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General information about diving in Khao Lak
At the diving community Khao Lak is very well known due to nearby Similan Islands. Already ten years ago there was a dive shop under German management. The Similan Islands are at the top ten divesites worldwide, including the Surin Islands and the sourrounding islands, like Koh Tachai, Koh Bon and Riechelieu Rock.
Nowadays we have about 20 diving shops, big ones, small ones, good ones and not so good ones.
It is not easy to find one's way through ... every year there are a lot of changes as well.
Here I will give you some suggestions, based on my personal experience:
Some diveshops have their own boats, some are only agents, who will send a personal guide for their customers. Usually these are the smaller shops.
Some of the bigger and well known shops:
Sea Bees, Sub Aqua, IQ-Dive, Similan Adventure, Sea Dragon and Coral Grand.
There is a big difference in which boat you are using for a transfer to the Similan Islands.
There are some shops specialised in day trips, others in liveaboard trips.
For daytrips the boat for the transfer will make the big difference - the Similan Islands are about 60 km away from the mail land.
You will find 3 types:
Normal diving boat:
Advantage: safe, big, comfortable and spacious.
Disadvantage: Travel time 2,5 - 3,5 hours, depending on size of the boat and engines.
Catamaran:
Sea Bees has one of the bigger cats for example. Advantage: comfortable, but not very fast, travel time 2 - 3 hours,
IQ-Dive catamaran is fast, but smaller though.
Speedboat:
Mainly made of wood.
Advantage: very fast, travel time approximaltely 1,5 hours.
Disadvantage: bnot very comfortable when the sea is rough, usually small and not really comfortable, especially if you hav a lot of diver or snorklers on board. Entry and exit of the boat can be dangerous if you come too close to the outboard engines.
Be aware that there can be price differences, depending of what is included. Check for Nationalpark Fee, diving or snorkeling equipment, soft drinks. Nationalpark Fee now is 600 THB for divers and 400 THB for snorklers.
Some shops are including these fees, others are collecting the fees on the boat.
Prices for daytrips are between 4,600 and 5,000 THB.
In general most of the shops have included: transfer from/to the hotel, drinking water, lunch (soft drinks are sometimes included, sometimes not), tanks and weights, A full set of rental equipmen is between 500 and 700 THB. Nitrox you will find on almost all boat, on some for additional charge, on some in the price included.