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*NEWS* | Articles on Thai waters and dive sites The following Thai water articles were submitted an published by www.scubadiving-guide.com and www.bahtsold.com along with various Thailand or scuba diving related web sites and magazines. Article No#1. Scuba
Diving
Thailand has two monsoon
seasons, the North East monsoon, where the wind blows from the North East during
the months of early November through late April. The South West monsoon brings
winds heading from that direction during the other months of May through
October. The word monsoon derives from the Arabic term “Mausim” meaning
season – so in effect we have two seasons if you will. South
of Thailand holds many a joy for scuba divers in and around the islands off of Phuket,
Krabi and Phi Phi with literally hundreds of dive sites littered all the way
down to the Malaysian border. The body of water is the Andaman
Sea
and is world class
diving. It was reported that Jacques Cousteau himself mentioned the Similan
islands (approximately 50 miles North West of Phuket) were amongst his favorite
top 10 dive destination in the world – now if that is not an accolade to
diving Thai waters then nothing is! The
Similan Islands are famed for clear
water diving with visibility averaging 25 meters “in season”. Large boulders
protrude from the seas to create such wonderful white sand beached islands
causing the scenery on the surface to be almost as wonderful as that under
water. The Similans National park
has been open for
diving for in excess of 15 years now and mooring buoys have long since been in
place in order to preserve the corals as much as possible. Large
pelagics such as the Manta ray and the Whale shark are a common site around the
Similans and up into the The
Similans used to be dived only by “floating hotels” or live-aboard boats as
the distance is quite far. Over the last few years dive operators have been
organizing daily trips that leave in the morning and return late afternoon. This western side of the Gulf of Thailand is very good diving during the North East “season” but still very good during the months of May through October as it is largely sheltered by the coastline from the oncoming winds. This cannot be said for Koh Chang which is on the Eastern side of the Gulf that has a very short high diving season from November through April. Very close to Cambodian waters this paradise island has some great day trip dive destinations. The area of the Eastern Seaboard of Chonburi and Rayong province boasts a 365 dive day season. The visibility is at its best during the months of November through May but is more than adequate for most dives and training for the entire year. With more than 30 local dive sites all reachable by day trip and many shipwrecks it makes for a great training and sports diving destination. Many instructors and divemasters train here as the “never ending season” allows for non stop training with excellent facilities, sites and wrecks. If you are aware of the seasons in Thailand, regardless of when you come you’re sure to be in for a fantastic dive treat in one of these locations. Article No#2. Ship Wrecks In April’s Baht &
Sold, we took a look at the monsoon season in Thailand, establishing the general rules to follow to
find the best areas in certain months to dive. Patterns were formed as are
highlights in each area for specific types of diving. For example the Similan
islands boast huge granite boulders creating incredible backdrops. Phi Phi
islands are mainly limestone composite allowing for great wall diving as the
island faces plunge straight into the sea to depths of around 18 meters. In the
Gulf, off of the coast of Probably the most legendary
wreck is that of the horizontal, vertical ship wreck although relatively young in
comparison to Nearly 6 years passed and this eerie wreck literally stood world famous in diving circles. Divers traveled extraordinary distances to witness this freak wreck for themselves. It was an incredible dive site often gaining over 40 meters visibility and in a short time had an abundance of marine life swimming all around it. Locals and far a field divers feared that one day the gas in the bow assisting to buoy the ship ‘into position’ would leak out and the Pak One would finally rest like many of its ‘normal’ counterparts. In February 2001 something
extraordinary occurred; the Pak One floated once again with its bow protruding 5
meters from the surface and began to set sail slowly toward Cambodian waters.
During the early stages of it’s ‘rebirth’ some local divers were lucky
enough to have dived the wreck whilst in transit and reported diving 50 meters
depth under the stern and being able to look all the way through the hull to the
surface. The Royal Thai Navy decided
to intervene due to reluctance from the insurance parties involved and took
measures consisting various tugs and warship escorts to drag it to a destination
just south of Laem Mae Phim in Rayong
The Pak One now safely rested, to the delight of the Thai Navy, serves as a local technical divers wreck lying on the seabed at 42 meters with the top of the wreck at 25 meters. Conditions can be harsh but this is hoped that it will keep the wreck down. The now horizontal formerly
named ‘Vertical’ wreck is just one of many local ship wrecks with great
character in the All of the great related
stories add to the wonder of diving on the wrecks of the eastern seaboard and
also lean towards why we call this simply…Amazing
Check out - Technical Diving Articles from Mr. Steve Burton (LIA Technical Director)
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the majority in the area. The 25 year old “Pak One” tanker
‘originally’ sank in August 1996, 50 Kms west of Koh Chang. Surviving
members of the 10 man crew told of its demise due to heavy storms battering the
ship. The Pak One sank very quickly killing the majority of the crew and settled
in a very odd position. With the bow nearly touching the surface at 5 meters
depth the stern lodged itself in to the seabed at 60 meters. This was a sad loss
of life and a vessel but the famous ‘vertical’ wreck dive sight was born.