Koh Chang Diving, Trat, Thailand

Koh Chang and the surrounding islands provide some excellent opportunities for both novice and experienced divers. Visibility can reach up to 30 metres during the best months for diving of October to the end of May.

The reef at Hin Luk Bat in particular has a lot of good coral. However, even if you are snorkeling, you still won't miss out. Around "Bird Island" there are some stunning soft corals with vivid colours and so many small fish that it is like swimming in an aquarium.

Dive Season : October - June
best Months : December - May

Apart from diving, the area around Koh Chang offers everything the demandingtraveler may dream of: National parks, waterfalls, pristine sandy beaches, dense tropical rain forest and the most beautiful sunsets in Thailand

Koh Chang Dive Site

Diving is a wonderful experience in and around the turquoise water of Koh Chang. Dive sites include wreck, coral reefs, rock outcrops and drop-offs. Experts say that visibility can up to and beyond 65 meters on a perfect calm day. Most sites are normally accessed by dive boat leaving from all major beach areas as well as from the best dive hop=off point of Bang bao. Boat time to the sites depends on your destination but around 60-90 minutes.

The Thonburi was sunk by the French in 1941 in shallow waters close to the southeastern tip of Koh Chang. The wreck now serves as an artificial reef. The largest wreck off Koh Chang, although other, much smaller wrecks can be found.

Hin Luk Bat is a very large rock pinnacle located 30 minutes boat journey south of Bangbao pier on Koh Chang. Due to it's convenient location, it is also one of the more popular dive sites, lower fuel costs to get people here. The pinnacle drops down to over 20 meters and an hour can easily be spent underwater circumnavigating the pinnacle at differing depths. You are almost certain to encounter large schools of fish, these range from larger barracuda and grouper to butterfly and angel fish.

This site is a couple of kilometres further south of Hin Luk Bat. Another rock pinnacle where staghorn corals and an abundance of smaller reef fish are the main attractions. This isn't an area for deep water diving as the southern side drops to a maximum of 16 meters.

Immediately east of Koh Klum, this site takes about 1 hours to reach. The reef consists of mainly hard corals with some soft corals along the deeper part. If you are lucky, you may get to see a leopard shark or rayon the sandy bottom.

About 1 and a half hours by boat, this site is for more experienced divers. The gently sloping hard coral reef has gardens of stag horns from 3 to 5 metres. The are scores of colourful reef fish and often sandy bottom rays.

This multi level site, about 2 hours away from Koh Chang, is a highlight for divers as the pinnacles create a healthy environment where sharks and rays are more common and small fish abundant. There is a good shelf of coral on the deeper pinnacle at about 15 metres.

The shallow waters here are an excellent place for snorkeling, with beautiful coloured corals to see and many different types of tropical fish.

This is a great shallow dive - the sea floor lies under less than 10 meters of water around the island. A great variety of corals are found here as are many colorful anemones, and the clownfish that lurk within them. Stingrays and moray eels can be found hiding under rocks and in cavities.

A small island off the north east coast of Koh Rang. Although the coral reef isn't as good as it once was due to this locations popularity with snorkelers as well as divers - you can still enjoy some great underwater scenery and are guaranteed plenty of opportunities for underwater photography in the shallow waters surrounding the island.

These two rock pinnacles drop down to almost 30 meters making this one of the deepest dives in the area. Turtles are relatively common here and even reef sharks are occasionally seen. However, rather than keeping an eye out for rare creatures, divers should simply enjoy the wide variety of both hard and soft corals and profusion of marine life.

Snorkeling

Snorkeling is the main activity for Koh Chang's travelers. It is suitable for swimmer and non-swimmer. Snorkeling tour is easily to book on Koh Chang with the wide choice of destinations and packages.

Just contact at your resort counter where can offer you the tour. Or else, for more choice, you may go to diving & snorkeling agencies that can be found along the road and centered at Bangbao village and shopping plaza. Choose your destinations that differ with the length of journey, the beauty of the sites. Then choose your type of boat -- a fishing boat which you can experience the real time on the sea but take double time length; or a speedboat which is fast but more expensive.

The trip could be half-day or full-day upon your destination and type of your boat. A trip can go to only one island or several islands. Normally you have to choose a set package because a customized trip is much more expensive.