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Try it free →Thailand has two dive coasts on opposite calendars, and the practical difference between them is not only weather. On the Andaman side every site people travel for sits inside a marine national park that charges per person and shuts for the monsoon. On the Gulf side, the sites Koh Tao is built on are not in a park at all: no fee, no closed season. That single fact changes what a year of diving costs more than any difference in boat prices, and it is the right place to start when you are choosing where to live rather than where to holiday. For the sites themselves, read our guide to scuba diving and snorkelling in Thailand; for how the parks work generally, see Thailand’s national parks.
| City | Best for | Dive sites it reaches | Season & park closures | What it costs | Nearest chamber |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koh Samui | The Gulf base — the only one of the three whose dive sites carry no park fee | Koh Samui's own reefs are modest. What the island gives you is access: Koh Tao (White Rock, Chumphon Pinnacle, Southwest Pinnacle) and Sail Rock, the granite pinnacle between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. None of those sites sits inside a marine national park, so no DNP entrance fee is collected on them. Mu Ko Ang Thong, the archipelago west of Samui, is a park and does charge. | No park closure applies to the Koh Tao sites at all. Mu Ko Ang Thong is the exception on this coast and it closes in the opposite half of the year to the Andaman parks — DNP's park page gives 1–30 November, reopening 1 December. | Big Blue Diving on Koh Tao publishes an Open Water Diver course at ฿12,000 (2.5 days, 5 dives), Open Water plus Advanced at ฿23,000, and guided fun diving at ฿4,000 for three dives or ฿2,000 for two. No park fee is added on Koh Tao sites. | Koh Tao has a recompression chamber run by the SSS Recompression Chamber Network — one of only two chambers SSS currently lists anywhere in Thailand, and the only one on this coast. |
| Phuket | The Andaman base — Thailand's most expensive park fees and its best-equipped chamber | Phuket and neighbouring Khao Lak are the launch points for Mu Ko Similan National Park (the Similan group plus Koh Bon and Koh Tachai) and Mu Ko Surin National Park, which has included Richelieu Rock since a 2550 (2007) royal decree annexed the pinnacle — 3,907 rai, about 6.25 km², off Tambon Ko Phra Thong in Khura Buri district, Phang Nga. Closer in, King Cruiser Wreck, Shark Point and Koh Racha run without a marine-park gate. | Both parks close for the southwest monsoon. DNP's own park pages give Mu Ko Similan closed 16 May – 31 October and open 1 November – 15 May, and Mu Ko Surin closed 1 May – 31 October, open 1 November – 30 April. Operators generally advertise a season starting 15 October, which is earlier than the park page states — that comes from DNP's annual reopening announcement, so confirm the current year before booking non-refundable travel. | Mu Ko Similan and Mu Ko Surin are the only two national parks in Thailand in the department's top fee band: ฿500 per foreign adult, ฿250 per foreign child, ฿100 and ฿50 for Thai adults and children. They are separate parks, so a liveaboard that visits both pays two entry fees, and operators add a per-day diver charge on top. | Bangkok Hospital Siriroj in Phuket runs a multiplace chamber taking four people including an attendant, rated to 50 m (165 ft) — deep enough for the full US Navy treatment tables, which many chambers cannot reach — with a 24-hour emergency line. |
| Krabi | The value Andaman base — same ocean, half the park fee, no chamber of its own | Krabi province covers two parks. Mu Ko Lanta National Park holds Koh Ha, Koh Rok and the Hin Daeng–Hin Muang pinnacles; Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi covers Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le and Koh Mai Phai. Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are the deep-water draw — big soft coral and, seasonally, manta rays and leopard sharks — and they are named explicitly in DNP's special-fee schedule, which is how you know they are inside the park. | Mu Ko Lanta's park page gives a closed season of 16 May – 31 October, the same window as the Similans, and many Lanta dive centres simply shut for it. Phi Phi stays open year-round but Maya Bay closes 1 August – 30 September every year for reef recovery. | Mu Ko Lanta and Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi both sit in the ฿200 foreign-adult band, but the dive sites do not: Koh Rok, Koh Ngai, Koh Ha and Hin Daeng–Hin Muang were designated special-fee sites by DNP on 19 September 2565, at ฿400 per foreign adult and ฿200 per child. Blue Planet Divers on Koh Lanta publishes ฿600 per day for divers and ฿400 for snorkellers and passengers, on top of a trip price of ฿3,100–3,300 for two local dives or ฿4,850–5,100 for the Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Koh Ha run. | Krabi has no chamber. The nearest facility SSS currently lists is Phuket — roughly a two-hour road transfer from Ao Nang, longer from Koh Lanta, which involves a ferry or a car ferry crossing. |
Park fees and closed seasons are Thai government figures, cited below. Operator prices were read from each named dive centre’s own site on 2026-09-09 and are indicative, not quotes. Marine life sightings, visibility and boat schedules are never guaranteed. Confirm current park status and pricing with the park office or a dive operator before booking.
