, have you made it over to Vietnam for diving? Just curious...

The diving in Vietnam is so-so; the main dive area is around Nha Trang up the coast from HCMC. What I would say is that if you're in Vietnam anyway and have time to kill, go do a few dives. But don't make a special trip to there just to dive. Personally, I think topside Vietnam is of more interest than underwater Vietnam. BTW, the same can be said of Cambodia.

[Quero]

Check out this trip report here. The pictures are awesome!

Oh I'm so glad you posted that! I hadn't seen it. I am the "Marcia" that CompuDude mentions in his report
And if you like what you see in those photos, you should know that they aren't even from the Similans, but from our "local" daytrip sites south of Phuket.

[Latitude Adjustment]

I would be interested in a combo trip.

[shadragon]

Well, if I can dream then 9 - 10 dive days on a liveaboard / land combo trip would be phenomenal. 2009 would work nicely.

[CaptainMorgan]

Thailand would definitely be a great trip. From what I've seen it looks like the best diving is only accessible by liveaboard, but if people want to add on some land-based as well that sounds good, too. If, and that's a big if right now, I go I'll probably stay in that part of the world for some other non-diving fun, so I'll probably be on a budget. I don't need 5 * accomodations, just something comfortable with a good dive op. As for a timeframe, Jan-Feb would work better for me, but anything's possible.

kelly

[shadragon]

Singles Week Thailand anyone???