Since the beginning of Covid-19, we’ve definitely had fewer students on our boats, but that means that we’ve been able to start doing some out-of-the-ordinary multi-day Koh Tao dive trips. Our latest is a visit to world-famous Ang Thong Marine Park for some awesome diving and a campout under the stars. The trip will include 5 dives, one night on Koh Wua Talap island, a barbeque, some ice cold beers, and a tent to set up on the beach.
Made famous as the location for Alex Garland’s classic book, ‘The Beach’, the Angthong Marine Park is an incredibly beautiful part of the Gulf of Thailand. It means ‘golden bowl’ in the Thai language and it consists of 41 mostly uninhabited limestone islands covered in thick jungle and littered with pristine beaches.
On the way out to Ang Thong, we’ll break up the journey with a dive Samran Pinnacle, a beautiful dive site hidden between Koh Tao and Sail Rock. The site is a large pinnacle that starts at roughly 9m depth and drops all the way down to 28m. You can even go slightly deeper if you follow the other rock pattern along the bottom and you’re a techie that likes that kind of thing. Around the pinnacle, you can spot schools of barracudas, fusiliers and trevallies. Encounters with whale sharks are also possible. Note that because of the depth of the pinnacle and exposure of the site to strong currents and quick environmental changes, only advanced divers can dive at Samran Pinnacle.
We’re planning on hitting 3 beautiful dive sites within Ang Thong marine park: Koh Wao Bay, Hin Yippon, Koh Yippon, and one dive at a mystery site that we’ll choose on the boat!
Koh Wao Bay is a lovely, shallow dive site offering perfect training conditions and really long dive opportunities. This dive site is home to beautiful anemone gardens that stretch as far as the eye can see. Koh Wao is a classic example of a well-balanced dive site and has something to offer for every level of diver.
Hin Yippon is mainly known for its 2 shallow swim-throughs. However, this dive site also has an impressive number of marine animals. Schools of fusiliers and barracudas, banded sea snakes, white-eyed moray eels, nudibranchs, reef cuttlefish and much more are tucked around the dive site just waiting to be found.
Koh Yippon is a huge island for diving. You can do many dives there without having to dive the same spot twice. It offers a great diversity of fish and corals, beautiful Gorgonian sea fans, blue-spotted stingrays and the occasional resident turtle. Koh Yippon offer some swim-throughs as well which makes the dive even more exciting!
We will also have a 5th dive but are planning on a drop dive somewhere on the northern part of Ang Thong’s many islands. We’re going to keep that dive site a secret for now to keep the excitement levels high.
We booked a couple of dorm chalets and tents for the overnight at Koh Wua Talap so that people won’t have to sleep on the boat. It’s a beautiful island with a great scenic viewpoint to go check out before the sun goes down. With the lapping the beach just meters from our bunks, we’re optimistic for a good show of bioluminescence once it’s really dark. The area is famous for its bioluminescence. A nice barbecue and a beer on the beach under the stars will be just what every diver needs to end a good diving day.
It’s going to be a great trip but there is only limited space available. We will be heading out on October 12, 2020, around 8 am, and will be returning the following day, October 13, around 5 pm. Koh Tao dive trips can often be quite similar – but not this one! This is a super special trip and we’re only charging 5000Bt per person. For that price, you’ll get all your dives, your food and your accommodation. We imagine this is going to sell pretty quickly get in touch quickly to book your space.
