TECHNICAL DIVE SITES
Chumphon Pinnacle: is one of the best dive sites in the Gulf of Thailand. It lies about 11 km northwest of Koh Tao and is formed by huge granite pinnacles surrounded by a series of smaller ones. It takes about 40 minutes to get there. The anemone covered boulders run in a north-south direction in water ranging from 14 to 46 meters. The Pinnacles are abundant with batfish, trevallies, big shoals of barracudas and snappers. Occasionally this site also attracts larger visitors such as whale sharks and manta rays. To the south of the main pinnacle lies Barracuda Rock, where large shoals of great barracudas aggregate.Great for Tec Deep training dives!
South-West Pinnacle: Another great site for Tec Training dive! Located 13 km southwest of Koh Tao, the site is made up of seven pinnacles at different depths (5 to 38 meters). Like Chumphon Pinnacle, the site is covered with pink sea anemones on the upper levels and rich layers of whip corals and sea fans along the lower edges. Chevron barracudas, giant groupers, leopard sharks, shoals of batfish, snappers can be seen. The pinnacles are full of cracks and ledges, which shelter small reef fish. Infrequent sightings of whale sharks and eagle rays!
Sail Rock: A single rock that protrudes from the water between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan which is visited less frequenly becuase of the hour and a half travel time, but well worth the trip!The most noticeable feature of the dive is "the chimney" - a vertical tunnel in the rock that leads you from 18m to 8m, but the entire site (from the surface to 45m) is full of points of interest. The rock is riddled with small holes which makes a perfect habitat for white eyed and yellow margin moray eels, and the large anemones that cover it are filled with anemone fish and shrimp. Whale sharks can be seen in the winter months here as well, and keep an eye out for other large pelagics. Octopus camouflage themselves so exactly to match the covering of the rock that you may miss them completely. This site again bring perfect condition for deep training dives.
The Unicorn: The Unicorn Wreck is a 55 meter Japanese refrigerated cargo vessel sitting nearly upright only 30 minutes north of Koh Tao. The top of the bow is at 37 meters, maximum depth 50 metres. Perfect for experienced recreational divers, technical diver training or a tec day trip. The Unicorn arrived at Koh Tao in 1989, anchored for a few days and then suddenly sunk. An insurance claim for canned tuna was made, but when a team of divers dived the wreck they found animal feed. We called her the Unicorn for years but recently discovered some medical items marked Hishi-Daiya Maru. If you're signing up for wreck specialty we'll be dropping by to say hello to her regardless of her name.
The HTMS Pangan: The co-ordinates for this wreck came up in quite few fisherman's records, and the wreck had a couple of different nicknames too. This wreck is about 60 nautical miles from Koh Tao, an easy 6 hour run. She lies on her port side in 60 metres of clear water, the top of the wreck is at 48m. Length is about 60m, beam 10m, weight approx 3000 tons. This wreck is very well appointed, twin screws, lots of portholes, telegraphs and deck machinery. Relatively close to Koh Tao, and great for finishing off technical diving course. Finally, after noticing that Thai Naval vessels have their name in brass on the stern, we found the Thai letters Pangan . A 1961 edition of the Bangkok Post told us she was a Royal Thai Navy wreck , built in Japan before WW2. Carrying ammunition and gunpowder for disposal, she reportedly sunk in a storm . Fire damage on the superstructure indicates a fire, however. There was no loss of life.
