DIVESITES : KOH LIPE, TARUTAO NATIONAL PARK, THAILAND
Where to start ? Koh Lipe has so many beautiful dives for such a small part of the Andaman.
Here are just a sample:-
Chalalai Mooring
Our most easily accessed dive and a great one. Either walk straight off Pattaya beach giant stride from the back of Chalalai. A dive perfect for the first time or experienced diver. Numerous coral formations to around 14-16m with a coral rubble fringe home to lots of nudibranch. A massive amount of fish life and the usual reef characters. We dive this one a lot and are never disappointed. Usually a school of batfish near the mooring line, lobster, lionfish, scorpionfish and a bit further out blacktips. As our house reef we know where everybody lives and when they are going to be at home.
Chabang 1
Photographers just love this one. A pinnacle from about 16m to 3m at a low tide. Our clients want to go back to this one time and time again. Everything is here, soft corals abound and the place is home to numerous moray eel species. We generally spiral up this one sometimes sidetracking to a nearby trench where pelagics flash past. Spend some time at a cleaning station, you never know who’ll show up. We can never get people out of the water here, we don't like to leave either, so our safety stops can be very long here.
Honey Island
Sweet as. Great diving here, descend over sand and hard reef then following the contour of the island alongside which there is a deep channel. Lots of cowries here an time spent watching these fascinating molluscs is well worth it. Some interesting crevices to explore and bizarre looking coral and rock formations. A nice gentle dive near to some of the finest beaches you will ever see. A beautiful place above and below the water.
8 Mile Rock
One of Thailand's lesser known sites but world class diving. Everybody wants to go here but sea conditions mean that it is not always possible. However with our faster boat we are able to access this site more frequently than others and in considerably more comfort. Only the hard core would want to spend their surface interval on a longtail here. As the name suggests some 8 miles from land a pinnacle rising from in excess of 40m to 16m below surface. Knowing how and when to dive this site is crucial . Our experience with this site means we normally sight Mantas and virtually always leopard sharks. This is a dive for the more experienced diver and we like our divers to be PADI Advanced or higher or taking the same. Unless you are very experienced we insist on seeing you in the water prior to this dive. This site ranks with Hin Daeng and Hin Muang but with virtually zero chance of seeing other divers.
Adang North Point
Huge boulders at the NW tip of the island give an indication of what lies below. Dive to around 20m and start exploring. Don’t forget to look out into the blue from time as we often see a school of Eagle Rays here. Your DM will be looking out for them (and you) You’ll see a lot of trevally, snapper in the blue as well as huge pufferfish, porcupinefish and moray on the reef. Here you’ll find both hard and soft coarls and enormous gorgonians so something for the critter lovers too.
Koh Lancha
There are several ways to dive this island but conditions permitting entry at the SW corner and a look around for fish traps makes for a nice start. Stay around the edge of the boulders looking for barracuda hunting above. There are usually large shoals of bait fish here. At the same time checking for rays. Turn the corner and and plateau of rocks abuts a low wall. Great for poking around for nurse shark and the occassional blacktip. Then some sand for rays and finally a shallow hard coral garden for a long swimming safety stop.
Koh Sawang
Just great diving. A short distance from here depths reach 60-70m so there is always the chance of something big showing up looking for a snack. A steeply sided island with a few nearby pinnacles to explore. Lots of soft coral on a background of black rock make a dramatic underwater seascape. Tour around them for a while just taking in the scenery then ascend a little and start checking out the shallower rocky reef. We always find something interesting at this site and the visibility is usually superb.
Fish Factory Wreck
A case of poetic justice. This fish processing ship, MV Yong Hua sank around ten years ago. Now it lies just off the coast of Lipe at around 40m and is beginning to take shape as a reef. Fish have been resident for a long time and corals are beginning to establish themselves. The starboard side is uppermost and at around 35m. This is dive for the experienced, those taking our wreck diving speciality or advanced course. It requires a bit of thought and planning but is well worth the extra effort. DMs will place stage bottles then you descend the buoy line and ...see for yourself. An intact wreck giving you a great insight to the formation of reef. A short dive due to decompression limits but the ascent and descent through the resident barracuda school are great in themselveds. Techies can dive this one for a longer period and we can make the necessary arrangements.
Adang Super Highway
When the currents rock along this stretch they really can move. Normally we do this dive at slack tide but for those that want to be underwater super(wo)man it can be arranged. This really is drift diving. 3km can be covered in just over an hour. We will give you a comprehensive brief on how to handle yourself and we are always watching you. Drop in and let the current glide you past reef and boulders. We do this kind of diving at a sensible shallower depths and the experience is like being on an underwater rollercoaster as you sail over chasms and canyons in the rocks. Duck into bays for a look around and off again The only problem we ever have with this one is that as soon as people get on the chase boat they want to do it all over again. Sorry but we have to insist on a sensible surface interval.
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