With Bangkok now officially the most visited city in the world, a growing number of people are visiting Thailand to take part in PADI scuba diving. The country is famous for its mountainous treks, fantastic shopping, delicious food, pristine beaches and, of course, safe but exciting scuba diving experiences. While there are other destinations around the world which can offer more extreme or more convenient scuba diving, and countries which have more developed infrastructures, Thailand has what some describe as the perfect balance of everything. From the friendly locals and the delicious food they serve, to swimming or snorkelling with a whale shark, there appears to be just the right amount of everything in The Land of Smiles.
Most would admit that for the very best recreational scuba diving in the world, Thailand faces some fierce competition with Indonesia and some parts of The Caribbean. However, one must take into account what has to be sacrificed in order to get into the water at these places. Indonesian diving may offer some more extreme or colourful diving sites, but the transportation systems of the country are far behind those of Thailand. Central America, some claim, has too much boat traffic at the best diving destinations, with chumming for shark diving too-common practice, as well.
It could also be argued that there are better countries than Thailand to visit for service, convenience, and quality, but do these other locations have great diving destinations at competitive prices? Once you take into consideration the kind and hospitable local people and the fantastic and inexpensive food, Thailand comes out on top time and time again.
Where is the best place to dive in Thailand? While the submerged pinnacle known as Richelieu Rock is probably the best single dive site in The Kingdom, The Similan Islands, 90km. further south and nearer to Phuket, is probably the best place to go diving in Thailand. More than twenty wonderful underwater oases with millions of creatures to see dotted around eight uninhabited islands just a few hours from luxury hotels. Koh Similan is in The Andaman Sea, on Thailand’s west coast. Although Koh Tao, on the east coast and in The Gulf of Thailand, maybe receives more diving tourists than the likes of Koh Similan, the better diving is certainly found at the latter. Deeper and clearer waters have more visibility and the marine life is more diverse and colourful and on greater numbers.