Low Season Diving In Phuket

[IrishIvan]

The weather is nice and I am going diving tomorrow. Not sure exactly where but Ill post up some pics if I see anything good. I quite like this time of the year its easier to get a mooring and there is a lot less divers in the water. Anyone else had some good low season diving around the island?

[NomadJoe]

The best diving I have ever had here has been in low season. Every so often the winds completely stop and the water between Phuket and Phi Phi (Sea of Phuket on most maps) becomes like a mill pond. Usually there are waves crashing against Koh Doc Mai year round one side of the other. One day in the middle of low (monsoon) season I was able to swim right up to the wall and put my hand in it. The water was gently lapping the side like I was in a swimming pool. Also, most every year we get whale sharks between June and August. Not many, but almost always some sightings. I had one swim into me on Koh Doc Mai then a week later a different one swam around the surface of King Cruiser for an hour. That was July 2009.

I suggest Shark Point as the Leopards are there again. The two seahorses are still there as well. And lots of Bamboo sharks under the ledges at the base of the wall on Koh Doc Mai. Ornate ghost pipefish and seahorses still on the wall there too, although you aren't likely to find them without a knowledgeable guide. If you do King Cruiser, at 32m next the the starboard screw is a tire with 2 Bamboo Sharks in it.

Let us know how you get on.

Edited May 4, 2013 by NomadJoe

[IrishIvan]

I dived the west side of koh doc mai last year for the first time. Interesting topography. The reason we dived it was we were late getting back and the sun was setting and it was way too dark. (First and last time I forgot to bring my torch). Have you been around to Racha Yai recently joe? I was wanting to dive staghorn reef and the tsunami memoral. I havent been there for years

[IrishIvan]

I did a couple of dives at Bungalow west side. The coral looked ok if not a little improvement. Quite a few morays, big schools of Chevron Barracuda. 6 out of 10

[NomadJoe]

I dived the west side of koh doc mai last year for the first time. Interesting topography. The reason we dived it was we were late getting back and the sun was setting and it was way too dark. (First and last time I forgot to bring my torch). Have you been around to Racha Yai recently joe? I was wanting to dive staghorn reef and the tsunami memoral. I havent been there for years

Yeah I dive there pretty regularly, but usually on the east side. Unfortunately staghorn reef was lost in the bleaching event of 2009. I haven't noticed any staghorn coral recovering there yet. But the large patch of staghorn coral on the north side of Bungalow Bay which was also lost, but this year I was very excited to see new budding coral growing on top of the old.

It's also unfortunate that the underwater statues placed after the tsunami are in Siam Bay, the least interesting and least dived bay on the island. The large concrete cubes and the twin wrecks, the heruby and on the east side have made bays 1-3 very interesting now.

Siam bay:

Haruby and Andaman Eagle:

^ It doesn't look like this anymore.

There is also an old speedboat or small ferry off of home run north of Haruby and Andaman Eagle. I don't recall it's name but I found a photo. I think this is a really old wreck, as it looks nothing like anything we see in Thai waters today.

One thing I have yet to do is dive on Marla's Mystery, sank by the then owner of Scuba Cat in 2000. It was an old smuggling ship captured by the Thai Navy in the 80's and stripped. It's out from bay 1-2 a but deep at 35m. A good tech diving site. There is no mooring and not all captains know where it is so it can be hard to get to.

[commande]

Diving in Phuket, boring boring boring and expensive. Spent a month diving there to include 1 week on a on a live aboard, the live aboard was the best because we went places that are not so over dived so the coral isn't dead; will never return sadly. Diving in Thailand, not so good. Diving in Vietnam and even better diving in the Philippines so much better. King Cruiser, worst wreck dive I have ever been on, Wrecks in Pattaya are better, at least you can penetrate them and they are not falling apart... Going next weekend to dive the new wreck in Koh Chang, should be spectacular!!! Rebreather standing by ...

It is fun to watch the Russian dive boats though, 50 divers in the water and your lucky if there are 2 dive masters, looks like a complete circus.

