Wow, I just found the website for Jules Underwater Lodge and is that a special Hotel or what?
Jules Underwater Lodge is a authentic underwater research habitat made into a small Underwater Lodge/hotel.
I find it pretty cool and would definately check it out when I’m close to Key Lago!
One of the interesting things about Koh Chang is the fact that there is sometimes Whale Sharks around…. and I would really really like to be diving with a Whale Shark, this huge but harmless shark… not a ‘man-eater’, but a filter feeder…
The dive centre BB Divers reports that the Whale Shark has been spotted at the dive site called Hin Raab South (the locals call it Hin Laab) 5 km south of Koh Chang, which is a unterwater rock – I will definately have a dive or 2 at Hin Raab South!
And if you’re not sure what a Whale Shark looks like then check this YouTube clip of a Whale Shark in the waters around Koh Chang – its incredible.
Hin Rang Yai
And it seems like Hin Rang Yai should also be included – I found this text about it:
A great place for pelagic spotting is Hin Rang Yai, a set of pinnacles starting just below the surface and descending to 27m on the west side features mainly rocks with overhangs and boulders. For instance leopard and whale sharks along with black blotched stingrays provide fairly regular encounters. At 14m on the south side of this spot is a soft coral garden with resident triggerfish, sweetlips and potato grouper. There are numerous examples of both hard and soft corals in the area, and the marine life is both plentiful and diverse. Blue-spotted stingrays as well as hungry reef sharks and turtles are all also seen along the reefs.
Just got a new idea for my March 2o08 vacation – why not go back to Mexico where I was shortly together with Benjamin back in the summer 2000 on our trip to Belize and a bit Tical in Guatemala…
Anyway I now considering Playa del Carmen and Cozumel instead of Sharm el Sheikh.
Around Playa del Carmen diving Cenote’s should be really big (diving underground lakes) and the island Cozumel should have access to some of the best reef diving it the world.
And then I could of course combine it with a trip to the beautiful Maya city Chichén Itzá with the big Mayan pyramids.
After a comment from Gunther it seems like we ‘must’ include The Similan Islands in our plans, not that I havent heard many times before that The Similan Islands is a Must dive… but August is not really the time to dive Similan..
Anyway after Gunthers recommendation I have been looking around a bit and August is certainly not the best time for Similans and in fact its a difficult time to even find a liveaboard schedule including The Similan Islands in August…
But it seems like we (my friend Benjamin and I) will in fact be able to book a liveaboard out of Khao Lak to the Similan, where Benjamin can make his Advance Open Water, so he’ll be ready for some wreck diving around Pattaya – Hardeep ect..
Yesterday Chris was so nice to remember me (in a comment) that Thailand also could be wreck diving. Chris told me that the wreck Hardeep (Thai original name Suthathip) around Pattaya was one of the best and with a quick Googleling (damn, they won’t like me for writing that.. ) I also came across the wreck of The Petchburi Bremen, HTMS Khram and Vertical Wreck (Pak 1), so there should be enough for a stop around Pattaya…..
Hardeep (Suthathip) were a Thai Cargo ship bombed by a French Aircraft during World War II – So in fact a ship sunked in an act of war, which I personally find more interesting that a wreck sunk for the sake of marine life or diving ect… The wreck is at around 26 meters, which also makes it a dive without the need for Nitrox.. maybe I should take my Nitrox course now?
HTMS Khram (a former US warship USS LSM-469) is a decommissioned warship, which where ‘dumped’ near Koh Phi and Koh Larn islands close to Pattaya to turn it into a breeding ground for marine life. The HTMS Khram wreck is lying on the side rather flat in a depth between 15 to 3o meters – could be interesting…
The Vertical Wreck (Pak 1) is unfortunately not a wreck positoned vertical in the water anymore, which was the most interesting factor (as fare as I have read) and what made a lot of divers come around to dive it – The Thai autorities decided in the beginning of 2002 that the wreck drifting around was a hazard to the all other ships in the area, so at 6th of March 2002 the Royal Thai Navy sank the ship making it a more ‘normal’ wreck even though a dept of 42 meter makes it a rather deep dive… I’m not sure we’ll chose the Vertical Wreck (Pak 1) for a dive…
The Petchburi Bremen is an 88 meter long Thai cargo ship – back from December 1920, where she went down with her cargo of rice. The Petchbury Bremen is at the dept of 15-22 meters of water.. also very interesting…
It really seems like the Pattaya areas should be on our list – I have in fact never been (stoped) there before, but just ‘raced’ by on my way to Koh Samet and Koh Chang, but with these nice wrecks it seems like 2-3 days could be interesting…
