Thursday 1 November 2007

Welcome to November

Welcome to November.

It looks like this is going to be a very interesting month ahead of us. Normally this is by far the wettest month of the year, however, it will be difficult to beat the amount of rain that we had during October, so let's hope this November will slack off.

Slowly the roads are recovering from the floodings during October, although marginal amounts of rain will have them flooded again and unfortunately today, 1st November didn't start that great, there was quite a bit of rain.

Let's hope for the best however and keep our fingers crossed. We can do with a bit of sunshine once in a while!

Camille

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Camille,

I found your blog while googling for Samui weather. Me and my family (wife + 2 kids - years 2.5 and 5.5) are coming to Thailand for 3 weeks from next week. We planned to be in Koh Chang but we now consider coming to Samui. We are worried about the weather. What will November be for a tourist? What can we expect if we come there at mid-November?

BTW, I have a diving license but have dove for a long time (also haven't renewed my license) what should I prepare if I would like to dive at Samui? Is it possible if I haven't pay the license renewal fees? What about insurance?

Thanks in advance,

Yossi

Camille Lemmens said...

Hi Yossi,

Thanks for your feedback.

Regarding the weather, it's difficult to predict this time of the year, since normally November is in the middle of the rainy season. Looking at the amount of rain we just recently experienced, it's hard to believe that there will be even more rain again, although, as mentioned before, this normally it's the time when it should happen.

Regarding the dive enquiry, what organization are you certified with? PADI or CMAS or anything else? Dive certifications don't become invalid, you receive them for life, so there's no renewal fee at recreational level. If you want to dive, I recommend bringing your original certification card, that should be sufficient, we can offer you a Scuba Review in which you get to complete a skill circuit in confined water, which will last just a couple of hours before you go out for a real dive.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt answer.

I have a certificate of the Israeli Diving Federation, I think it is a CMAS one. I last dove few years ago in Sinai and will certainly consider diving in Koh Samui if we'll get there.

I think that for now we will not schedule anything for Koh Samui and leave room for spontaneous visit according to our experience in Koh Chang and the weather in Samui.

About my questions, I know that people do go to Samui even during the low season, I wonder what is the experience. If it is raining, do people stay at the hotel room or is it still possible do be at the pool or the beach? Is it usually raining all day or for a few hours? My experience with tropical climate is from Brazil where you can be outdoor and it is hot, then it may suddenly be heavily raining for half an hour and then you can continue with whatever you were doing.

Thanks,

Yossi

Camille Lemmens said...

Hi Yossi,

Your diving certification is indeed, very likely a CMAS certification, which is accepted everywhere in Thailand, as long as you bring the original card with you.

The rainy season, as it is normally during November in Samui, can have some days where the rain is almost non stop, just like we had during October.

Recently the weather has been better, there was a lot of sun mixed in and we had some dry days, so the weather pattern that you experienced in Brazil is not unheard of in Thailand.

There's things to do in Samui if it rains, there are two bowling places, two shopping malls/centers, one movie theatre with two rooms.

Hope you enjoy your trip either way!