The Amazing Dive Sites Of Phuket Thailand Part 2. King Cruiser

The Amazing Dive Sites Of Phuket Thailand Part 2.  King Cruiser

The dive sites of Phuket Thailand has always been a big draw for scuba diving and for Phuket snorkel tours alike. What makes Thailand Phuket especially popular is the diving is easy with mild currents and shallow depths. Ok there are many other places with shallow diving but very few are as stunningly beautiful with such a varies sea life as when scuba diving Thailand.

When diving Phuket there are many choices. Do you dive the east side in the gulf of Thailand or the west side in the Andaman ocean?  What will follow will be a guide to let you know the best dive sites, the most popular dive sites, when is the best time to dive them to help you get the most out of the scuba diving Phuket has to offer. It does not matter if you have never tried it before or are an experienced diver diving in Thailand will will impress you.

For those people who love wreck diving there is a collection of wrecks now around the eastside of Racha Yai to the south but these have all been put here for the scuba divers. When diving in Phuket there is one wreck that far out does all the others. The wreck of the King Cruiser car ferry. There is just so much to see here. There are literally tens of thousands of fish covering the wreck. Phuket scuba diving as mentioned in other blogs is not difficult but this is the only real advanced dive and thats due to the depth.

The King Cruiser wreck is the wreck of the car ferry of the same name that sank off the West Coast of Southern Thailand on 4 May 1997. The ferry was operating between Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands in southern Thailand when she hit a submerged collection of rocky pinnacles at Anemone Reef 10 miles off Phi Phi Island. The impact split the reef in two and also tore a large hole in the hull limiting its seaworthiness to a further thousand meters. The vessel sank within 2.5 hours. 561 passengers were rescued included Thai and foreign tourists. They were safely taken to two police patrol boats and 4-5 fishing boats, which had raced to the rescue in response to an emergency call. Causes Of The Sinking The ferry was on a regular crossing in normal conditions and the Anemone Reef was charted and well known by captains in the area. This has led to various unproven theories as to why the accident occurred. Theories include insurance fraud due to the owners experiencing financial difficulties on the unprofitable route and also that local dive companies paid the captain to sink the vessel as, up until that time, there were no wreck dives around Phuket. The captain was found to be negligent. While the debris and rubbish has since been cleared by co-operative activities by locals, divers and aid organisations, you will still see the scattered rocks nearer to the shore. At depths of 4 meters, you will see coral reefs, extending from the shore, mostly consisting of brain corals and pore corals, streaching to a depth of about 12 meters.

Dive Site Information

The vessel is now a popular recreational dive site  for many divers who come scuba diving in Phuket and acts as an artificial reef to compliment the Anemone Reef. The vessel sits upright on a sandy bottom in around 30m of water rising to ~10m at the top of the wreck. The wreck remains in one piece although the foreword upper deck has collapsed. The simplest and safest point of entry is through the vessels stern where divers can explore the once active car decks.

Machinery still sits on the deck. Inside the car deck are a couple of vehicle tires and an engine trolley. Rows of passenger seats and low coffee tables fill the inner recesses. The collapsed foredeck is at 16 meters where there is a stack of plastic picnic tables and chairs often surrounded by a cloud of Snappers. The upper deck is split from front to back.

As well as the wreck there is lots of coral growth and an abundance of fish. sea fans and soft coral can be found growing along the sides and top of the wreck. Schools of big eye trevally are often spotted circling above the captain's cabin. Large schools of snapper hang around the entrances to the car deck and along the remains of the upper deck, plus lionfish can be seen dotted around the wreck. There are also occasional encounters with leopard sharks and blacktip reef sharks, great barracuda and turtles. If you are really lucky then there have been whale sharks spotted on this dive location.

The King Cruiser wreck dive trip can be booked in most Phuket dive centers. As mentioned before it is an advance dive so if you are an uncertified diver then it is out reach for the PADI Discover scuba diving in Phuket but there are other better locations for this.  But that does not mean its out of reach for other courses. This a great wreck to dive if you complete your open water course Phuket and want to directly go onto your advanced course. Its only the depth that makes it and advanced dove as the top is 16 - 17 meters but the deepest point is around 32 meters. For those wanting to learn to dive in Phuket this is a great follow on dive. The viz in high season can be awesome but during the months of July to September there can be days when its drops and it can be a bit bumpy during this time of year.

