  Samui - not for divers
Category: Divebase (By Admin on Saturday, October 23, 2004)
Was there: May 2001
Koh Samui has gone from an idyllic Thai Island into a binch-drinking sleazy tourist hole. Especially the East side of the island with Chaweng and Lamai beach is a long strip of loud disco's and girly bars (You my frieeeeend, I make you feel gooooood, cheapy cheapy fooh youuuuu... etceteras). Maybe your cup of tea, but definitely not mine. We stayed on the north side of the island which, back then was fairly quiet. Rumour has it that this part is also now a major tourist area, with dito bars, disco's, prostitutes and drug dealers to complete the festivities.
We went diving with "The Abyss" a small and friendly Dutch owned diveshop and one of the few on the island. The reason why there are so few soon became clear since there is not much of interest to see underwater, and when you want to see spectacular things, they will take you to the dive sites around Koh Tao. That's quite a long ride by boat, so the easiest is to stay on Koh Tao itself. Not only are prices cheaper because of competition, but you are more close to action (and further away from the sleaze). |