Koh Tao - Diving, Environment, Festivals, Floods, Holidays, ...

[tlansford]

As a dive instructor, I enjoy a fare amount of time on Koh Tao when in Thailand - here are some of the videos I can share - feel free to add more for Koh Tao !

This one is from the flooding in March 2011 and the evacuation thereafter (sorry, not viewable if in Germany unless you use hotspot shield - google it :-)

Edited June 12, 2011 by tlansford

[tlansford]

Good environmental activities on Koh Tao.

With so many people learning how to dive here, Save Koh Tao and many many dive bases built an underwater playground called Buoyancy World to train new divers and take pressure off of the natural reefs.

This dive to Buoyancy World was with Eco Koh Tao and Crystal Dive Base

Edited June 12, 2011 by tlansford

[tlansford]

Koh Tao is known for sunshine, beaches, muay thai, and diving - here's why !

here - Diving with Bans Dive Resort

[tlansford]

Koh Tao holds the Koh Tao Festival every spring - there's music, food, fun, and a lot of education about how to take care of the environment - on land and underwater.

Here is the team from Crystal Dive Resort doing their part to entertain the crowd - clearly not going to quit their day-jobs soon ;-)

[tlansford]

Maybe this will be a good tip for someone going to visit Koh Tao

If you are looking for an apartment on the island, this is the best I know - great apartments, great location, excellent views, and the nicest owners you could imagine - Koh Tao Star Villas - just contact Alan and Heidi

[bangkokburning]

so, um...where is the diving/coral reef vids?

[tlansford]

so, um...where is the diving/coral reef vids?

Diving : the 2nd video on Buoyancy World and the 3rd video on KT & diving

[tlansford]

Here is a fun, "Let's go diving" video. Nice fish/corals from dives on Koh Tao... White Rock, Japanese Gardens, Twins, Sairee Reef, Green Rock, ...

Cheers - Tom

[tlansford]

Excellent film from Alan at Liquid Media on Koh Tao - Enjoy the "Reef Life"

Edited July 19, 2011 by tlansford

[bangkokburning]

I just came back from KT and was really shocked and all the chaos caused by the diving industry. Sairee Beach is an absolute s*ithole. Man, I though Lanta was a dump..

*Divers* everywhere, boats overloaded...Bilges pumping diesel in the water, boats running genny's all night long, clueless new divers, dive companies bring students into shallow snorkel areas - as if that is a quality dive (perhaps it is on KT?). The dive industry, has to be one of the most resource intensive and environmentally damaging I have seen in Thailand.

Your second video is totally weak. We saw all this for free PLUS a turtle (3x) daily for free. The only thing we did not see in this video were the upside down fish. We also saw a Cavalla and two massive Grouper (Pla Gau) as well as a stingray - free.

Last video obviously professionally done, compiled from dozens of dives no doubt. Up until last year you could see all that plus a live coral in any given snorkel trip in the Surins (save for the shorses and shrimp). B80.

If anyone were to tell me they were going to come to Thailand to see what is in the water here. Spend huge money on a plane; big big money on a live-aboard, I'd just laugh. Sad, but its finished.

PS: That overpriced and SLOW cat is anything but HIGH-SPEED (what a lie). The boat was totally overcrowded and very dangerous (no emergency exits). One cat was broken for days and we were lucky to get off the island. Loomprayah ran a great game off the island, but on the island the ticket window was anarchy (yes we had pre booked return).

Andaman rules - we won't be back

[tlansford]

I just came back from KT and was really shocked and all the chaos caused by the diving industry. Sairee Beach is an absolute s*ithole. Man, I though Lanta was a dump..

*Divers* everywhere, boats overloaded...Bilges pumping diesel in the water, boats running genny's all night long, clueless new divers, dive companies bring students into shallow snorkel areas - as if that is a quality dive (perhaps it is on KT?). The dive industry, has to be one of the most resource intensive and environmentally damaging I have seen in Thailand.

Your second video is totally weak. We saw all this for free PLUS a turtle (3x) daily for free. The only thing we did not see in this video were the upside down fish. We also saw a Cavalla and two massive Grouper (Pla Gau) as well as a stingray - free.

Last video obviously professionally done, compiled from dozens of dives no doubt. Up until last year you could see all that plus a live coral in any given snorkel trip in the Surins (save for the shorses and shrimp). B80.

If anyone were to tell me they were going to come to Thailand to see what is in the water here. Spend huge money on a plane; big big money on a live-aboard, I'd just laugh. Sad, but its finished.

PS: That overpriced and SLOW cat is anything but HIGH-SPEED (what a lie). The boat was totally overcrowded and very dangerous (no emergency exits). One cat was broken for days and we were lucky to get off the island. Loomprayah ran a great game off the island, but on the island the ticket window was anarchy (yes we had pre booked return).

Andaman rules - we won't be back

Hi BKKburning,

video : The second video was from the artificial site, Buoyancy World, but if you mean the video from the diving I did at Ban's, it's pretty representative of the Gulf's marine life and a normal day's diving unless you get to see a whaleshark, bullshark, giant grouper, or turtle.

Lomprayah's catamaran, well, I usually pay the extra 100 bhat for the VIP room. Just a bit more quiet... otherwise, the speed depends on the conditions of the seas.

