Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
DIVING & SNORKELLING
The dive sites near Ko Chang offer a variety of coral, fish and beginner-friendly shallow waters on par with oth-
er Gulf of Thailand dive sites.
The seamounts off the southern tip of the island within the Mu Ko Chang National Marine Park are reached
within a 30-minute cruise. Popular spots include
Hin Luk Bat
and
Hin Rap
, rocky, coral-encrusted seamounts
with depths of around 18m to 20m. These are havens for schooling fish and some turtles.
By far the most pristine diving in the area is around
Ko Rang
(boat from Ko Chang), an uninhabited island
protected from fishing by its marine park status. Visibility here is much better than near Ko Chang and averages
between 10m and 20m. Everyone's favourite dive is
Hin Gadeng
, spectacular rock pinnacles with coral visible
to around 28m. On the eastern side of Ko Rang,
Hin Kuak Maa
(also known as Three Finger Reef) is another
top dive spot and is home to a coral-encrusted wall sloping from 2m to 14m and attracting swarms of marine
life.
Ko Yak
,
Ko Tong Lang
and
Ko Laun
are shallow dives perfect for both beginners and advanced divers.
These small rocky islands can be circumnavigated and have lots of coral, schooling fish, puffer fish, morays,
barracuda, rays and the occasional turtle.
About 7km offshore from Ban Bang Bao (
Click here
) there's a popular dive to the wreck of the
HTMS
Chang
, a 100m-long former Thai naval vessel which was purposely sunk in 2012 to form an artifical reef and
now sits 30m beneath the surface.
Reef-fringed
Ko Wai
features a good variety of colourful hard and soft corals and is great for snorkelling. It is
a popular day-tripping island but has simple overnight accommodation for more alone time with the reef.
The snorkelling on
Ko Mak
is not as good as elsewhere, but the island offers some decent dives even if the
reefs don't see as many fish.
One-day diving trips typically start at 2500B. PADI Open Water certification costs 14,500B per person. Many
dive shops remain open during the rainy season (June to September) but visibility and sea conditions are gener-
ally poor. The following are recommended dive operators:
»
BB Divers
( 0 3955 8040;
www.bbdivers.com
)
Based at Bang Bao with branches in Lonely Beach,
Khlong Prao and Hat Sai Khao, as well as outposts on Ko Kut and Ko Wai (high season only).
»
Lonely Beach Divers
( 08 0619 0704;
www.lonelybeachdivers.com
) Operating out of Lonely Beach, this
place offers multilingual instructors.
»
Paradise Divers
(
08 7144 5945) Branches on Ko Mak and Ko Kut.
Activities
Kayaking
Ko Chang cuts an impressive and heroic profile when viewed from the sea aboard a
kayak. The water is generally calm and offshore islands provide a paddling destination
that is closer than the horizon. Most hotels rent open-top kayaks (from 300B per day) that
are convenient for near-shore outings and noncommittal kayakers.
KayakChang
KAYAKING