What the marine parks charge, and when they are shut
The Department of National Parks sorts every national park in Thailand into four fee bands under its 2564 regulation, in force from 7 June 2565. A separate DNP announcement dated 19 September 2565 pulls a short list of individual islands and pinnacles out of those bands and charges more for them — and several of Thailand’s best dive sites are on that list. The closed seasons below are each park’s own published dates on the department’s booking portal.
| National park | Province | Dive sites inside it | Foreign visitor | Thai visitor | Published closed season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mu Ko Similan | Phang Nga | Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai | ฿500 adult / ฿250 child | ฿100 / ฿50 | 16 May – 31 Oct |
| Mu Ko Surin | Phang Nga | Surin Islands, Richelieu Rock | ฿500 adult / ฿250 child | ฿100 / ฿50 | 1 May – 31 Oct |
| Mu Ko Lanta — standard rate | Krabi | Laem Tanod and the park's other landfall points | ฿200 adult / ฿100 child | ฿40 / ฿20 | 16 May – 31 Oct |
| Mu Ko Lanta — special-fee sites | Krabi | Koh Rok, Koh Ngai, Koh Ha, Hin Daeng–Hin Muang | ฿400 adult / ฿200 child | not stated in the announcement | 16 May – 31 Oct |
| Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi † | Krabi | Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le, Koh Mai Phai, Koh Bida | ฿200 adult / ฿100 child (standard band) | ฿40 / ฿20 | Maya Bay only: 1 Aug – 30 Sep, every year |
| Mu Ko Ang Thong — standard rate | Surat Thani | The archipelago west of Koh Samui | ฿200 adult / ฿100 child | ฿40 / ฿20 | 1 – 30 Nov |
| Mu Ko Ang Thong — special-fee sites | Surat Thani | Koh Wua Ta Lap, Koh Mae Ko | ฿300 adult / ฿150 child | not stated in the announcement | 1 – 30 Nov |
| Than Sadet – Ko Pha-ngan | Surat Thani | Land areas on Koh Phangan | ฿100 adult / ฿50 child | ฿20 / ฿10 | not stated on the park page |
| No park | Surat Thani / Chumphon waters | Koh Tao sites, Sail Rock, Chumphon Pinnacle | no DNP fee | no DNP fee | none |
† Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le and Koh Mai Phai are named in the same 19 September 2565 special-fee announcement, but we could not read the amount set for them off an official source. Treat the ฿200 standard band as a floor there and expect the gate to charge more. Vehicle charges are separate: ฿30 for a four-wheeled vehicle, ฿20 for a motorcycle.
Marked honestly as unconfirmed: the per-day diver surcharge. Koh Lanta dive centres publish ฿600 per day for divers against ฿400 for snorkellers, and the ฿400 matches DNP’s special-site rate exactly — but we could not confirm the ฿200 diving component against a Department of National Parks document, only against operators’ own price pages. Budget for it and ask your operator to itemise the fee rather than quoting it as a lump sum.
The two coasts do not close at the same time
The Andaman parks shut for the southwest monsoon: Mu Ko Similan and Mu Ko Lanta from 16 May, Mu Ko Surin from 1 May, all three reopening from 1 November on their own published dates. Khao Lak and Phuket operators almost universally advertise a season opening on 15 October instead — Khao Lak Explorer, for one, states 15 October to 15 May on its own site — because DNP issues a reopening announcement each year that has in recent seasons come earlier than the standing date. Both things are true; the annual announcement is what actually governs, so check it rather than assuming either date.
The Gulf runs the other way. Nothing closes around Koh Tao. The one Gulf park on this page, Mu Ko Ang Thong, shuts for the whole of November — the month the Andaman parks are opening. And on the Krabi side, Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Le closes from 1 August to 30 September every year for reef and beach recovery, which is a fixed annual date rather than a monsoon judgement call.
For a diver who lives here rather than visits, that asymmetry is the argument for treating the two coasts as one calendar: Andaman from November to May, Gulf year-round with a gap only if Ang Thong is on the itinerary. Domestic connections make that realistic — see domestic flights in Thailand and the Thailand airport guide for how the Phuket, Krabi and Samui airports actually connect.
