Hi,

I’m going to Thailand for a holiday and wish to do some diving as well. I was planning of going to Koh Samui but heard that it is more expensive than Koh Tao. Do you have any recommendation about those places? Which one is better option?

Better option for what particularly, diving or cheap accommodation?

Uups, sorry about that, I should have been more specific. I wish to get some info about diving from these islands and try to make up my mind after.

If you are only interested in diving and nothing else then Koh Tao is a place for you but if you are traveling with someone who is a bit less passionate about diving or if you wish to dine at nice restaurants, go nightclubbing, shopping or sightseeing and not only see the marine life during your holiday then Koh Samui will be smarter choice. Samui offers higher quality hotels, better beaches and large variety of different tours so there will be things to do also after the dives.

From Samui it will take between 30 and 90 minutes to reach all the dive sites. From Koh Tao it takes 20-30 minutes to get to the local dive sites as the boats are normally slow and it can be difficult and take up to an hour to get to the more remote dive sites. The boats from Koh Samui are more comfortable and faster then what they use on Koh Tao, especially if you go with a small dive shop.

90% of the dive schools on Koh Tao operate like factories and there is very little personal attention because they prefer huge groups in order to maximize their profit. Koh Tao dive schools specialize in beginner level volume certification.

Koh Tao will be cheaper with inferior service diving and training in big groups, you get what you pay for…

I took my open water in April with Searobin Dive center and the prices were about 2000 Baht more expensive then in Tao. In our open water course me & my husband where the only student. The sale person Arek, that also have been our instructor, advised us of the price difference and what you get with that money on Samui compared to what you get on Tao. So considered the benefits and drawbacks and ended up staying on Samui great place for dining. Besides, you need to pay more then 1000 Baht for the transfer to Tao and any way so the difference in price is not that bad.