Diving at the South of Koh Chang

It is the slow season in Thailand all around due to the weather. Right now, it is the rainy season, which originally was a concern for travelling to Koh Chang, as the word around was that it would rain non-stop. While it did rain, it didn't hinder any of the activities that we wanted to do, including beach R & R. It rained in the early morning and a few times in the evening. The rainy season also, obviously, affects the waters which affect the diving situations - in terms of visibility and current.

But, I spoke with White Sands Dive Center on Saturday, when I first arrived, and asked them about the condition. Divers don't lie about weather conditions just to get money, as divers want other divers to enjoy the experience just as much as they would want to (at least in my experiences, thus far). Pon, my divemaster, informed me that they were having visibility up to 15 meters!! So, I booked on Sunday, and went diving on Monday. We drove to the very southern tip of the island, hooked up with another diving company, since there was just the two of us, and better to save on a boat trip and crew (for the diving companies to split). John, a camera man from L.A. had just finished shooting an independent film in Cambodia, and was now vacationing for a week in Thailand (Koh Chang and Bangkok). He was working on his open water diving certification with his dive instructor, Patrick (an ex-pat from Finland). However, we each did our own separate dives, and did not even see each other, unless we were on the boat. John was working on his buoyancy, whereas I was actually doing a dive, as an already certified open water diver.

I got two dives (200 bar/ tank) for 2,500 baht, including all transportation, equipment and lunch. It was a pretty great deal, thanks to the slow season. There was also not one snorkeler in sight... and Patrick was telling me that during the busy, tourist season, the waters are covered with orange life jackets, as they sometimes have 300 snorkelers at one time! (I don't know if I want to go during the busy season, as from all the stories we heard, it just would not be quite as enjoyable, even though Koh Chang is still pretty unknown - it is becoming a vacation destination more and more, as blogs like mine get posted - the word is getting out.)

The first dive was at Hin Lab, where I stayed under for 72 minutes, and the second in Bobrine for 63 minutes (both the longest times I have yet been under). I saw blue-spotted ribbon-tailed lagoon rays, yellow-edged moray eels, box fish, a massive jelly-fish and floated my way through schools of thousands of fish, and much, much more!! We had 12 meters visibility and although the current was a bit rough at the top, it wasn't so bad below, and I was able to just lay buoyant in the middle of the ocean - 12 meters deep. It was an awesome experience, and Pon was a great divemaster. He grew up in Isan (northeast Thailand), and moved down to Koh Chang ten years ago to dive. It turned out that he is good friends with Raht, the jungleman (next story)! Sorry, but I have no diving photos, except for one of my equipment being put onto the boat. But I do have a couple of the views from down south.

Heading to the dive center in the early morning hours...