Sairee : I don't stay there either. These days I am usually in Chalok when I go to KT.

Diving : I've not been to the west coast yet, but I do know that the diverity in the Gulf is not the same as the west coastj, and the gulf doesn't have the same depths as the Andaman Sea. And finally, I would say that KT is a great island for training. If you already have the certification level you want, then it is likely that the west coast would offer a better dive vacation. On the other hand, for any training, OWD, AOWD, Resue, Dive Master, IDC, then KT is great...

Alan's video: yes, Alan runs Liquid Media and he has a great library of shots to chose from and has been doing very professional video for years. I loved his short film.

Take care, Tom

[Phoebenix]

Sailing Koh Tao and Ang Thong national marine park

[Crushdepth]

I just came back from KT and was really shocked and all the chaos caused by the diving industry. Sairee Beach is an absolute s*ithole. Man, I though Lanta was a dump..

*Divers* everywhere, boats overloaded...Bilges pumping diesel in the water, boats running genny's all night long, clueless new divers, dive companies bring students into shallow snorkel areas - as if that is a quality dive (perhaps it is on KT?). The dive industry, has to be one of the most resource intensive and environmentally damaging I have seen in Thailand.

Your second video is totally weak. We saw all this for free PLUS a turtle (3x) daily for free. The only thing we did not see in this video were the upside down fish. We also saw a Cavalla and two massive Grouper (Pla Gau) as well as a stingray - free.

Last video obviously professionally done, compiled from dozens of dives no doubt. Up until last year you could see all that plus a live coral in any given snorkel trip in the Surins (save for the shorses and shrimp). B80.

If anyone were to tell me they were going to come to Thailand to see what is in the water here. Spend huge money on a plane; big big money on a live-aboard, I'd just laugh. Sad, but its finished.

PS: That overpriced and SLOW cat is anything but HIGH-SPEED (what a lie). The boat was totally overcrowded and very dangerous (no emergency exits). One cat was broken for days and we were lucky to get off the island. Loomprayah ran a great game off the island, but on the island the ticket window was anarchy (yes we had pre booked return).

Andaman rules - we won't be back

I agree with you about the catamaran, that company sucks. But the rest of your post: Pthtpthtpthtptphtp you rude bugger!!!! Sounds like you were going out with one of the big shops - you'd have a better time if you went with one of the smaller operators who leaves early to avoid the other boats (Seashells does this).

The reef at Koh Tao is quite good condition and its one of the few places in Thailand where you can still see plenty of large fish. That is THANKS to the continuous presence of dive boats keeping the fishing boats off, at least for the main sites. If you dive Pattaya where the reef has no such protection from the fishing industry you'll see what really degraded reef looks like.

Surin is great, but it's closed half the year and last time I went there was no chance of getting a tank filled onshore and your options were limited to snorkelling. Anyway, I look forward to spending a couple of weeks chilling on Koh Tao later in the year.

[tlansford]

I agree with you about the catamaran, that company sucks. But the rest of your post: Pthtpthtpthtptphtp you rude bugger!!!! Sounds like you were going out with one of the big shops - you'd have a better time if you went with one of the smaller operators who leaves early to avoid the other boats (Seashells does this).

The reef at Koh Tao is quite good condition and its one of the few places in Thailand where you can still see plenty of large fish. That is THANKS to the continuous presence of dive boats keeping the fishing boats off, at least for the main sites. If you dive Pattaya where the reef has no such protection from the fishing industry you'll see what really degraded reef looks like.

Surin is great, but it's closed half the year and last time I went there was no chance of getting a tank filled onshore and your options were limited to snorkelling. Anyway, I look forward to spending a couple of weeks chilling on Koh Tao later in the year.

I'm on KT now, and although I don't do the KT-BKK route more often than I need to, Lomprayah is not *that* bad. Especially given the alternatives !

Going out with smaller shops can be a good idea, but for anyone living in Thailand, you should come here in the low season when the weather is great and the island is quiet - after mid-April to the end of June was *dead* this year. Mid-September to mid-October is also pretty quiet and good diving.

Divers on the reefs do keep the fishermen away, but there is still much work to do. On the other hand, I was encouraged to see partially killed/bleached coral colonies starting to recover (but that is a slooooow process).

For the people coming to KT with an eye on the environment, especially certified divers, I'd like to suggest looking at doing an environmental course at one of the Eco groups on the island - Eco Koh Tao and New Heaven Divers do this but other dive bases are also starting programs, so check out the internet before you come down.

Happy bubbles....

[tlansford]

One Day Diving on Koh Tao - 2 minutes, just fish, corals, and the "small stuff" - Enjoy !!

[tlansford]

Here is a video for you. Diving on Koh Tao last Monday. Dive sites White Rock and Twins - 2 favorites. Liked the puffer fish and the cleaner shrimps. Also in the second shrimp shot with all of the red shrimps, there is also a translucent "scherengarnele" "scissor-clawed shrimp". It's a bit hard to see !

[tlansford]

Really really nice (and informative) on the small life you can find underwater - nudibranches... All from Koh Tao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lVoah36Q4Y&hd=1

[tlansford]

Great underwater shots from Koh Tao. Like this video a lot

(Sorry - could not get the image in this time....)

Edited February 11, 2012 by tlansford