Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Diving in Koh Samui - Thailand

     Koh Samui is the 3rd biggest island in Thailand island, littered with coconut trees, forests and rough rocks of granite inching into the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Siam. Samui is 21km long and 25km wide.
      Today Koh Samui is a favored spot for divers searching for advanced western amenities in the Gulf than what is found on Koh Tao, the primary diving place in this region.
5 Star hotels and luxury villa accommodation is easily available all over the island. 4 international hospitals and golf course are also found along with lots of Spa cures from conventional Thai massages to curing fast and hot stone remedies. Many hotels hire international renowned chefs and the choice of international dishes is vast as well as tasty.    All leading fast food chains are available here.
     Diving in Samui is varied; basically boat diving and nearly possible all year round. The time taken to reach the dive sites lies between 45 mins (Speedboat to Sail Rock) to 3.5 hrs (slower displacement boats/tour boat) according to the destination and boat type, whether speed or tour boat.
     Depths lie between low reefs between 10-18m to deeper Pinnacles 40m deep. But majority of the dives are not conducted deeper than 30m and depending on diver's experience.
     The majority of dive trips offer two or three dives which are more or less daytrips based on to the destination and travel time.
     One of the undoubtedly most famous dive sites in the Koh Samui Archipelago is SAIL ROCK, situated 45 kms to the north of Samui, in the middle of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. This rock summit has an ice-berg shape that comes up from 40m to 15 m over the surface of the ocean. Sail Rock has big trails of pelagic's precipitous walls, rock arrangement enveloped by corals and a stunning "chimney", a swim through situated towards its northwest. The chimney begins from 18m down and ends at 6m where the natural light entering from above makes it a stunning sight to see. Once you come out on the top, you are enveloped by exotic stretches of vibrant anemones, filled with colorful anemone fish. At 12m, there is a hole that takes you to -"The window", another exit from the chimney into the ocean.
     Besides the large trails pf fishes that are seen throughout the year, you are likely to see whale sharks or manta rays crossing your path during their feed in season. There are lots of hotels in Samui, but Park Samui Hotel is the best.

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