Edited May 9, 2013 by commande

[NomadJoe]

^ commande I don't know what your vendetta is, but your post is complete rubbish. You either have no idea what you are talking about or you are lying. Shark Point, Anemone Reef, Hin Deang, Hin Mueang, Koh Doc Mai, and many more are pristine dive sites. Coral is perfectly healthy. Multiple Leopards almost every dive on Shark Point right now. One of our guests was swimming with a Whale Shark on Koh Bon last week. There are some decent wrecks around Pattaya and Koh Chang, but King Cruiser has plenty of penetration points and is probably the best example of a successful artificial reef there ever was. But you are a tech diver and 99.9% of the divers diving in Thailand are not, so that kinda makes that comment moot here. The reef fish so thick on KC that at times they blot out the light from above. And no boat, Russian or otherwise, has 50 pax on board, well not since Marina divers. Max diver to guide ratio is 5:1 on every boat in Phuket, on many boats it's 4:1.

Edited May 9, 2013 by NomadJoe

[commande]

^ commande I don't know what your vendetta is, but your post is complete rubbish. You either have no idea what you are talking about or you are lying. Shark Point, Anemone Reef, Hin Deang, Hin Mueang, Koh Doc Mai, and many more are pristine dive sites. Coral is perfectly healthy. Multiple Leopards almost every dive on Shark Point right now. One of our guests was swimming with a Whale Shark on Koh Bon last week. There are some decent wrecks around Pattaya and Koh Chang, but King Cruiser has plenty of penetration points and is probably the best example of a successful artificial reef there ever was. But you are a tech diver and 99.9% of the divers diving in Thailand are not, so that kinda makes that comment moot here. The reef fish so thick on KC that at times they blot out the light from above. And no boat, Russian or otherwise, has 50 pax on board, well not since Marina divers. Max diver to guide ratio is 5:1 on every boat in Phuket, on many boats it's 4:1.

No vendetta at all, I personally just didn't think it was all outstanding as some claim. For a recreational diver I am certain they will have a great time proven by the point a lot of people dive there. Yes I am a tech diver, no I would never penetrate the King Cruiser, it's just to dangerous in my opinion. Anyway, didn't mean to upset you or anyone else. Have fun diving.

[IrishIvan]

^ commande I don't know what your vendetta is, but your post is complete rubbish. You either have no idea what you are talking about or you are lying.  Shark Point, Anemone Reef, Hin Deang, Hin Mueang, Koh Doc Mai, and many more are pristine dive sites. Coral is perfectly healthy. Multiple Leopards almost every dive on Shark Point right now. One of our guests was swimming with a Whale Shark on Koh Bon last week. There are some decent wrecks around Pattaya and Koh Chang, but King Cruiser has plenty of penetration points and is probably the best example of a successful artificial reef there ever was. But you are a tech diver and 99.9% of the divers diving in Thailand are not, so that kinda makes that comment moot here. The reef fish so thick on KC that at times they blot out the light from above. And no boat, Russian or otherwise, has 50 pax on board, well not since Marina divers. Max diver to guide ratio is 5:1 on every boat in Phuket, on many boats it's 4:1.

 

No vendetta at all, I personally just didn't think it was all outstanding as some claim.  For a recreational diver I am certain they will have a great time proven by the point a lot of people dive there.  Yes I am a tech diver, no I would never penetrate the King Cruiser, it's just to dangerous in my opinion.  Anyway, didn't mean to upset you or anyone else.  Have fun diving.

Why not? Ive penetrated the King Cruiser heaps of times on Nitrox and Normal air

[NomadJoe]

^ Yeah that comment makes no sense. The hulls are in fine shape. You can't penetrate the superstructure anymore cause there isn't much left of it. All collapsed down.

[IrishIvan]

^ Yeah that comment makes no sense. The hulls are in fine shape. You can't penetrate the superstructure anymore cause there isn't much left of it. All collapsed down.

Well thats how long ago I dived it. Are the stairwells still intact? You can 'penetrate' the wreck down near the propeller still though. Im sure

[commande]

^ Yeah that comment makes no sense. The hulls are in fine shape. You can't penetrate the superstructure anymore cause there isn't much left of it. All collapsed down.

