You will be right in the turning point of the rainy seasons for both
sides of Thailand's dive venues. You will find both good and bad days re
viz, swells, and rain. But a bad day of diving in Thailand is usually
better than no diving at all. We just got back from a week of diving in
the Gulf side, and it was fine... except the Trigger fish have learned
how to make team attacks.

Steve Kramer
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Five years, one week, two days, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 3 seconds.
55066 cigarettes not smoked, saving $13,766.72. Life used for a better
purpose: 27 weeks, 2 days, 4 hours, 50 minutes.

I dove the Similans with Mermaid II last year the last week of
October. The weather was fine, but as Steve points out, this is the
transition period between wet and dry on the west coast, so YMMV. The
boat was excellent and I plan to dive with them again the first week
of November this year. Last year I stayed at Crissy Village, which is
owned by the same parent company. The price was reasonable ($US40?),
the rooms fine and the location good.

The parent company web site is: http://www.crisseyco.com/

From there you can find links to the dive operation and accommodation.

Note that there are tons of dive operations out there and plenty of
places to stay. I had good luck with this company last year, so plan
to repeat this year. There might be better choices and there are
certainly different opinions.

One place to start looking at different boats is here:

http://www.siamdivers.com/

If you're going this month (September) you ought to head for the Gulf
side. If it's October, keep your eye on the weather and make your
decision based on whether or not the southwest monsoon is still
blowing.