Every year, Thailand seduces millions of adventure travelers. She’s hard to resist, with her gorgeous landscapes, rich culture, affordable luxury, and heavenly food.
Thailand does not have the world’s healthiest or most spectacular coral reefs, but you don’t come here exclusively for the diving. You come for the adventure.
Diving is just a tasty side dish. It’s the icing on the cake; a zesty sauce to drench over your rice; the final garnish that draws the chef’s kiss!
With that in mind, Phuket is easily the best place to enjoy a well-balanced platter of diving and adventure.
Thailand's Andaman Sea
Thailand is squeezed between two bodies of water: the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.
See below.
The Gulf of Thailand is shallow with little water exchange, so the coral reefs have suffered extensive bleaching. In some places you can’t find expansive reef unless you go deeper than 40 feet.
The Andaman Sea hasn’t gone unscathed, either, but the water mixes well with the biodiverse Indian Ocean, and there’s an abundance of limestone islands that are ripe with soft coral — much more resilient to rising ocean temperatures.
There’s broad consensus the Andaman Sea has the healthiest marine habitats in Thailand.
I've heard the Similan Islands have the best diving. Why go to Phuket?
Most divers agree the Similan Islands are the “best place to dive” in Thailand.
The Similan Islands lie northwest of Phuket, further offshore in the Indian Ocean. The only way to get there is to hop on a liveaboard, which usually runs between 4 — 6 nights.
Most of our clients choose not to visit the Similan Islands. They don’t want to do a liveaboard — not in Thailand. They don’t want to miss out on all the exciting stuff happening on land.
In Thailand, there’s so much to do once you’ve hung your bathing suit up to dry: beautiful beaches, dazzling resorts, cultural discovery, incredible nightlife, and some of the best cuisine on Planet Earth. A liveaboard removes you from these experiences.
That’s why many divers prefer Phuket (pronounced ‘poo-ket’).
From Phuket, you can go diving at dozens of offshore islands, and there’s plenty of eclectic dive sites out there to satisfy your need for underwater spectacle. But you also have plenty of topside attractions at your fingertips, which makes Phuket a more preferable vacation experience than a liveaboard.
Where should I stay?
Most divers prefer to stay on the big island of Phuket, which has a wide variety of resorts, beaches, activities, and nightlife.
The best dive sites are located southeast of Phuket, and they’re only accessible to dive boats departing from the south. For that reason, you should stay at the southern end of Phuket.
Staying in Phuket has one major drawback: it takes longer to reach the most popular dive sites, which are located further east toward Ko Phi Phi. Sometimes you’re looking at a 90-minute boat ride in each direction, which significantly cuts into your day. The hotel pick-up adds an hour, too.
Ko Phi Phi Don.
Solution: Stay at Ko Phi Phi (pronounced ‘ko-pee-pee’).
[ Yes… this is the land of ‘poo’ and ‘pee.’ Laugh it up, fuzzball! ]
Ko Phi Phi is a smaller island with stunning twin bays and limestone cliffs.
The locals generally agree that Ko Phi Phi has the most spectacular dive sites in these waters.
If you stay on Ko Phi Phi, you don’t have as many resorts to choose from, but the island’s dive sites are much easier to reach. The most popular dive sites are just a quick jaunt away. You spend less time on the boat and have more time to explore and relax.
How's the diving?
Thailand is famous for its limestone cliffs that jet out of the ocean like shark fins. You will get to see them up close because they’re home to most of the dive sites.
These islands are so gorgeous that the sightseeing on your dive boat single-handedly makes Phuket a worthwhile adventure.
At the limestone islands, you typically swim in one direction, admiring the steep rock formations and searching for critters in not-so-dense gardens of coral.
Bida Nok is the perfect example. You drop into a shallow grotto at the south end of the island and go either left or right, exploring the contours of the rock formations.
The dive site is famous for resident blacktip sharks. We went there twice, at different times of year, and we encountered the blactips on both dives.
Note: The Andaman Sea usually enjoys good visibility. We conducted our site inspections in the low season, when there’s poorer ocean conditions. Hence the lower-quality footage.
