Favorite,Thai,Diving,Spots,Nor travel,insurance Favorite Thai Diving Spots

Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chile’s national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w

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Thissituation is created by the Gulf and Andaman bodies of water having opposingseasonal conditions. When waters are murky in Phuket, then Samui is in its peakseason and vice versa.Most divers still head for the Similan Islands' clear blue waters as thetrue dive experts' number one destination. Live aboards from Phuket cost aslittle as 18,500 baht for a 4-day trip to the Similan and Surin islands. PhuketAdventure Tours, for instance, offer a price inclusive of onboard airconaccommodation, all meals and soft drinks as well as divemasters' service andshore excursions. There are few dive destinations that offer such value formoney. Koh Lak, being the nearest real jetty point for Similan's trips offers gooddiving and snorkeling conditions for those not having the time for a full 4 dayjaunt. Ko Rang Nok and Koh Phota offer good coral and an abundance of fish nearto the mainland. Accommodation at Koh Lak has increased over the last 5 yearsto be now quite extensive and progressively modern in appearance .This is alsothe base for the Sea Dragon Dive Company, a European managed operationoperating 100 km north of the Phuket competition and perhaps giving bettervalue for money.The islands further south are still not particularly developed for fulldiving and places such as Koh Lanta and Turatao still rely on snorkeling as themainstay for water sports. It would seem though that their days are numbered,especially with the number of new resorts appearing on Lanta Island.Still on the Andaman side is the up and coming dive destination of Ko RachaYai where Kiwi Gary Halpin is resident dive expert with island accommodation atBaan Raya to thrill those in search of peace and quiet. Racha Yai is 23 kmsouth of Phuket, just enough to stop the rat race, although a few Patong -basedoperators appear for daily jaunts. Racha Yai is one of the few places whereweather conditions seem to not matter. If the islands windward side hassqualls, it's a ten minute walk to the leeward beach for excellent diving.That's for real, as it's also one of the few places where divers simply walk infrom the beach! With bungalows starting at bht 1600/nt it's worth the one hourboat trip from Phuket. And, good news- the island now has a telephone box toservice its 50 inhabitants.It's fair to say that most divers would now avoid Phi Phi which has becomeoverrun with day trip snorkellers. However not far away are Krabi's excellentclear waters and there are many, many small islets to choose from for a diver'sday outing. Switching to the Gulf of Thailand, Samui is without doubt the leader of thepack with Ko Tao rapidly becoming the mainstay for serious divers. At lastcount there were at least 20 dive operators on Ko Tao itself. Although thewaters around Samui, Phangan and KoTao are excellent, the big attraction is theAngthong marine Park, a 45 minute boat journey to the North East. With a smallreef running from here  past Chumphon and as far north as Bang Saphan, thediving conditions are good and marine life is plentiful. The Sea Canoe and BlueStar Companies out of Chaweng now offer dive/snorkel alternatives for Angthong,some with overnight island camping. Chumphon Cabanas, a delightful mini resortjust north of town offers excellent weekend dive trips.With this reef running that far north excursions from Hua Hin and BangSaphan are now operating. The northern end of the stretch is not as excitingbut it makes a weekend dive trip from Bangkok via Hua Hin an affordablealternative to the eastern Gulf's Koh Chang option, especially when travel timefrom Bangkok is about the same and no boat crossing is required.Koh Chang does however have the more longstanding reputation and divingfacilities there have been in place for many years. Koh Yuak is the in placefor skin diving at the moment. Just remember to go there when Phuket is in lowseason or you will be disappointed.At the end of the day if all the above destinations are simply out of reach,one can still fall back on the experts at Larry's Dive, Sukhumvit Soi 22. Therestarter and refresher courses last 4 days and include pool coaching in Bangkokplus 2 nights in Pattaya with day and night dives - all for a lead in price ofbht 12000. If you are an overseas visitor, expect to pay such a fee of underusd 300 for such a course anywhere throughout Thailand. There is the realenticement... value for money diving.