The Stunning and Varied Dive Sites Of Phuket Thailand Part 1. Anemone Reef.

The dive sites of Phuket Thailand has always been a big draw for scuba diving and for Phuket snorkel tours alike. What makes Thailand Phuket especially popular is the diving is easy with mild currents and shallow depths. Ok there are many other places with shallow diving but very few are as stunningly beautiful with such a varies sea life as when scuba diving Thailand.

When diving Phuket there are many choices. Do you dive the east side in the gulf of Thailand or the west side in the Andaman ocean?  What will follow will be a guide to let you know the best dive sites, the most popular dive sites, when is the best time to dive them to help you get the most out of the scuba diving Phuket has to offer. It does not matter if you have never tried it before or are an experienced diver diving in Thailand will will impress you.

First up is a well known dive site to all divers who have been diving in Phuket but it is not dived very often due to many Phuket dive centers preferring a larger dive site just a few  minutes away with a more impressive name to the more impressionable diver.  However this means the other site gets crowded and can get very busy during high season. Where Anemone reef is left alone and is often far more to see here as many shy creatures move here to avoid the crowds and noise of Shark point. 

Anemone reef is located around 25 - 27 km to the east of Phuket. 

  

 Anemone reef is a pinnacle with the top being between 3-5 meters under the water, giving this divesite its Thai name "Hin Jom". It's English name is similarly straight forward - sea anemones dwel in stunningly dense populations in the shallow areas, presenting an amazing view of the sea's own version of a living carpet. The pinnacle has a north - south orientation, with a small sloped channel close to the south part. The depth ranges from 5 - 25 meters, and while there is a gentle slope down to the sandy bottom on the east side, it is steeper on the west side. Because of the quantity, quality and variety of marine life that lives in the beautiful soft coral and sea fans that cover the pinnacle, Anemone Reef is the choice site for naturalist courses and is no doubt a favorite among photographers as well. The currents are mild to moderate running in a north - south direction. The current on the north side will be stronger at low tide, and vice versa. Located around 25 - 27 Km to the east of Chalong Bay which is where most of the Phuket scuba diving trips depart from each morning.  

Anemone fish and clownfish are common, as are big schools of snapper that cloud the pinnacle. Schools of yellowtail barracuda are also often seen circling the rock, together with groupers, oriental sweetlips, juvenile harlequin sweetlips, scorpionfish and soldierfish that flit among corals, cracks and crevices. Leopard sharks, black tip and white tip sharks have been seen here on many occasions. Small critters such as seahorses are also found here on occasion. At the shallow areas near the mooring line, a couple of ornate ghost pipefish and even an anglerfish have been seen here before. This is a relatively easy dive as is most of the scuba diving in Phuket. 

The dive starts from descending down to the side of the pinnacle. Divers can then choose to go either clockwise or counter clockwise from the bottom, and the dive ends at the top of the pinnacle near the mooring line. Going around the pinnacle should pose no problems except in strong currents, so try scheduling the dive time near slack tide to get the most out of this site. It is also advisable to take your time on the dive - you might find a surprise among the cracks or in the dense anemone areas. Do look away from the rock once in a while, as there is an abundance of fish everywhere, and keep a watch out for leopard sharks that may be asleep at the bottom close to the rock. At the end of the dive, ascend with caution and beware of boat traffic. Use a safety ballon if you are not at the mooring line.

Anemome reef is a huge draw for all underwater photographers as there is just so much colour and such a huge variety of marine life here from the very tiny Nudi branch's to the largest fish in the ocean, massive whale shark are all regularly seen here. The Whale shark population has exploded in the Gulf of Thailand in the last few years and the better Thailand dive centers do have a run trips everyday to the locations that give you the best chance of seeing them. 

The great thing in Phuket is it has been a big draw for scuba diving for many years and Phuket dive centers like Thailand Divers have been helping people who want to learn to scuba dive Phuket for many years. The amazing dive sites like Anemone reef can be visited by new divers who are doing their open water course Phuket on their third day. The dives are not deep and not difficult and as mentioned before stunningly beautiful. Any good Phuket dive shop can take you to these amazing places and yes on just you second day in the ocean you may be diving with sharks. 