You can also explore underwater pinnacles, and that’s where you’ll find the healthiest coral reefs.
The pinnacles have a nice mix of hard coral, soft coral, and sponges, and they’re more fun to explore than the limestone islands because they offer multiple pathways for navigating the reef.
Some of the pinnacles are home to zebra sharks.
Which dive resort should I choose?
Phuket has a very unique dive operation, and you should understand how it works before trying to book a dive trip.
For the most part, dive centers do not own and operate their own boats. Not in Phuket, anyway.
Likewise, there aren’t any dive-dedicated resorts here. You book a hotel, you choose a dive operator, and the dive operator will arrange a pick-up at your hotel.
There are 5 – 6 boats that alternate dive sites throughout the week. All the dive shops in southern Phuket use these same boats.
When you book with a local dive shop, they will sign you up for whichever boat is scheduled to visit your preferred dive site, on your preferred day.
There are benefits and drawbacks to this approach.
The good thing is that it minimizes boat traffic at the dive sites.
And, if you have a preferred dive site, there’s probably a dive boat going there almost every single day.
Here’s the problem: you will be sharing the boat with as many as 5 – 7 dive shops.
It’s just as troublesome as it sounds.
First of all, there’s greater risk when multiple dive centers share a boat. There’s more chaos on board and you worry about entry / exit accidents and miscounted dive groups.
Second, there will inevitably be another dive shop on board that does not respect marine life or their fellow scuba divers. Even if you choose a good dive shop, you’ll almost certainly share your boat with a bad one.
Lastly: Thailand gets a lot of beginning scuba divers.
The public dive boats are mostly filled with beginning divers or open water students. For that reason, the boats will only visit the same standard assortment of beginner-friendly dive sites, over and over and over again.
Truthfully, the best dive sites in Phuket are at the edges of the outer islands, where there’s stronger currents and deeper points. [For example, the far ends of Ko Racha Noi and Ko Racha Yai.] These dive sites have healthier coral reefs and a higher frequency of pelagic encounters.
But you can’t go to those dive sites because the public dive boats just don’t visit them.
They will not drop off beginners at easy dive sites, and then drop off advanced divers at harder dive sites — even if those dives sites are not far apart. It’s just not an option on these dive boats. They won’t provide you with personalized service.
You can get swallowed up by enormous schools of snapper at a variety of dive sites.
The best way to dive Phuket is by arranging a private dive charter. [Scuba Travel Ventures can help you with that!]
We’re not even trying to promote ourselves — this was the recommendation given to us by many a local dive shop.
When you’re on a private boat, you can visit whichever dive sites you want and you’ll have the opportunity to explore dive sites that receive a very small number of divers annually.
Plus, you won’t have to share the boat with other dive groups, and you’ll have truly experienced scuba instructors leading your groups. It’s a safer and more rewarding experience.
What else is there to do in Thailand?
As we mentioned earlier, we think Thailand is more about adventure travel than diving.
See elephants. Visit a Buddhist temple. Learn meditation. Trek in the jungle. Cool down in a waterfall. Go zip lining. Rumble through the jungle on an ATV. Go tubing. Or whitewater rafting. Or kayaking. Lounge at your luxury hotel. Or lounge on the beach. Go dancing. Have a fresh smoothie. Have mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream. Get a massage. Get a Thai massage. Eat fried scorpion. Ride a tuk-tuk. Smoke some stuff that may or may not be legal in your state. Kitesurf on a beautiful beach, or go parasailing. Take a Thai cooking class. Stroll along the limestone coast. Marvel at fire dancers. Explore caves. Learn kickboxing. Watch kickboxing. Watch regular boxing (more popular than you realize). Tour palaces. Go rock climbing. Visit a tribe. Shop at a floating market. Or a night market. Hit the city. Discover the Asian interpretation of a Mexican restaurant (must be seen to be believed!).
From Phuket, it’s easy to fly to Chiang Mai, a hub for jungle adventures and cultural immersion.
You can also fly to Bangkok, which is a ~ much different ~ experience. It’s a love-or-hate city for most travelers, but everyone should visit for at least a night or two. Like the rest of the country, it’s unforgettable.