Category Archives: Diving Locations

by

What is a thermocline?

Scuba diving in Thermocline krabi thailand

During many scuba dives you have properly experienced this, but not sure what exactly it is??

Water forms different layers based on temperature, which can be abrupt in very calm water. You can actually be diving in 29 degrees by the Phi Phi islands here in the Andaman Sea and stick your hand down and feel the difference in temperature to 27 degrees .

Sometimes you can even see this appearing on a distance in clear visibility; it is like a glittering rising from a hot asphalt road, caused by a mix of 2 different temperature layers.

You can find this in both fresh and salt water, lakes, quarries and ponds during summer. It forms due to the summer sun, which heats the surface’s water. Due to the density difference between warm and cold water, the cold water sinks down while the warm water rises. A clear, strong border exists between the two bodies of water with the thermocline in between.

Sometimes it can be very hard to predict whether the visibility will improve or decrease below the thermocline. Actually thermoclines are complex and hard to predict. At different points of the sea several meters apart on the same day, the depth, thickness, and temperature of the thermocline can vary significantly. Not all of the causes and reasons for these variations are known, but they can be caused by winds, currents, and other dynamic forces.

Did you know? You will never find a temperature lower than 3 degrees below a thermocline. Because liquid water is densest at this temperature, and the density begins to decrease again from 0-3 degrees.

scuba diving in Thermocline krabi Thailand

by

Four de-commissioned Thai Navy vessels to be sunk off Krabi

This story was published in The Phuket News last month.

Four de-commissioned Thai Navy vessels to be sunk off Krabi Thailand’s Royal Navy has agreed to hand over four decommissioned vessels for use in a Krabi undersea marine park projected by the provincial office, it was reported Wednesday. The project is aimed at increasing knowledge of undersea life and increasing tourism resources at Koh Phi Phi. Chuan Pukaoluan, appointed chairman of the Governor’s Council of Advisors on Provincial Development, said the Undersea Knowledge Park project originated in the council, which requested the warships in 2010. “Our goal is to conserve and revive the undersea and coastal resources of Krabi,” Chuan said.

“The Navy has now agreed to hand over the ships,” he said, naming the vessels Pra Tong, Kolam, Talibong, and Rawee – all de-commissioned.

“These warships that will be sunk in the undersea marine park are quite important,” he explained, “because, as man-made coral reefs, they will serve as nurseries for conserving immature sea life, protecting them from illegal fishing.”

He also noted the ships will add to Krabi’s tourist attractions and become “an enhanced feature of provincial development.”

He said the vessels will be turned over to Krabi “sometime this month.”

“Presently they are in the cleaning stage,” Sombat said. “I expect in two months they can be towed to Krabi.” He said towing the ships to Krabi would cost “about ten million baht, which is all coming from private sector pockets – it won’t cost the state even one baht.”

Sombat said the project has backing from the Coastal and Marine Resources Department. “One of the ships will be sunk off Phi Phi Lay,” he said, “and three off Koh Yawasam in Tambon Ao Nang of Meuang district, Krabi.”

“I am sure this will be a new choice for tourists in Krabi,” he opined.

Said fellow Council of Advisors member Porthep Siboonreuang: “In addition to becoming a centre for dissemination of knowledge about – and study of – undersea nature, the new park will conserve and revive [the environment in] two places. We expect the resulting increase in tourists wishing to experience the undersea environment will be 5,000 yearly – adding to yearly income by ten million baht.”

It was not reported what facilities, other than the sunken navy vessels, are planned for the park.

Source : Your Krabi / Phuket news

by

Kon-Tiki Thailand and PADI at the Similan Islands

diving thailand management team technical diving

Kon-Tiki Thailand’s Management team caught a chance for follow up on a PADI Business seminar right at the start off the high season. Members of the Krabi, Koh Lanta & Phuket Branch joined forces to meet with the rest of Thailand’s elite to share business ideas and experiences.

The journey started in different parts of Thailand on Friday afternoon, so when the last email was send, a taxi ride to Khao Lak and we could finally meet up with our other friends from PADI. There was a great turn up from both east and west coast, so soon after greeting everyone, the volume of talking reached 100%.