Underwater World of Phuket Thailand As Seen By Thailand Divers

The Amazing Underwater World of Phuket Thailand.

    Just a short boat ride off shore, there are some stunning underwater places to explore in Thailand Phuket in particular. It is the main gateway to the underwater sights that rank up there with the best in the world and depending how much time you want to spend underwater, there are several ways to explore it.

 One Day in Phuket scuba Diving,

         

With as little as one day up your sleeve for scuba diving Thailand you can still enjoy three different  great dive sites – a huge wall dive,  a wreck, and a reef – and still be back for happy hour. When diving Phuket most  boats leave daily from Chalong Bay, and take in three dive sites with the furthest just a couple of hours  cruising. When in Phuket diving the trips really are cruising as the dive boats here are large and very comfortable. They have chefs on board, sun decks, three or more showers plus more deck showers to rinse off after the dive. Power points to charge cameras, shaded eating areas and large saloon.

One option when scuba diving Phuket is the King Cruiser wreck. 

         The first dive of the day, the wreck King Cruiser is on a sunken car transporter ferry, which is so big you won’t get to see all of it on the one dive. The ferry sank in 1997 after hitting Anemone Reef. The boat is sitting with the top around 17 meters and the bottom at 32m. The wreck is approx 90m long, 30m wide and 15 high.

    And the reef, called Anemone Reef, for good reason guarantees you some of the cutest Clown fish around.  This is also a good location for Tigertail Seahorses which live on the huge sea fans. There are also a good chance to see Leopard Sharks here too around the base of the reef.

    The closest is Koh Dok Mai or Flower Island provides a home to many sea creatures.which is also the most characteristic of the region, being a limestone pinnacle that rises steeply from the ocean floor. Underwater it presents as a wall with vertical gutters and crevices and even some caves, home to all sorts of cryptic crevice dwellers. This is normally the last dive of the day as its done on the way back to Phuket.

         

Keep an eye out for white-collared butterfly fish as well as the many Black tip reef sharks (totally harmless) and Hawks Bill Turtles.

Over the course of the day you could see anything from seahorses to scorpion fish, barracuda to banded coral shrimp, stone fish, sea snakes, many nudibranchs, Ghost pipe fish, painted spiny lobsters, frog fish, Blue spotted sting rays and if lucky the largest fish in the ocean The Whale Shark. This is what makes diving in Thailand so exciting as you just never know what will turn up.

      These day boats have all the dive gear you need on board. As well as showers, they provide and serve you  a cooked breakfast, large hot buffet lunch and afternoon tea, plus tea, coffee, drinking water. Other soft drinks are available at a very small cost as is ice cold beer for the way back.  So all you really need for the day is your dive card, sunscreen and swimmers. A good Phuket dive shop will put as much effort into good food and comfort as well as being blessed with great diving. 

Three Days’ Diving

If you have three days spare for diving in Phuket you will be able to cover the three main day trip locations from Phuket.

Koh Phi Phi.  The terrain here is also limestone pinnacles made famous by the movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The range of diving is immense, from Phuket snorkelling tours in Lana Bay on the north-western tip of Koh Phi Phi, to Bida Nok, which offers a most dramatic marine topography: caves, swim throughs, drop-offs and overhangs.

        All around Phi Phi Ley are steep walls and coral bomies with an amazing number and diversity of nudibranchs, as well as the usual colourful reef fish like butterflyfish, coralfish and parrotfish.

Phi Phi can also be done during low season (May - Sept) on an overnight live a board which includes a great night dive. Talk to any good Phuket dive center like Thailand Divers who can arrange Phuket liveaboards all year round. But remember in Green season there are far less options to choose from as the national parks are closed. 

More than three days, or just if you prefer liveaboards and as the Similan diving is best in the world then this is a great option. 

       If you have three days or more available, you’d be crazy not to book a liveaboard trip and head out to the similan islands and Surin  Islands National Parks – about 1.5 hours from Phuket by speed boat or 3 hours cruising on the dive boat.(which is usually done while you sleep). Here you will be spoilt with some of the best diving in the region and the world if you include Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.

