| Koh Sak |
There are a couple of dive sites around this island ranging from beginner to more experienced depending on current flow. The west side is predominantly hard coral from the surface to the sandy bottom. Moray eels can be found on close inspection hiding in crevaces in the rockface. The southern end of the island is spared the current but marine life is also in less abundance and the north offers a sandy expanse ideal for training. |
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The Cubes
Probably the best dive site on Koh Sak (Horseshoe Island) is the eastern side facing Pattaya. There are a number of concrete cubes at exactly 10m depth. Following them on a due south heading you can hop from cube to cube in a drift dive. Turtles and stingray abound, also lookout for giant pufferfish here too.
Depth: 2 - 15m
Viz: 2 - 12m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 45 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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Koh Krok is the inner most of three islands situatued around 6km off Pattaya beach. Tidal flow can be strong here so drift diving is a good option. There are dense soft coral and anemone gardens here feeding off the current. Anemonefish are also common here so its a good spot to "find Nemo".
Depth: 2 - 14m
Viz: 2 - 12m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 45 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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Koh Larn is the largest of the three inner islands, it has two main dive sites which are both popular. Shark point derives its name from the juvenile nurse sharks that can be spotted hiding in holes and crevaces on the reef. Hard corals drop from the surface down to around 22 metres where a sandy and featureless bottom takes over. |
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The drop off on the western side has a series of coral ledges down to around 20 metres and continues down to over 40 metres although there is nothing to see at this depth. To the south of the island is Koh Larn Vac where there is a sunken restaurant or the remains of one that arrived there by some feat of Thai engineering. Currents can be strong on this dive.
Depth: 4 - 40m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 45 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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The HTMS Khram, formerly the USS LSM 469, is a decommissioned warship sunk by the Thai navy in 2003 to create an artificial breeding ground for marine life. She lies in 30 metres of water a few hundred metres off the eastern coast of Koh Phai (the most northerly of Pattaya's outer islands). |
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The Thai navy did a good preparation job on the ship freeing her from armaments, oil and other diver hazards. Large penetration holes flooded with natural light have been cut out of the structure, the bridge, radio room and engine room are all accessible.
Depth: 15 - 30m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 60 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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Meaning "elephant ears" in Thai this island is named after its twin rock formations. It is one of six outer islands that lie around 17km off the coast off Pattaya. Hard corals are the main feature here with plentiful anomones and smaller fish life. A shallow and relaxing dive.
Depth: 2 - 14m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 60 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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Another shallow dive spot with many staghorn and plate corals. The gently sloping fringing reef has multiple coral heads housing invertebrates, crustaceans and christmas tree worms.
Depth: 2 - 12m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 60 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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A couple of dive sites at the sheltered spot, the first being a 7 metre coral wall with large patches of hard and soft corals. A large variety of fish life here with angelfish, butterflyfish and puffers. The second spot, often refered to as "the fingers" is a set of rocks at around 12 metres deep. Nice coral formations and smaller fishes are plentiful.
Depth: 5 - 20m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 60 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar
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A couple of dive sites at the sheltered spot, the first being a 7 metre coral wall with large patches of hard and soft corals. A large variety of fish life here with angelfish, butterflyfish and puffers. The second spot, often refered to as "the fingers" is a set of rocks at around 12 metres deep. Nice coral formations and smaller fishes are plentiful.
Depth: 5 - 20m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 60 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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The Petchaburi Bremen Wreck |
The Petchaburi Bremen is an 88 metre long Thai cargo ship that went down in the 1930's following an explosion in the engine room. She now lies on the sandy bottom in 22 metres of water between Sattahip and Koh Khram. The wreck is broken into three main parts, the bow and stern sections are still relatively in tact but the center part is mostly mangled steel. There are a few swimthroughs but penetration is generally not recommended. One of the highlights of the dive besides the wreck itself are the large eagle rays that patrol the sunken hulk. Currents can be strong here so its best to seek guidance from local dive operators. You may also encounter the presence of the Thai navy that generally do not take kindly to dive boats!
Depth: 12 - 22m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 90 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar
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Vaguely resembling a submarine this rock is located around the coast near Sattahip. It boasts plenty of brightly coloured sea fans, soft corals and barrel sponges. You may spot larger marine life such as rays and turtles here.
Depth: 5 - 18m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 90 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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This site consists of a rock ridge covered in hard corals and barrel sponges, larger pelagics are often spotted here.
Samaesan Hole
Close by is the "Samaesan Hole" which is usually visited by technical divers wanting to reach the murky depths using Trimix. Currents can be savage, no light penetrates 90 meters of water, its in the middle of a shipping lane and used to be a miltary ammo dump. If you want to go this deep consult your technical instructor as the depths at here are way beyond recreational limits. There are several dive operators in Pattaya that offer DSAT courses and this dive will be part of them.
Depth: 0 - 85m
Viz: 5 - 10m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 90 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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The Harddeep or Sattahip due to proximity to the town when she sank, was an Indonesian cargo ship that had been commandeered by the Japanese during World War II. She went down after an aerial attack by allied planes and now lies on her side in 25 metres of water. The hull is still intact however after sinking in the early 1940's time has taken its toll and the structure has become unstable. Penetration to the engine room is possible but recommended for experienced divers, fire bricks can be seen near the huge boilers. Natural light penetrates most areas of this wreck but it would still be a good idea to take your own torch to seek out those marine critters hiding in the structure. A short swim out from the funnel line will reward you with two unexploded thousand pound bombs on the sandy bottom
Depth: 16 - 28m
Viz: 4 - 12m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 90 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar
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Koh Chuang and koh Chan are two small islands off the coast of Samaesan. They offer good coral dive sites with prolific hard and soft corals and several rocky outcrops. There is a lot of smaller fish life here such as yellowtail jacks and fusiliers. These two spots make a nice change after diving the wrecks.
Depth: 5 - 12m
Viz: 5 - 15m
Currents: Occasional
Getting there : Boat 90 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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The Pak I is also known as the Vertical Wreck and is one of the better known wreck dives in the area. The 25 year old tanker first sank rapidly in 1996 in a heavy storm around 50km off the coast of Koh Chang. She sank in an almost vertical position with the stern on the seabed almost 60 metres below and the bow just 5m from the surface. Local dive operators rushed to the scene to check out would become a truly unique dive. Over the following six years word spread and divers came from across the globe to dive on the vertical wreck. In February 2001 the vessel re-floated and began to drift, its bows breaking the surface by 6 metres. The Thai navy had to act quickly to get the drifting wreck out of shipping lanes and re-sink her somewhere safer. After several attempts they finally managed to detonate charges and sink the vessel off the coast or Rayong. It is now a technical dive site in 42 metres of water with variable visibility, currents and thermoclines.
Depth: 25 - 42m
Viz: 5 - 10m
Currents: Can be strong
Getting there : Boat 120 mins
Best months: Dec - Mar |
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