After a short transfer to Khao Lak Scuba Adventures very own liveaboard Manta Queen we enjoyed a delicious dinner and got our program presented with all the members ready to learn even more.

In the night the boat started its long journey to the Similans and it was announced that we would not only be diving at the Similans, but actually going all the way to Richelieu Rock, which made the whole group extremely happy – Yeah Scuba diving at Richelieu Rock!!!! Thank you Stefan and Mr. Oh for being so generous.

Onboard there was opportunity to try twin set diving, side mount diving and Poseidon’s new Rebreather and with a lot of PADI Diving Instructors onboard wanting to try all the new toys, it is just to get in the line.

Next morning we woke up to clear blue skies and an absolutely calm Andaman Sea, what more can one ask for?! With a couple of twin tanks on our backs we started our descent into the blue blue water with excitement to what this dive would bring. All teams made their way around the site several times shooting away with go pro, video and digital cameras. This dive site is literally covered in beautiful soft corals in all the rainbows colors. You will find groups of fusiliers all over the place and many different species of parrotfish, triggerfish and clownfish hiding. With two dives at Richelieu Rock and the boat just parked above us, made it a perfect day. We finished early afternoon, having time to work on the tan between the dives and fill our stomach with the great food served onboard by the helpful Thai crew. Last dive was a Koh Tachai Pinnacle and we made it back for another snack and a sunset presentation from our favorite PADI Regional Managers Mr. Tony Andrews and Tim Hunt.

diving thailand green turtle similan islands

Next morning at Hin Leuang, right by Koh Bon it was back in the water again and all the divers were waiting with excitement to see the Manta Rays, which this dive site is so famous for. It is quite a deep site and covered in yellow tube corals. We could see as far deep down to the bottom and just saw a leopard shark disappearing even deeper. During the dive a couple of curious green turtles passed us closely, so we could get our cover photo.

diving thailand rebreather similan islands

Next dive was to try out the Poseidon Rebreather. After a presentation, which PADI instructor Kevin Black from Kiwi Divers in Phuket gave, we were ready to get under water and try out the new toys! What a feeling! In the beginning there was a strange approach to the buoyancy, but after a few minutes we got the hang of it. The fish came a lot closer and just dancing in front of our cameras. After a half an hour try out, we had to let others give it a go, but definitely something worth doing again. Curious after what else was to find at this dive site, we strapped on the twins again and made our way down to the mooring line to check it out. Furthermore we got to investigate the dive sites of the north Similan Island and night diving in Donald Duck Bay.

diving thailand padi sidemount similan islands

We also got a chance to try sidemount diving. This way of configuring your cylinders keeping them on your side, gives a whole new experience of freedom. Even as this has been a standard for some cave divers for long, it has a lot of benefits for us recreational divers as well, like passing through small swim throughs!

As diving is the best part of Similans, let us not forget the powder-white beaches and the amazing boulders, which they are famous for. As the 3rd evening approached we got the experience one amazing sunset, where the skies were in all different nuances of pink!!!

With 9 dives in the log book, this concluded the PADI Business Seminar follow up 2012 for Kon-Tiki Thailand’s Management team. We would like thank PADI Asia Pacific Tony Andrews and Tim Hunt for arranging the great event, Khao Lak Scuba Adventure for making it happen, Coral Grand, Sairee Cottage, Buddha View, Bans Diving Resort, Planet Scuba, Sail Rock Divers, Sunrise Divers, Triton, Ocean Geo, Kiwi Divers and all others for making it such a successful weekend.

diving thailand sunset similan islands

Malene Jensen

General Manager, Kon-Tiki Krabi

by

Hin Muang at 50 meters – Quest for the purple fire goby

Purple fire goby technical diving thailand kon-tiki koh lanta

Kon-Tiki has finished “Tectober”, now November has come and with this a couple of new technical divers are certified. Besides Jonatan and Christoffer, Mikael Oddershede completed his PADI Tec40 and Tec45 course, where the qualifying dive was made in Song Hong. Apart from making the decompression dive according to plan, we have now managed to map up the various lines leading in to the darkness of the cave done by previous expeditions.

Kai was the last student in October where he over 15 dives qualified as a PADI Tec Deep diver taking the 40, 45 and 50 courses. For the final dives we had the chance to explore the deepest parts of two well-known dive sites.