The similan island diving is so diverse. Here are massive granite boulders, stacked up long ago by some giant god of the sea, to create a playground for fish and divers alike. Mixed in with white sandy bays and shallow reefs teeming with life. Throw in a turtle breeding ground for good measure. Diving in  the Similans and the surrounding area you may be lucky enough to see manta rays cruising through, but you’ll certainly find turtles, and some of the biggest giant morays I have ever seen. Mix in the powder-blue surgeons, white collar butterflies and black tail angels and you’re in for a visual feast.

    The pinnacle, literally, of the trip will be a day diving Richelieu Rock, a rock so famous it even has its own website. A large, horseshoe-shaped rock, completely submerged, Richelieu is home to everything from the smallest ghost pipefish to hordes of batfish, schools of swirling snapper,  giant cuttlefish and of course the giant Oceanic Manta ray and Whale Shark.

 Even three dives on the rock won’t be enough: you’ll be planning your next trip on the way home.

For more information on Similan island trips just talk to Thailand divers on their live chat and they can give you all the latest information.

The Similan liveaboards have several great options from a one night trip to 10 days or more. The choice is yours. The trips can depart everyday from 15th October till mid May so you can fit the trip to your holiday and not your holiday to fit the trip. The 5 day 4 night trips will get you a full round trip. There is a choice of boats from to be honest very nice  boats and accomadation low cost trips to total luxuary. 5* chefs, state rooms and private charter super yachts. When in phuket scuba diving is a must. You will not find a better place for your first ever experience or if its your 10,000th dive. phuket thailand has stunning sights both above and below the water. A chance to go on one of the Similan islands liveaboards is a chance you dont want to miss. 

      

A Typical Day Diving in Phuket

A typical Day in Phuket diving is quite Early starts What Some May Think, Thirty Seven AM. The Phuket dive center will pick you up from your hotel lobby in either an air conditioned mini bus or other style of car or van. Takes the Drive Around 20 - 30 minutes Through the countryside and Other Beach Resorts As You cross the Island of Phuket Thailand .

A great day for diving in Phuket.

Once at the Pier You Find that at First glance it looks like Chaos As there are dozens of Boats and Dive companies, speed Boat Tours and Fishing Boats all over the Place. How Ever it is Really well Organized. As the Bus stops You are met. by the Tour Leader Who has your name and then over to your instructor Hands You Waiting for You Who is there. The Pier in Chalong Quite is a long one so they have several "Pink busses" to take You. to the End where there are Again a Dozen or so Dive Boats tied up. The instructor Waits for everyone to Get Together then Takes You to the Boat. As now we are in Thailand and ITS Rude to Wear shoes in the House they are Boxes to. . Put your shoes in before stepping onto the Boat. Make sure You Put your shoes in the right box or your shoes Will Go to a different Place to You.

Phuket scuba diving is a comfortable day.

The Dive Boats themselves vary in size and comfort. My Boat was nice and big with plenty of space inside if needed and a large shaded area upstairs with tea, coffee, drinking water and chocolate. Here we have a boat briefing by the Tour Leader which. takes about 5 minutes or so. The boat has 3 toilets and showers to rinse off at the End of the Day plus another 2 more showers to rinse off after  the dive on the dive platform at the back of the boat. There are bins of Fresh Water  for cameras. and another one for other equipment. There is a large sun deck on the top deck. While this is going on my instructor is setting up my equipment for me which was a very nice touch.There were many other companies on the boat with us but Thailand Divers was the only Phuket dive center to do this for all their customers.  As the briefing ends my instructor joins our group and guides us round to the front of the boat where there is another set of steps that take us to the front of the cabin where the breakfast is served. By going to the front ment we were at the front of the line while everyone was trying to climb down the back stairs. The breakfast was Great. Eggs, saucages, toast, tomatoes, croissants, fried rice and a chicken rice soup, fruit and fruit juice. Better than many small hotels. Now time for a snooze to let the food go down.

Phuket scuba diving gets you to great locations.

