Thailand

Caporegime
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So, we're off to Thailand for four weeks at Christmas, long way off I know but I'm pretty excited as we booked this afternoon.

The first two weeks are sorted - two nights in Bangkok then down to Koh Samui for me to do my Open Water PADI, and then the two of us to do our Advanced Open Water.

After that, well, aside from island hopping and doing some more diving/climing, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I've never been before - the other half has and has some ideas but I've got a lot of research to do myself!
 
Caporegime
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My bro's just got back from a month in Thailand. Probably doesn't help you much tho :D

He did the full moon party, and a bit of island hopping.

They have a new sport in Bangkok now too... dodge the grenade I think it's called :D
 
Soldato
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You lucky git!! This is my current number one destination.

Make sure you visit Maya Bay, in Thailand's Phi Phi island chain near Phuke. It's the beach that you see in the Leonardo Dicaprio movie 'The Beach'. I had a uni mate who went, they said you literally have to enter a hole on the side of a mountain which is submerged underwater (unless you get to it early in the day) to get to the beach.
 
Soldato
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do your diving in koh tao , not koh samui

full moon party is a must

chaing mai, if you have time

i spent a month in thailand last christmas and spent the whole time on koh phangan. . with a few nights in bangkok.
 
Soldato
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Chang mai mountain biking is good. Don't expect to much from the diving in Ko Tao its not great. Dive master got lost on my dive I had to show her the way back to the boat. Good job I've done a fair number of dives
 
Man of Honour
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Am going for 3 weeks in the summer...JUST missing a full moon party! Little did I know but my jammy bro and sis will be there and I can't change my flights! Ah well, some of us have work to do eh :p
 
Soldato
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Make sure you visit Maya Bay, in Thailand's Phi Phi island chain near Phuke. It's the beach that you see in the Leonardo Dicaprio movie 'The Beach'.

Visit Maya bay if you want murky water, boat fumes and so many tourists you can barely move, biggest letdown of my trip to Thailand and I went off-peak season as well.

I had a uni mate who went, they said you literally have to enter a hole on the side of a mountain which is submerged underwater (unless you get to it early in the day) to get to the beach.

Your mate is full of ****, you don't have to go through a submerged hole at all. There is a massive gap in the cliff face big enough for maybe 3 boats to go through at the same time.

Honestly, anyone going to Thailand, don't get hyped about Maya bay, it's a spit of sand inside a rocky island, it looks nothing like on "The Beach". The cliffs on the movie were digitally manipulated to make it look a million times better.
 
Soldato
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Anywhere famous will have been ruined by now. Koh Chang is nothing now compared to the mid-90s when no-one had heard of it. I went to Boracay when it didn't even have a jetty, now it has a golf course! Don't follow your friends around the world, go somewhere new!
 
Soldato
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Anywhere famous will have been ruined by now. Koh Chang is nothing now compared to the mid-90s when no-one had heard of it. I went to Boracay when it didn't even have a jetty, now it has a golf course! Don't follow your friends around the world, go somewhere new!

There really arent many places in Thailand that the average traveller will be able to discover thats untouched these days unfortunately.
 
Soldato
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People looking for the isolated islands which are cheap and haven't sold out for the dollar, go looking in Indonesia or Philippines for that matter. Both places a lot cheaper and a lot more undiscovered. OF cause these places are alittle harder to find and require a bit of effort but when you get there is worth every bit of the hassle.

Won't go on but 20 m + visibility with diving is the normal. Anything less then 15 m is pretty much unheard of:cool: which is unlike ko Tao where they got excited about a "trigger Fish" :rolleyes::p
 
Soldato
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19,885
Make sure you visit Maya Bay, in Thailand's Phi Phi island chain near Phuke. It's the beach that you see in the Leonardo Dicaprio movie 'The Beach'. I had a uni mate who went, they said you literally have to enter a hole on the side of a mountain which is submerged underwater (unless you get to it early in the day) to get to the beach.

+1 for the fact that maya bay is crap. Boat fumes, rubbish and they charge to walk on the beach. There are much nicer beaches in thailand than Maya bay. Just next to Phi Phi is a small beach that you need to walk to through a bit of jungle. It has white sand and IMO is much better than Maya

You do not enter through a hole at all, the opening in the cliff is huge. Think ive got pictures somewhere. Monkey island is much more fun, we didnt get off because were advised not too but the monkeys swam to our boat and stole bread!

Dont do the trips to maya, you will get bundled doing the same boring stuff with 25 people. 4 of us hired a guy with a small boat for 2 hours costing 800bht. We gave him 1000 (£17 at the time) so about £4.50 each. Took us to maya, monkey and 2 other islands. Snorkels and masks were included and took us to parts the bigger boats could not go. The sea is an amazing emerald green colour around maya. The boat wasnt the best but great fun and quite fast

He took us quite far out to sea and it was really rough, at one point the driver looked scared himself as the front end of the boat almost pointed to the sky then went crashing down going half under water! NOT a good after a 1/2 moon party and a coke and chocolate bar for breakfast!!

To OP. The best thing I bought when travelling was in Thailand. A 5 litre Ocean Pack fully waterproof bag (I think mine is a differnent make but they are all similar - will check tonight) I kept passport, docs and valuables in it when moving around and took it on trips everywhere. You can roll them up and throw them in the sea and they float. In Fiji the locals who did summit walks, fishing etc thought it was the best bag ever and offered me $10 for it! It cost me about 300bht (£5 at the time)
 
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