Hin Daeng & Hin Muang is possibly the deepest reefs in Thailand where you still can find untouched coral down at 50 meters. These underwater mounds are way out from the coast and are usually prone to quite strong currents, this day was no exception. As we enter the water with full gear, we swiftly need to make it to the descent line and continue down. The top layer of plankton and algae is moving swiftly but past 30 meters the world becomes crystal clear and the current ceases.

Down here nitrogen narcosis is very noticeable and needs to be accounted for. Except for clear, warm conditions and “easy” diving like here, we rarely dive deeper than 45 meters on air due to this fact. But with proper training and experience we can let ourselves indulge this new world at the bottom of the sea.

The simple mission of this dive was to get another eye witness to the existence of the purple fire goby. This small but beautiful fish can be found in several places in the world. However here in Thai waters, we have only seen it here, at 50 meters on Hin Muang.

This is only one of the reasons why we go through the challenging courses of technical diving. Would you like to go places and discover parts of reefs few has ever been and seen?

Contact our local techie, Nick

by

The adventure of a Kon-Tiki trainee

Hello my name is Rasmus Lindgren; I’m 17 years old from Sweden. I’m in the second year of high school and through my school, (Tingvalla high school) I got the opportunity to work at the diving center Kon-Tiki in Ao Nang, Thailand for 2 months. I will be writing on this blog during my time here so my family and whoever might be interested or curious about what I do and maybe consider doing the same thing. I hope to inspire you all!Pool divemaster training thailand

After one week of working I’m starting to get the hang of what we are doing. So far I’ve been just checking everything out.

First day, Monday 15/10: I came to the shop and was just so nervous, for no reason. All of the staff are extremely nice and friendly. I got to do some small paperwork and check if we had the right amount of equipment and write everything down. Also make a list of the new staff and every phone number.

Tuesday 16/10: This morning I wake up early, I was going to join the boat, as a babysitter. The kids were 5 and 7 years old, origins from Spain but moved to London. In the beginning they were like kids are, so very shy they couldn’t even speak. But only after about 10 minutes the tried to teach me some card game that I didn’t get the hang of really, but they were happy every time they won. When the guests came up and we headed home, it started to rain and you could see by the horizon that it was raining cats and dogs. The kids fell asleep at the same point the parent sat down beside them.
It was a great day that gave me so much experience, just the feeling that two persons that never seen me before, trust me to look after their kids while they are deep down in the sea.

Wednesday 17/10: The day started off with a long bike ride to Sheraton. It was a fun ride because I had my teacher Dan behind me, and every time I Accelerated, he grabbed my shoulders harder and harder. Poor man. Sheraton is a 5 star resort just by the sea. (If you have seen the movie; the hangover part 2, the check in scene is recorded at Sheraton.) When we got there we opened the shop and made everything ready for the day. Between 10am-11am and 3pm-4pm the hotel guests had a possibility to try scuba diving in the pool. Most children were interested but not so many. Instead of just sitting in the sun, I got to try some skills just for fun. The day was over within a blink and me and Dan tried to figure the way home, but we made it pretty good I Think, although he was frightened the entire trip.Sheraton divemaster training thailand

Thursday 18/10: The morning started off sort of exiting. To get to the Centara hotel you need to walk a monkeytrail over a hill and then down to the hotel area. It was the same routine as at Sheraton. Not much to tell about this day but still it’s fun to help people.

Friday 19/10: Another day at Sheraton, today with just talking English. I don’t mind, I think it’s great to speak English for a whole day because you improve the pronunciation of yours. Today I learned most of the equipment and it’s not as much as I thought it would be. The man I was working with today, Mauro who’s Italian sure knew how to drive.

Saturday 20/10: My first day off from work and I had some plans what I Wanted to do but, after one week working in 30 degrees, you are tired so me and Jessica, (my friend from school) just lied at the beach just relaxing. It was an amazing day, the best since we got here. Lucky us!

Sunday 21/10: Today the day has just started and I’m doing some small jobs in the shop and writing on this blog. We’ll see what else will happen today.

More about me and the work next week, hope that you will follow me and my adventures. Have an awesome day. Bye!