Phuket Thailand has awesome dive sites

About 30 minutes from our first dive site we are awoken by our instructor and told to get a drink before we have our dive briefing. We get a very good briefing telling us not only background to the site, what we will see, what to look out for and what to be aware of. We are given a full safety briefing and what to do if we get separated. Now another drink. Its funny but as the water we are diving in is so warm 29 - 30 degrees we still sweat underwater so we have to be careful not to get dehydrated. Now down to the dive deck to get kitted up. The divers are split into 2 groups to give everyone space when getting ready. We are in group 1. All the gear is already set up on the tanks in a numbered place on the boat. We sit down and put on the BCD at while we do this the boat crew actually help us with our fins and other bits and pieces and then buddy check. We stay seated till the boat arrives and stops. When in the correct position the Captain sounds a horn and we all get up and move to the back of the boat. When the group is all together with our instructor we get in the water. our instructor gets in first and waits at the back of the boat to make sure we are all ok as we get in. Then move away from the boat when all are ready and in a close group the instructor gives us the sign and down we go. . . .

Phuket diving offers some great sights

When diving in Phuket there are several locations that are in easy reach. Today we are diving at Phi Phi and Shark point. The first location is a small island to the south of the main islands. This is a very nice easy dive with huge shoals of yellow snappers everywhere. There is plenty of healthy soft coral, big sea fans and color everywhere. We follow a long ridge covered in coral and life.The instructor leads and points out so much as we go you can tell he dives here several times a week and loves to dive. As we go he checks our air from time to time. By the time we get down one side of the ridge and back up the other its been around 35 minutes.

Diving in Phuket can get exciting.

Now we are on a flat rocky area at only around 5 meters in depth. Our instructor just stops and hangs around. I am a bit confused as we all have plenty of air left. He just stays still looking all round us. Then suddenly points and there are 3 black tip sharks heading straight at us. They pass with in only a couple of meters of us. as we look there are more and more of them. We just hang around there drifting with the sharks and taking photos. What a Great Dive and What an instructor. He Knew exactly where to Find everything and He Knew the sharks Will be there and just waited for them. This Will be a Great Day.

The quality of the food on the Thailand Divers trips is better than you get in many restaurants. Diving in Phuket Thailand is Something Special. Its not just the diving but the boat seem to be competing with the food quality. The chefs on the Boat are better than most hotels and restaurants on the Island. We had a choice of 4 different dishes plus soup and veg. One being a great spag bol.  Lunch was in a setting that can not be beaten. Most people know Maya Bay As "The Beach" the location of the Hollywood movie. This trip so far is worth three times what I paid. After lunch and a suitable time to let another great meal go down we left maya bay and 10 minutes further on we can to a location known as Turtle rock set under the huge cliffs if Phi Phi Ley.

I 

I do not have to say to much about this dive As the name Turtle Rock says it all. Yes turtles and more Black Tip sharks on top of so many other colorful tropical fish and again our instructor managed to point out so much and helped us in positioning ourselves to get great photos with the turtles. After another great 50 minute dive it was back to the boat for an hour and a half ride to Shark Point. Time to top up the tan on the sun deck. Again 20 minutes out a Wake up Call from the instructor for a Dice briefing. This briefing includes How to Get close to the Leopard Shark without spooking it (US spooking it? What About spooking it me?) So we Can Get photos with them. Now I Can not Say How Exciting this is As I know How Great the First. 2 Dives were and this sounds like it Will be better. However we are told this is not a Zoo Wild Nothing is so certain and like all animals Can they be unpredictable. Shark Point is a very Colorful Dive Site. So much coral, big sea fans, anemone's and life.

We got to see Tiger Tail Sea Horses as well as so much more. Rounding one rocky out crop on the sand we came face to face with the Leopard Shark. Its was resting on the sand. We stayed a good distance away then made our way to its front so he can see us so not to spook it. We sat back and watched the instructor. He can in very low to the floor directly in front of the shark, folded his arms and crept forward till he was no more than 2 foot from it and they just looked at each other. Then just back away without flapping arms or stirring up the bottom. We all moved in one at a time and waited for the other person to move off before going in. How amazing to be no more than a couple of feet away from a big shark. We stayed and watched as another group came. This time they saw the shark and all swam straight at it from all sides and above it. The shark took one look and swam away. This other group had not been briefed by the instructor so did not get the experience we did.