Well thats how long ago I dived it. Are the stairwells still intact? You can 'penetrate' the wreck down near the propeller still though. Im sure

I was there no more than a few months ago, I didn't see any place I would consider safe to penetrate and there definitely wouldn't be anything interesting to see. Also lots of Scorpion Fish, they are everywhere, makes it a little more difficult. Yes the entire boat has collapsed in upon itself. You can swim underneath it though end to end between the two hulls since it's a catamaran design, didn't consider that to much an issue since its steel, seemed intact but the ship is decaying rapidly and the walls of the ship made of steel are cracking in many places - the ship actually moves with the current in a lot of places.

You dive with a rebreather, you can actually here the metal grinding on the ship as it twist and moves with the currents.

They need to sink one similar to the one in Kho Chang and two in Pattaya. Old Navy ships, solid steel, very strong, will last years and years. Maybe they will in the future, Kho Change just got there ship for diving, Phuket needs to request one for themselves.

Edited May 12, 2013 by commande

[NomadJoe]

^ Yeah that comment makes no sense. The hulls are in fine shape. You can't penetrate the superstructure anymore cause there isn't much left of it. All collapsed down.

Well thats how long ago I dived it. Are the stairwells still intact? You can 'penetrate' the wreck down near the propeller still though. Im sure

Well it's a catamaran and you can swim the length of the hulls between the hulls, but it's a very advanced dive at 30m. I have done it several times but only with very experienced divers or other divemasters or instructors. The stair wells towards the bow which are accessible from either outside or from the car deck that lead to the engine room and crew quarters are still intact and diveable.

EDIT. Just noticed you posted as I was typing.

[NomadJoe]

^ Yeah that comment makes no sense. The hulls are in fine shape. You can't penetrate the superstructure anymore cause there isn't much left of it. All collapsed down.

Well thats how long ago I dived it. Are the stairwells still intact? You can 'penetrate' the wreck down near the propeller still though. Im sure

I was there no more than a few months ago, I didn't see any place I would consider safe to penetrate and there definitely wouldn't be anything interesting to see. Also lots of Scorpion Fish, they are everywhere, makes it a little more difficult. Yes the entire boat has collapsed in upon itself. You can swim underneath it though end to end between the two hulls since it's a catamaran design, didn't consider that to much an issue since its steel, seemed intact but the ship is decaying rapidly and the walls of the ship made of steel are cracking in many places - the ship actually moves with the current in a lot of places.

You dive with a rebreather, you can actually here the metal grinding on the ship as it twist and moves with the currents.

They need to sink one similar to the one in Kho Chang and two in Pattaya. Old Navy ships, solid steel, very strong, will last years and years. Maybe they will in the future, Kho Change just got there ship for diving, Phuket needs to request one for themselves.

I was there last week, and dive it several times a month for most of the last 13 years. You have posted a lot of inaccuracies. There are 2 clear places to penetrate, not counting swimming the length between the hulls. That's more of a long, deep swim through. The two stairways near the bow can still be entered. It's too bad you weren't with a guide that knew the boat. There used to be two more penetration points from inside the car deck, but since the car deck has collapsed those aren't accessible anymore.

To say "The entire boat has collapsed in upon itself" is completely false. The superstructure, that is the bit's built above the two hulls, have collapsed, as has the roof of the car deck. But he hulls, which are 75% of the wreck, are fine. I doubt those will be compromised in my lifetime.

RE your last paragraph: The Thai Navy have offered Phuket (Via Go Eco Phuket) two decommissioned Navy Frigates to sink as artificial reefs. We just need to raise 2m baht to have them prep'ed and transported.

Edited May 12, 2013 by NomadJoe

[commande]

RE your last paragraph: The Thai Navy have offered Phuket (Via Go Eco Phuket) two decommissioned Navy Frigates to sink as artificial reefs. We just need to raise 2m baht to have them prep'ed and transported.

This is excellent news!!! Will definitely have to check these out when they hit the bottom of the ocean.

[IrishIvan]

I thought all the navy ships were being dropped in Krabi. Wasnt there 4 of them?