Koh Phi Phi or Phuket Diving/Snorkelling

Thailand's great diving has long been kept somewhat of a secret from the world..... are you nuts .... it's been well known and considered 'world class' for way too long...............though i world definitely disagree with it being 'world class', mediocre at best. IMHO

moving on....... i would dive from PP, rather than phuket, as they are all day affairs out of phuket, though a couple nice ones. king cruiser / anemome reef are 2. be nice to stop, do those then head to PP or similians. dove pp and phuket, never dove similians, and was advised i wouldn't appreciate it, except for mantas, but someone knowing my taste.

kata is the beach i prefer on phuket, stay clear of patong, tuk tuks, jet ski rentals. and patong only good if you are a party animal, though kata has a nice mix, decent beach, food options, all within walking distance.

Hello, I don't know how was it before the tzunami, but now i live in Phuket and I work as a Diving instructor. I do trips to the divesites around Phi Phi every week and I can say that it's absolutely it's the best place to dive around here. Some sites such as "Koh Bida Nok" and "Koh Bida Nai" (two small islands just next to Phi Phi Leh) are simply amazing, corals are more than alive, colorful walls and slopes, huge gorgonian fans and barrel sponges, tons of marine life. Last week I've been tere for three days, did 10 dives and spotted 3 whalesharks (in Koh Doc Mai on the way between Phi Phi and Phuket) 2 leopard sharks (in Shark Point and Bida Nok) and 4 blacktip reef sharks in an early morning dive in Bida Nai. So I don't know what people saying that diving here is not good normally expect to find underwater to consider a dive to be a good one...
Now is an especially lucky moment because for some strange reason the area is full of whalesharks, in the last 2 weeks there are reported sights every day in the area between Phi Phi and Phuket, in many cases are schools of those...2,4 and even 6 together before yesterday!
The only thing that sometimes (specially now in the low season with the south-east monsoon, but November usually is ok) that can affect the beauty of the dives is the visibility, often not at its best.
A little further away from here and Phi Phi are the divesites hin Daeng Hin Muang, two submerged pinnacles considered by many divers the most beautiful dives in the andaman sea...but they have to be done staying on a liveaboard. Similans are incredible as well, especially for the clear water and visibility and the underwater landscape with the huge boulders scattered around making a nice playground for divers but to be sure to enjoy the Similans at their best must spend some days on a Liveaboard, because the day trips take a very long time for the transferts and navigation, often not allowing to dive in the best sites.
I used to work and dive in the Red Sea before, that's for sure one of the best seas in the wolrld but diving in Thailand has nothing to envy. It's just a different environment and need to know wich ones are the good divesites and avoid the less interesting ones.

For infos and more you can check these links:
www.seafundivers.com
seafundiversphuket.blogspot.com
www.easydaythailand.com

If you hane any doubts or questions just ask!

Francesco

Koh Phi Phi diving is fine, and the diving in the area has hardly been effected by the tsunami. Your friend was definately taken to the wrong places.

Phi Phi has changed a lot though, and is now more or less a backpacker party island, and not the idyllic tropical island it once was.

From Phi Phi you can divbe a lot of the best divesites in the area, Shark Point area, Bida Islands, Koh Haa and Hin Daeng/Muang on daytrips. But you'd miss out on the Similans, and those are very nice diving, if not the best, as well. From Khao Lak and Phuket you can visit the Similans on daytrips, still far though, especially from Phuket, from Phuket you can also visit Shark Point area and Bida Islands on a daytrip, in addition to the Racha Islands.

So for you it seems you will have to make a choice between (or combination of) staying on Phi Phi or Phuket.