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Thailand2 dive sites
You can dive the gulf year-round, best from March to September, in water of 29 or 30 °C. Whale sharks show up from March to May and from August to October, at Sail Rock and Chumphon Pinnacle. In November and December, the monsoon cuts visibility to 5 or 10 meters.
Koh Tao has the lowest prices in the country: two guided dives cost THB 1,800 at Big Blue Diving. A day at Sail Rock costs THB 3,200 for two dives at Black Turtle Dive, gear and meals included. The gulf has no national park and no entrance fees.
Koh Tao has no airport. The fastest way is to fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui, then take the catamaran for 2 hours. The cheapest is to fly to Chumphon, then take the boat, which takes 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours and costs THB 600 to THB 700.
ThailandPelagicChumphon Pinnacle is a granite pinnacle 10 kilometers northwest of Koh Tao, with its top at 14 meters covered in anemones.
ThailandPelagicSail Rock is a rock rising from open sea between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, dropping to 40 meters.
Koh Tao, 21 square kilometers in the Chumphon archipelago, 70 kilometers off the coast, has lived off diving since the early 1990s. The dive centers line Sairee Beach and the area around Mae Haad harbor. The island has more than twenty-five sites, most of them less than half an hour away by boat, and the prices are the lowest in the country: two guided dives for THB 1,800 at Big Blue Diving.
Chumphon Pinnacle, 10 kilometers northwest of the island, is a submerged granite pinnacle. Its top, at 14 meters, is covered in pink anemones, and its base rests on the sand at 36 meters: schools of chevron barracudas, giant trevallies, batfish, giant groupers and, from March to October, the whale shark. Sail Rock, 20 kilometers to the southeast, between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, is a rock rising from the open sea that you swim through by a vertical chimney from 5 to 18 meters. It drops to 40 meters and is the most reliable site in the gulf for whale sharks. Southwest Pinnacle and Shark Island round out the day trips.
You can dive the gulf year-round. The best period runs from March to September, with calm seas, water at 29 or 30 °C and visibility of 20 to 30 meters, and the water is warmest in April and May. Whale sharks show up from March to May and from August to October, with peaks in May and August. The northeast monsoon, in November and December, raises the swell and cuts visibility to 5 or 10 meters: trips to Sail Rock are then canceled on rough days. Open Water is enough on the island's sites and on the top of Chumphon Pinnacle, while Sail Rock and the base of the pinnacles call for Advanced.
At Big Blue Diving, two guided morning or afternoon dives cost THB 1,800. A day at Sail Rock costs THB 3,200 at Black Turtle Dive, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, for two dives with full gear, computer, insurance and meals. At Big Blue Diving, it costs THB 4,000 for three dives including one at Shark Island, meals included. There is no national park and no entrance fee in the gulf.
Koh Tao has no airport. From Bangkok, the fastest way is the Bangkok Airways flight to Koh Samui, then 2 hours on the Lomprayah catamaran. The cheapest is the AirAsia flight to Chumphon, then the Lomprayah to Mae Haad in 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, for THB 600 to THB 700. From Surat Thani, also served by AirAsia, allow 3 to 4 hours by boat. Lomprayah also sells a combined bus and boat ticket from Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi or Khao Lak.
Hotels, apartments and rooms around Koh Tao, the starting point for dives at Sail Rock, with current prices.