In my last blog post I was looking for help in identifying a fish, squid or octopus thats I took some photos of while diving outside Koh Chang….. in fact I also used my Twitter and Facebook account to ask around… and I got lots of ideas…
But it was Wim from Divingscool on Koh Chang that told me it was a Cuttlefish – thanx Wim!
Cuttlefish outside Koh Chang
Koh Chang isn’t really famous for diving or snorkeling and it is certainly possible to find better place in Thailand for that, but but Koh Chang is just such a charming island without too much of the fuss and noise you’ll find at the bigger tourist destinations in Thailand – not said that Koh Chang doesn’t have closed resorts (to make sure the turist doesn’t get to close to the Thais… 😉 ), a couple of girlybars and a couple of clubs, but it’s really nothing like Phuket, Koh Samui or Pattaya – not at all.
But Koh Chang does offer diving and it’s in fact nice – not too crowded..
When I was at Koh Chang with my Girlfriend back in March 2008 we started out with a bit of snorkeling around an island just off the west coast of Koh Chang – I think it was Ko Su Wan or Ko Rom, just a 20 minutes trip with the speedboat…
There we’re lot of fishes and life on our small snorkeling-trip
A Parrotfish eating
Hard and soft Corals
Lot’s of fishes around soft Coral and a Barrel Coral
As you can see Koh Chang is in fact a nice place to snorkel and combined with Koh Chang being so charming I can only recommend going there…
One of the great things about being a diver is that you always meet some fellow divers who are open and friendly – and suddenly you are full of new ideas for the next dive.
Back in March 2007 in Thailand I barely got of the ferry from the mainland to Koh Chang before I was talking with an English diving instructor called Matt. Matt told me that the next 2 days on Koh Chang was dedicated to the 3rd Underwater Cleanup – a project sponsored by the Thai Government and arranged by Project A.W.A.R.E – in brief a Underwater Cleanup is a 2 days cleaning the beaches and underwater event by the local Dive centres, their staff and some invited guests and thats where I come in – Matt suggested that I should join in, which I found a great idea! Matt told me first to contact Don the owner of the local dive centre White Sand Dive Centre, where I was planning to stay around… Matt was going further down south Koh Chang, but I was of course also welcome to do the Underwater Cleanup with the dive centre Dive Point that he was working for…
Anyway I rushed to the White Sand Dive Centre where I meet Don for the first time – what a great guy! Don did managed to include me in the Underwater Cleanup on his boat and furthermore Don was really helpfull in finding a place to stay for the next couple of days! If you’re staying and diving at Wind Sand Beach on Koh Chang there’s only one Dive operation to dive with, if you ask me…
Participating in an Underwater Cleanup was certainly something different – no time to look at fishes and corals, but a lot of hard work cleaning after the fishermen who unfortunately dump such a lot of shit…
The Underwater Cleanup started early in the morning and ended with me getting tired home around 20.30.
After a cermony we went to the first dive site, which wasnt really a dive site, but rather a place where Thai fishermen dump all their shit… nets, hoses, bottles, tires ect.. there we a such LOT of junk, and we quickly got our bags filled up… I went up and down 5 times on that dive…
The next one was regular dive site and we did find some trash there, but fortunately its was in small amounts.
We found on the sites everything from whole tired to a toilet and on the first day the 16-18 particioating dive centres, their staff and guests did in fact gather (and remove) 5 ton of trash from the sea – I’m sure they got just as much home the next day, too…
The 3rd Underwater Cleanup at Koh Chang was started by a small cermony
And then time for a team photo before we went out – t’s Don with the shades in the middle, first dive since his surgery!
Can you find me?
And the it was time for the briefing before the first dive
My dive buddy on one of the dives – check out his bag… we went up and down with sooo much shit from down there
And of course a picture of me in the nice blue water
So next time your in an area with a Underwater Cleanup I can only recommend you to join it and I wil for sure join any Underwater Cleanup I will be close to… just say when!
So soon – Cant wait to arrive and start diving. And enjoy the beach, sun and seafood, just love it!
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.
Its now for sure – my vacation in March will not be Sharm el Sheikh or Playa del Carmen, but the beautiful island Koh Chang in Thailand close to the Cambodian border. Koh Chang is not that known for its diving, but its certainly not a bad choice either – I was taking a couple of dives there April last year. In fact I was participation in the 3rd Under Water Cleanup which was great to join!
This time I’m not planning to join any Under Water Cleanup (but I wasnt planning for that last year either..), but more to get some fun dives around Koh Chang and see what it has to offer…. and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna do the diving with Don from White Sand Dive Centre – he’s a great guy with a cool crew!
And checking out the Elefants and maybe the dolhins outside Trat on the mainland.
Anybody got some good suggestions for diving around Koh Chang?
