hey Steven, i'll agree with you, that any site on any given day, will present itself different because of many factors. the 3 out of phuket i mentioned, were quite nice, good vis, decent fish, and lion fish is something special, and there were so many, along w/leopard sharks, different and interesting. those dives were fine, and phi phi were ok, for what the were, close, overdived and fished out, but vis was just ok, nice relaxing dive. depending on past experiences and dive level, you expect and want more or better. again, phuket dives were nice. i've never dove similians, or gulf, but they get extremely mixed reviews. a novice may be impressed, and i'm far from expert w/multiple certs, but experienced enough to know, i wouldn't classify anything in thai waters as world class.
i respect the opinion of dive buddy of mine, much more experienced and a bit more travelled than i. he lived in khao lak, and his best bud owns a dive operation there, and dove similians quite a few times. now, he can dive anytime for free, he doesn't bother. that tells me alot. anyone with more than 100 dives and certified higher than just the open water would probably be disappointed. i've dived at much nicer, and not even classified as world class, well, except for grand caymans, and most were better than thai waters. and i consider most of were i dove as fished out already, but more than here.
just my opinion, but if highly experience and well travelled, could be a major disappointment for many. but if novice or simply wanting to get wet, there are a few nice sites around thailand. but i wouldn't expect to do a week of diving here. maybe 2 days, take a break, and maybe 2 days more. although many sites are very far away. i would save the 'dive' vacation for another location.
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