Similan Daytrip Diving vs Similan Liveaboard Diving

The Similan Islands are currently closed until 15 October 2025

For more information on the best time to go to the SImilan Islands click here.

If it is your first time on a live-aboard trip, our essential guide will help you get the most out of your trip.

Similan Daytrip Diving

To dive the Similan Islands on a daytrip has very few advantages compared to a big array of disadvantages, here it’s listed up:

Advantages

  • You're sleeping in your comfy hotel bed at night.

Disadvantages

  • Either you're on a slow boat, then you have a long, long day (10 to 12 hrs) for only two dives.
  • Or you're on a speedboat, than you have an uncomfortable ride, but your daytrip takes only 5 to 6 hrs.
  • The cost per dive is quite expensive (between 70 to 80 U$).
  • You will experience crowded divesites and overly crowded beaches.
  • You are not familiar with your guide and the buddies in your team - if you do several daytrips in a row, they will change.
  • For scheduling and fuel-saving reasons, it's not the best divesites you're most likely to dive.

Daytrip diving to the Similan Islands is quite a competitive market and a rough business in Khao Lak. Unexpected things tend to happen more often, sea conditions change on a daily basis and cannot be predicted exactly until one turns up on the divesite. So it things like wavy boat rides, dives in current or overcrowded divesites are more and more common. If you don’t mind and have only one day left to go diving, then there’s nothing wrong about that.

Similan Liveaboard Diving

The first to mention advantages are the cost per dive (between 60U$ and 80U$ on comfortable mid-range boats), the high comfort, better choice of divesites and the better relationship with your diveguide and team members. Do not forget this cost per dive also includes your meal and accommodation.

The only disadvantages are the total costs (between 700,- and 1.200,- U$ per trip) and the task of finding the right boat with the right trip at the right time and book it in advance. Once you managed that you can enjoy every second of your Similan Liveaboard trip.

Also things like equipment failures, wrongly mixed dive groups or smaller health issues are easier fixed on a liveaboard as there’s always the possibility of supplies from mainland. Diving on a liveaboard schedule is also safer – even you do four dives a day, but as oppose to daytrip diving, surface intervals are always around two hours between dives.

Thailand Dive and Sail • Down House • BR6 7JT
The philosophy behind Thailand Dive and Sail is to provide divers with the right trip tailored to their needs. Built up of a small team of experts who have dived in the Similans for more than 20 years, our knowledge about this amazing Thailand diving destination is almost unrivalled.

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