Thailand

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet and its easy to see why, a tropical climate, amazing food, friendly people and crystal clear warm water. It not only offers the chance to experience a completely different culture but also all year round scuba diving too thanks to dive sites on both the east and west coasts which means when one side is closed due to bad weather, the other side of Thailand is open for scuba diving….perfect!

Thailand has a well established scuba diving industry with thousands of divers travelling to the country each year to take advantage of the clear warm water, easy conditions and great value for money. Thailand is lucky to straddle two oceans, in the east the Gulf of Thailand and in the west the Andaman Ocean which forms part of the Indian Ocean. With an average water temperature of 27 degrees Celsius all year round and calm seas it no wonder that Thailand is popular with divers and it boasts some truly great diving and opportunities to dive with whale sharks, manta rays and all sorts of other experiences too. As mentioned, the diving in Thailand is split into two distinct regions, in the east the Gulf of Thailand offers diving in well known tourist hot spots such as Ko Samui and Ko Tao where you can combine relaxing on the beach, drinking from fresh coconuts and the famed, hedonistic full moon parties with some pleasant, easy diving make it sure to be a winning combination. However, its on the west coast in the Andaman Sea that things get really interesting with some truly world class diving

The scuba diving in the Andaman Sea can be truly spectacular and really is worth making the effort to head there. Normally accessed through the holiday island of Phuket and also Krabi there are huge amounts of dive centres which cater to day trips and liveaboard trips. Day trips around Krabi and Phuket include trips to the famous Phi Phi islands, Koh Lanta and Shark Point but if you venture around 180km from Phuket you will find yourself in the awesome Similan Islands often accessed as part of a two or three day liveaboard trip. Here the corals are in good condition and offer all sorts of marine life. A little further out from the Similans are the Surin Islands and Richelieu Rock, famous for its close encounters with whale sharks and manta rays, not to mention its impressive marine life density.

The great thing about Thailand for scuba diving is that it offers all year round diving in a way that most destinations cannot, when one side of the country is closed due to weather then the other will be open. Generally the Andaman Sea, west coast is open from November to May, while the Gulf of Thailand offers diving from February to September.