When back on the boat we packed the equipment away and had a nice hot shower. The chef had been busy again and there were pancakes with Banana, Mango and with honey or chocolate sauce and fresh fruit. this was eaten up on the Sun Deck where we looked at each others photos (and compared ours to the other group who scared the Leopard Shark Away). Ours were so much better and that was totally down to our instructors in depth briefings and instructing us. How to move to the positions and how to best dive with these creatures. When diving in Phuket there are many different Phuket dive shops some are a few Baht cheaper but the experience will be un comparable. You are in Phuket Thailand and as I have said before the experience was way above what I have had when paying double the price in other places. Phuket Scuba diving is something special. There may be better boats or better dive sites around the world but for the whole trip I can not see how it can be improved. Scuba diving in Phuket is a day you will remember and compare all other dive days too and for such a small price. 4,200 baht for the whole day and wait till you see the photos of the sunset as we came home. Most people can only dream of seeing things like this. Warning diving Phuket is addictive.

Scuba Diving in Phuket Thailand

Phuket Thailand is one of the better places to go if you are looking to do some great scuba diving when you are on holiday.  In Thailand phuket has plenty of things to do both on and off the water but many people each year come just for the diving phuket has to offer.

There are great places to go for a day trip.  Those that have been to Phuket diving before will know the great islands of Racha Noi and Racha Yai which lie to the south of Phuket. Both islands can be visited in one day with ease one after the other. Both have calm sheltered white sandy bays with plenty of hard coral reef in very shallow water making it available to all. Both islands again have great diving on both east and west coasts which means which ever time of you you come then there are well protected bays to dive all year round. There are also a couple of wrecks that have been put down around the island of Racha Yai for scuba divers to explore. These plus giant elephants in Siam bay plus a motorbike and statues of Thai knights make for some great photos too.

The Racha Islands are known for good diving in Phuket all year round with plenty of Barracuda, khule's sting ray, Parrot fish, cuttle fish, Octopus, Marble ray, eagle ray and on many time the Manta Ray too. There also can be turtles, Leopard sharks plus a large amount of reef fish too.

Then for those who have never been diving in Thailand before there are the Phi Phi Islands. This was the setting for the hollywood movie "The Beach" Here we can find great wall dives on the island of Phi Phi Ley. This is where we find maya bay which is home to the beach. But for diving the better locations are on the walls outside. Here on turtle wall we find...yes you have guessed it Hawksbill turtles.  Then on the other main wall we find Black Tip reef sharks. Both of these are great dives as its not everyday that you can find both on the same location. Then on Bida Nok there are plenty of soft corals, big sea fans and huge schools of reef fish. Here again on the north side we can often find more black tips in the shallows.

For the more experienced diver there is the wreck of the King Cruiser ferry.  This day is really for the more experienced person scuba diving Phuket. This sunk in 1997 after hitting a reef (Anemone Reef)  about half way between phi Phi and Phuket. The ferry is 90 meters long, 30 meters wide and now is about 15 meters tall. It sits in around 32 meters depth at the deepest point and is around 17 at the shallowest. Here we find huge schools of glass fish then large numbers of small Barracuda. Then feeding on them are the travelly and even tuna. Then from time to time on the safety stop you get to see the largest fish in the ocean the Whale shark.

Close by to King Cruiser we have Shark point and Anemone reef. Both very colourful with stunning soft corals, huge sea fans and a huge variety of fish. This is a macro photographers dream. Here we have so much to see from Ghost pipe fish, sea horses and leopard sharks are here virtually all year round. There is also the chance for the whale shark to pass over head here too.

Then we have Koh Doc Mai or flower island. This is a great all that just rises from 20 meters below the surface to may be 80 meters straight up. Many people that come to phuket diving, this is what they want. Its an easy dive as you just drop in at one end or the other. and drift along the wall slowly ascending as you go. Here there are many things to see in the cracks in the wall, there are a couple of small caves here too. This is also a good place for the very shy Bamboo shark or again very shy Jans pipe fish.

To join any trip just go into a GOOD dive shop phuket has many but try to find one that well established and will offer plenty of options. A good shop will have options for people to learn to dive in Phuket alongside those already certified so as you can all enjoy the day together in the same location and on the same boat. If people in your group have never been diving before then to do Discover Scuba Diving Phuket as there is no where better. People with a thousand dives can have a great day alongside some one who has never been in the water before.  When it comes to great diving then Phuket Thailand really is in a class of its own.