Skin-Diving, Scuba-Diving & Deep-Sea Fishing

The warm waters and colourful coral reefs of the Gulf of Thailand challenge and attract underwater explorers.

Curving in a sweeping arc from Trat in the Southeast to the estuary of the Chao Phraya River in the North and thence down the Kra Isthmus to Songkhla in the Southwest, the Gulf coastline is a thousand-mile frontier still awaiting pioneers.

Perhaps the best diving is on Thailand's West coast, from Ranong to Phuket where deep waters, good beaches and all the common fish generally found in the Indian Ocean abound. This area is sometimes tricky and is most difficult during the Southwest Monsoon Season from May to October. Underwater visibility is seldom more than 30 feet.

Thailand's main diving area is located around islands off Pattaya and Sattahip, the latter better known as a naval base where diving is necessarily restricted for strategic reasons.

Good sheltered water is found around the islands at all times of the year.

Spearfishing is fair to good down to a depth of some 50 feet. Thereafter, coral mostly runs out and gives way to a plain, fairly flat, sandy ocean bottom between 60 and 120 feet.The reefs are very colourful and picturesque, and provide fertile fields for snorkeling and photography.

Boats are readily available at Pattaya, and all necessary Scuba gear can be hired. Water temperature is high throughout the year. Wet suits are seldom necessary. They are, however, handy in December and January on the surface when Northeast winds blow.

General underwater visibility throughout the year is seldom less than 20 feet, and seldom more than 30 feet.

Fish most commonly taken are of the Serrinidae (Bass, Grouper, Cod), family which vary from about 2 to 40 pounds with occasional larger specimens.The Carangidae (Trevailies, Queenfish, Kingfish, Albacore, Pamparo) are well represented, with fish up to 4 feet in length. Lupianidae (Snuffers, sea Perches, Breams, Sweetlips, Grunters) are also found. Among Larger fish, Scombridae and Sphyraenae are occasionally taken.

Heaviest diving and other underwater activity occurs off Pattaya. Barely two hours' drive southeast of Bangkok, Pattaya enjoys growing popularity as a resort, featuring water sport facilities and an active sailing club.

Lying sufficiently far from the Chao Phraya's estuary to avoid its silt outflow, Pattaya's nearest islands can be reached from the resort by a half-hour speedboat ride.Island waters afford good year-round visibility, unless marred by infrequent summer storms, an influx of plankton or unusually strong ocean swells.

Other ideal areas for skin and scuba-diving are in Chumphon and Phuket provinces.

Chumphon's coastline stretches for more than 200 kilometers from Amphoe Pathiu in the north to Lamae in the south. There are more than 20 islands, with surrounding Gulf waters offering various attractions. Such islands include Ko Khai, Ko Thalu, Ko Mattra, Ko Raet, Ko Lawa and Ko Ngam.

In Addition, the many islands off Phuket and around Phangnga Bay are also noted for their crystal clear waters and colourful underwater scenery. The Andaman Sea from northern Ko surin all the way down to ko Tarutao is a complexity of diving paradise. Apart from exotic reefs, the inhabitants are stunning, friendly and varied with visibility upto 40 ft and a warm tempurature of 80-85 degrees no wet suit is needed for the usual dive depths of 70 to 80 ft or around 40 metres.

Around the similans, this typical condition compliments the natural wonders in making it one of the most ideal dive sites, with wide sheets of delicate corals flourishing among others - the brain coral, plant, pink seafans and others. Other sights include playful clown fish drating amongst anaemone, multi-coloured feather stars and barrel sponges, puffer fish, parrot fish and the thrumpet fish changing its colours according to the environment.

Mu Ko Phi Phi can be reached either from phuket or Krabi. Dive boats daily converge to this spot that has caves, sea walls and an abundant life including moray eels. Depths reach 30 metres with clear visibility up to around 25 metres.