Where the recompression chambers are
This is the part of the decision that day-trip comparisons leave out, and it is the part that matters most if you intend to dive deep and dive often. The SSS Recompression Chamber Network currently lists two chambers in Thailand: one in Phuket and one on Koh Tao. The Phuket facility sits inside Bangkok Hospital Siriroj and runs a multiplace chamber that takes four people including an attending technician and pressurises to 50 metres (165 feet) — enough for the full US Navy treatment schedules, which shallower chambers cannot run — with 24-hour, seven-day emergency cover on 081-081-9000. Koh Tao’s chamber publishes a 24-hour diving emergency line on +66 (0) 81 081 9777.
What that means for the three bases: Phuket has a chamber in the same city as the boats. Koh Samui does not have one, but the island it sends you diving from does. Krabi has neither, and a diver treated from Ao Nang or Koh Lanta is looking at a road-and-ferry transfer to Phuket. Older third-party dive directories still list chambers on Koh Samui, Koh Lanta and in Khao Lak; we could not confirm from the network’s own site that those are still operating, so plan around Phuket and Koh Tao and confirm the nearest live facility with your dive centre on the day. Phone numbers change — treat the two above as a starting point, not a substitute for your operator’s current emergency plan.
What diving actually costs from each base
These are prices published by named dive centres on their own sites, read on 2026-09-09. They are one operator each, not a market average, and they will move — the point is the shape of the numbers, not the decimal place.
- Koh Tao, from a Koh Samui base. Big Blue Diving publishes Open Water Diver at ฿12,000 over 2.5 days and five dives, Scuba Diver at ฿10,000, Open Water plus Advanced at ฿23,000 over five days and nine dives, and a zero-to-Divemaster package at ฿105,000 across 60 days. Guided fun diving runs ฿4,000 for a three-dive day or ฿2,000 for a two-dive morning or afternoon. No park fee is added.
- Koh Lanta, from a Krabi base. Blue Planet Divers publishes ฿3,100–3,300 for a two-dive day at Koh Ha or Phi Phi and Koh Bida, ฿4,000–4,300 for the three-dive northern route including the Kled Kaew wreck, and ฿4,850–5,100 for the southern route to Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Koh Ha. National park fees are explicitly excluded and stated at ฿600 per day for divers, ฿400 for passengers and snorkellers; dive insurance is ฿150 a day.
- The Similans, from a Phuket or Khao Lak base. Liveaboards are the normal way in, and a four-day, four-night trip is the standard product. Boat-by-boat listings from Khao Lak agencies span roughly ฿16,000 to ฿33,500 per diver depending on cabin and vessel. Park fees sit on top and are charged per park, so a route touching both Mu Ko Similan and Mu Ko Surin carries two ฿500 foreign-adult entries plus the per-day diver charge.
Read plainly: getting certified on Koh Tao is the cheapest serious diving in the country and stays cheap after certification, because the recurring park fee simply is not there. Krabi is the cheapest way onto Andaman pinnacles. Phuket costs the most per diving day and buys the sites and the chamber.
City-by-city verdict
Koh Samui · The Gulf base — the only one of the three whose dive sites carry no park fee
The base for anyone learning, teaching, or diving often on a budget, and the one place on this page where the daily cost of getting wet is just the boat. Koh Tao is the dive destination; Koh Samui is the place to live, with an international airport, hospitals, schools and far deeper long-term rental stock than the small island. The trade-off is site ceiling — the Gulf pinnacles are excellent and reliable, but they are not the Similans.
Phuket · The Andaman base — Thailand's most expensive park fees and its best-equipped chamber
The choice if the sites are the point. Nothing else in Thailand reaches Richelieu Rock and the Similans in a boat ride, and nothing else has both a liveaboard fleet and a hospital-grade chamber in the same city. You pay for it twice: the highest park fees in the country, and a five-and-a-half-month window in which the two headline parks are shut.
Krabi · The value Andaman base — same ocean, half the park fee, no chamber of its own
The value pick, and honestly stated: Hin Daeng and Hin Muang hold their own against the Similans, rents undercut Phuket, and the park fee at the good sites is ฿400 rather than ฿500 — but the diving-specific infrastructure is thinner. No chamber, a smaller operator base, and a park that closes for the same half-year as Phuket's without Phuket's alternatives to fall back on.
Diving, visas and living here
Diving is a lifestyle, not a visa category. Long-stay divers pair it with whatever route they qualify for: retirees commonly use the retirement (Non-Immigrant O/O-A) visa, and higher earners the ten-year LTR visa. Recreational diving on a tourist entry is fine. Being paid to guide, instruct or crew is work, and work needs the right visa category plus a work permit held through an employer — confirm that with Thai Immigration and the Department of Employment before you accept a dive-school job, not after. Start at the visa knowledge centre.
