Diving at Koh Chang
For snorkelers and day-trippers, there are stunning smaller islands off the coast of Koh Chang, with a good variety of hard and soft corals and a proliferation of giant clams. Our destination today is “Koh Chang” or the Elephant Island, a well-known for the spectacular coral reefs and plently of beautiful fishes in the gulf of Thailand. Now, let’s get on the boat and explore the beauty of this island!!
It’s seven o’clock in the morning, a shuttle van is waiting for us in front of the hotel. On the way to Bang Bao Pier (– a local fisherman pier -), we stop a few times to pick up some foreigners. Looking around, we notice that most of our companies in this trip are foriegners. A small chat with your companies is always a good start before having an enjoyable trip together. Also we suggest that you should stock you supplies which can be bought at a convenient store near the pier before getting on the boat because our destination is an isolated island with no resident.
There are two diving packages available; a four islands one and a five islands one. We choose four islands so that we can have enough time to absorb the pleasure at each spot and capture a lot of beautiful photos. The price of the package is around 500-700 baht. However, if you prefer a diving trip with insurance, you can buy one from your hotel for 700-900 baht.
Finding a diving package is not as hard as you may think, since the owners of the boat trip will leave their packages information with local restaurants, hotels or tour agencies. We bought our ticket from “Jae Muay Seafood” (a delicious seafood restaurant in economical price), who takes care of everything for us, including arranging a car to pick up us at the hotel.
Our boat departs from the pier around 8 o’clock, taking only 45 minutes to reach our first destination, “Koh Wai”(- a small island with beautiful coral reefs close to Koh Chang-). We are about to reach the island when the tour guide tells us to change and hands out the snorkels. Swiming suit is a good option for those who want to be truely “in” the sea, but you can wear long sleeves shirt and long pants in case you prefer to avoid getting sunburnt.
Traveling to Koh Chang without diving, it simply means that you haven’t reached here yet. Because looking at fishes from the boat is so much different from seeing them swimming around us. With the cool breeze against your face, the perfect sunshine on the crystal-clear water and the tremendous variety of colourful fishes swimming beneath the surface, perfect time to dive!! Just turn your face down to the ocean with your back facing the sky and let your body floating along the tide, you will experience an amazing sensation as if you were in a wonderful dream.
Remember, try to stay close to your friends, since you can easily allured by the beauty of the underwater world and get lost in this wide ocean. Especially, if you are a poor swimmer, don’t forget to inform the crews so that they can take extra care of you.
Getting exhausted from swimming, we all need to charge our energy. The crews provide delicious food with various fresh fruit for dessert. It is known that the Eastern part of Thailand is famous as “The Fruit Town”.
Now it comes a two-hour lunch break on a perfect island. What a nice time to have our legs stretched and relaxed. Highlights of this island are the clean white sand and the four black&white nemo fishes living near the corals. Look like they are living in their own empire as no other fishes are seen around them. However, do not get close to their houses. They can be unfriendly if you come too near as they might think you are trying to attack their families. Therefore, be a good tourist by not disturbing any animal; otherwise, they will escape away and we will miss these little cute friends.
After eating lunch and diving at the next two islands, we head back to Koh Chang, all exhuasted from diving but enjoy the fantastic trip. We recommend that you should take some clothes to change; otherwise, you may get frozen from the cold wind on the boat. Our one day diving trip ends as we arrive at the pier around 5 o’clock in the evening.
With the crystal-clear water and picturesque beaches, we think it is an ideal place for a honeymoon trip or spending a private time with your loved ones. Come experience the breath-taking of the abundant coral reefs, a thousand of colourful fishes and the beautiful sandy beaches. It will definitely be an impressive holiday!!