Compare 10 dive shops
in Khao Lak.
Thailand's liveaboard capital and the gateway to the Similan and Surin islands. Seasonal — the parks close for the monsoon — with better visibility and bigger animals than the Gulf, and prices to match.
Why Khao Lak
Koh Tao teaches people to dive; Khao Lak is where they go afterwards. The Similan Islands are a granite archipelago 60 km offshore with 20–30 m visibility through the season, and Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock — further north, in Mu Ko Surin — are the reason experienced divers book a boat instead of a hotel. Richelieu is a single limestone pinnacle that attracts manta rays reliably and whale sharks occasionally, and it is only realistically reachable on a liveaboard.
The trade-off is season and cost. Both national parks close from mid-May to mid-October for the southwest monsoon, and most operators only run day trips from November to April, so the shoulder weeks in late October and early May are liveaboard-only. A Similan day trip runs 4,900–6,150 THB for two or three dives, roughly three times a two-dive day on Koh Tao, and the marine park fee sits on top.
What the ranking looks at here
Two things matter more in Khao Lak than anywhere else in Thailand.
Whether park fees are included. They are 700 THB per diver on a day trip, and 1,600 THB on a four-day liveaboard visiting both parks, 2,000 THB on a six-day trip. Almost every operator quotes the trip price without them, so two boats advertised at the same number can differ by 2,000 THB once you are aboard. We record fee inclusion per trip and show it in the comparison.
Boat capacity, not guide ratio. Since April 2025 Thai law has required a maximum of four divers per guide on deep and training dives, and two on intro dives, so an operator advertising “small groups of 4” is advertising compliance with the law. What still varies is how many people are on the boat: 13 guests on one liveaboard against 28 on another is the difference between a relaxed dive day and queuing for the ladder.
Price transparency
Khao Lak splits cleanly in half on this. Some operators publish every course price, what it includes and the class cap; others publish nothing and push you to WhatsApp for a quote. We treat that as a signal in itself and mark it on each shop’s page: a price you can read before you commit is worth something, and our price index shows which operators publish and which do not.
Not sure which shop?
Tell us your certification level, budget, and what matters to you — small groups, eco-focus, language, accommodation. We respond within 24 hours with two or three concrete shop recommendations from Khao Lak.