On housing, the three bases are not equivalent. Phuket and Koh Samui both carry an international airport, hospitals, international schools and deep long-term rental and condo stock; Krabi is cheaper and thinner on all four; and Koh Tao, for all that it is the best value place in Thailand to dive, has very little long-term inventory, which is why most people who dive it live on Samui. Compare the three side by side in our Thailand city comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Which Thailand city is the best base for scuba diving?
Phuket if the sites decide it: it is the only city with both the liveaboard fleet that reaches Mu Ko Similan and Richelieu Rock and a hospital-grade recompression chamber. Koh Samui if cost and continuity decide it, because the Koh Tao sites it serves are not inside a national park and carry no entrance fee, and they dive all year. Krabi is the middle: the same Andaman water as Phuket at a ฿400 rather than ฿500 park fee, but no chamber of its own.
How much is the national park fee for diving in Thailand?
For a foreign adult, the Department of National Parks charges ฿500 at Mu Ko Similan and Mu Ko Surin — the only two parks in its top band — and ฿200 at Mu Ko Lanta, Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi and Mu Ko Ang Thong. A separate DNP announcement of 19 September 2565 raises that to ฿400 per foreign adult at Koh Rok, Koh Ngai, Koh Ha and Hin Daeng–Hin Muang, and ฿300 at Koh Wua Ta Lap and Koh Mae Ko. Operators add a per-day diver charge on top: Koh Lanta dive centres publish ฿600 a day for divers against ฿400 for snorkellers.
When are the Similan Islands open?
DNP's own page for Mu Ko Similan National Park gives a closed season of 16 May to 31 October and an open season of 1 November to 15 May. Mu Ko Surin's page gives 1 May to 31 October closed. In practice most Khao Lak and Phuket operators sell a season starting 15 October, which reflects DNP's annual reopening announcement rather than the standing dates, so check the current year's announcement before committing to non-refundable travel.
Where are Thailand's recompression chambers?
The SSS Recompression Chamber Network lists two chambers in Thailand: Phuket and Koh Tao. The Phuket facility is at Bangkok Hospital Siriroj and runs a multiplace chamber for four people rated to 50 metres, staffed around the clock. Krabi, Koh Lanta and Koh Phangan have no chamber of their own, which is a real consideration if you plan to dive deep and often from those bases.
Do I need a park fee to dive at Koh Tao?
No. Koh Tao's dive sites, along with Sail Rock and Chumphon Pinnacle, do not sit inside a marine national park, so the Department of National Parks collects no entrance fee on them. That is the single biggest structural cost difference between basing on the Gulf side and basing on the Andaman side, where every headline site is inside a park that charges per person per entry.
Can I work as a dive instructor in Thailand on a tourist visa?
No. Diving recreationally on a tourist entry is fine; being paid to guide, instruct or crew is work, and work in Thailand requires the correct visa category and a work permit obtained by an employer. Confirm the current requirements with the Department of Employment and Thai Immigration before you accept a job offer from a dive school — do not rely on what a school tells you about its own paperwork.
Sources & References
- National park entry-fee bands under the 2564 regulation (in force 7 June 2565) — Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
- Tourism Authority of Thailand
- Thai Meteorological Department (TMD)
- Mu Ko Similan National Park — park profile and published tourism season, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
- Mu Ko Surin National Park — park profile, published tourism season, and the 2550 (2007) royal decree annexing Richelieu Rock
- Mu Ko Lanta National Park — park profile and published tourism season
- Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park — park profile and published tourism season
- DNP announcement of 19 September 2565 designating special-fee tourism sites, as published by the Tourism Authority of Thailand
- Maya Bay closes to visitors from 1 August to 30 September every year — Government Public Relations Department
- Hyperbaric Chamber Facility — Bangkok Hospital Siriroj, Phuket (chamber specification and 24-hour emergency line)
- SSS Recompression Chamber Network, Thailand — chamber locations
- Big Blue Diving, Koh Tao — published course and fun-dive prices
- Blue Planet Divers, Koh Lanta — published day-trip prices and national park fee
- Khao Lak Explorer — published Similan liveaboard season dates
Park fees, special-site rates and closed seasons are taken from the Department of National Parks' own announcements and park pages; the Maya Bay closure from the Government Public Relations Department. Operator prices were read from each named dive centre's own website on 2026-09-09 and are indicative, not quotations. Fees, seasons and prices change; confirm with the park office or operator before booking. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
Go deeper
Compare the cities, read the dive-site guide, then look at where to actually live near the water that matters to you.
Hero photo by Leonardo Lamas via Pexels. General information, not legal, tax, immigration, medical or financial advice. Confirm current details with official sources or licensed professionals.
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Last updated 9 September 2026 · Last reviewed 9 September 2026
Last verified 9 Sep 2026 against page facts re-read that day, as recorded in the explore-depth rotation log