Hi All ... I'm new to this .... I'm retired and have been here nearly 3 years and married to a Thai. I was wondering if anyone ( living reasonably locally ) was interested in doing any diving down south. I live in Ban Chiang of museam fame , about an hours drive east of Udon and am a qualified BSAC diver... Thought about Trat and Ko Chang being just about drivable !!............. ?

Don't dive myself ..... except in front of goal ....... but I have heard that Bang Saphan (just north of Chumpon) was a good area to dive. Might be worth checking out.

Don't think I would make any special trips for diving in Thailand. Dove out of Phuket and PP. Nice, but nothing special. individual Cruiser Wreck, Anemone Reef, along with Shark Pt. were ok, though don't expect more than the 2 local sharks at Shark Pt. Thai waters on Andaman side are fairly fished out. Have a friend who can dive at Similians for free, and he doesn't bother. Been a few times, but says nothing there, except the manta Rays. Saw one half meter whitetip in 6 trips there.

Diving out of Phuket is an all day affair. Out of PP is much closer, but just a few small islands they diver around, nice scenery, top and bottom, but again, fished out. Break out the macro lens.

No experience with the gulf, but it's pushed pretty hard here. But with vis from 3-5 meters being talked about, pales from the unlimited I'm used to, and can't be bothered. Contrary to their promo, there is nothing 'world class' about Thai diving.

I lived on Koh Chang fopr over 4 years and did a lot of business with the main dive schools.
The advantage of diving there compared to the likes of Koh Tao, Phuket etc is much smaller group sizes.
A friend, previous dive manager of one of the dive schools, described it as a great place to learn but not so great for the advanced divers.

If your looking for something new I have a friend working on Koh Rong, Cambodia, and the place is getting rave reviews.

Also if you can swing it, and still available through the red tape of the past, Myanmar liveaboards to virgin waters.

Over the last 10 years, I've been fortunate to have had the chance to dive all over Thailand and Myanmar looking for the elusive whale shark.

I would agree with the previous posters, Thailand is wonderful for learning, still has some great reef diving with some unusual small sea life to find, but lacks the larger species a diver who has been at this for some time would be interested in (whale sharks, manta's etc).

The top 3 (and two honourable mentions) based on my last 10 years of diving here were:

1) Similan Island/Koh Bon/Koh Surin: Great visibility (best I ever saw in Thailand), coral and far enough off shore to be away from impact of crowded Thai beach resorts. Diving on a live-aboard boat for a week or so is a hoot. Downside is there are quite a few operators and the "famous" locations such as Richelieu Rock and Donald Duck Bay will be quite busy, even if they are fairly remote. Overall, definitely worth it.

2) Koh Tao: Good visibility in the Gulf of Thailand! In addition to good reef diving add on sharks @ Chumpon Pinnacles. Said to be occasional Whale Sharks in the are but I never lucked out in 10 years.

3) Koh Lipe: Way in the south on the Andaman Sea just north of the Malaysian border. Surrounded by a national park and offshore (pluses). With a good dive guide who know's where the interesting aquatic life is, worth it. With a dive guide who just flew in from Europe and has the same dive map as you, not worth it. Pretty decent water clarity but not up to the Similans

Honourable Mentions:

- Phuket/Phi Phi/Koh Ha (off Lanta) etc: Great scenery above water, and with a good dive guide you'll find some great small stuff. Seemed to be devoid of large acquatic life. Few sharks and eagle rays etc. Water clarity good, but less than Similans. Phuket has easy/cheap access from Udon via Air Asia

- Koh Chang: Similar to Koh Tao but with lesser visibility.

- Myranmar: Liveaboard trip with punishing expensive $US250 p.p. "dive" visa (aka big tea money to the Rolex wearing and chunky gold chain embellished Visa official at the first Burmese port of call north of Ranong, Thailand where you check in. Certainly are far lesser dive boats than Similans here and the islands in the area (beyond the large island the Burmese Army interns draftees for two years when they are signed (Shanghia'd) into service. You can't escape from that one until you are brainwashed)! Some good sightining of less frequently seen species such as pineapple fish. Further north so the water temperature was a little colder and the coral a little less developed. Biggest downside (other than the visa/liveaboard dive boat cost) is the area is the "wild west" and still have dynamite fisherman. We rolled into a dive called Lone Palm Bay, to be greeted by multiple charges going off (the timing for this particular type of charge going off was not precise as it was phosphorous in wax sealed cannonballs. Needless to say the dive was ruined for the day, if not the next 6 months. Was sad to see whole schools of barracuda dead on the water surface. At other locations I did find evidence of more widespread dynamite diving as there were dead barracuda's littering the sea bed. No large specimens seen.

So in summary; learning in Thailand is great. LIveaboards for a coral/small pelagic tour also great. Don't expect great visibility beyond Similans and Koh Tao. Seeing something large will be a very lucky hit. If you are dying to see something big you might have to thing about the Sipadans in Malaysia, North side of Bali or Palawan in the Philippines.

Or if your Rich enough you could go to Australia and get the Ultimate experience ... http://www.google.com.au/aclk?sa=L&ai=C ... sharks.com

Aardvark - have you tried this at ningaloo whale sharks? 12,000 baht for a one day trip is a little steep.

However, when you consider the aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia (which amazingly has a whale shark tank) charges about $US 250 for a tank swim with them, Ningaloo is looking "in the ballpark" for pricing.

LP seems to have compiled a tantalizing list of the best places to dive with whale sharks here: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/tr ... cles/77788

Donsol Bay, Philippines @ $30/dive looks like the cheapest option in SE Asia that has a reputation for delivering a whale shark.