Tourism Recreation

Miss. Suntaree Leelasuntaloes.

Tourism and Hospitality International College

Water – Based Activities

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is swimming underwater using SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Using a cylinder of compressed gas to breathe (usually air, but sometimes other gases), scuba divers can stay underwater much longer than would be possible by just holding their breath - for hours or even days!

With the assistance of equipment such as scuba masks, breathing regulators, buoyancy devices, fins, and gauges scuba divers can explore the underwater world. Modern scuba diving is very safe and easy to learn.

Similan Islands - Diving the Similans

Mu Koh Similan National Park was established in 1982 and is located along the western coastline of the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean, about 100km northwest of Phuket. The park area covers 140 km², 16 km² of which is land, composed of 9 granite islands created by upwellings of hot magma during the Tertiary-Cretaceous Period some 65 million years ago, then smoothed by glacial ice and the wave action of the sea.

For underwater of marine life, then diving in the Similan Islands is difficult to surpass for the variety and abundance of tropical fish. Leopard sharks make appearances on a regular basis and you'll also see white tip sharks. It's not a 'big fish' paradise, but it's consistently great for sheer diversity of marine life. You may find anything from tiny ghost pipefish to turtles and giant bumphead parrotfish.

How to Dive the Similans

You should do the check once you've donned all of your equipment, with the exception of your mask and fins. It's a good idea to do the check while you're still on the boat or shore, but if you happen to forget you can still do it in the water before descending. There are offer Similan Islands diving opportunities. These operate with daily speedboats from the mainland that run you out to a main diving boat.

Similan Islands Diving Season

Scuba day trips and overnight trips run from October through to May, with the very best conditions existing from November to April. Outside of these months, surface swells can adversely affect conditions. From May to August, the weather is often better in the Gulf of Thailand, The Similan Island season runs from early October to mid May, but there are a limited number of cruises all year round.

No. Package descriptionHigh Season

Nov - Apr  Low Season

May - Oct

THB THB  

1  6 days of scuba diving day trips :15 Dives 639   539  

2  5 days of scuba diving daytrips : 12 Dives 536   446  

3  4 days of scuba day trips : 10 Dives 468   382  

4  3 days of diving daytrips : 7 Dives1 359   284  

5  2 days of dive day tours : 5 Dives 214   197  

6  Similan Overnight Special  2 dive days & 1 night accommodation 7 Dives 378   -  

7  Phi Phi Overnight Special  2 dive days & 1 night accommodation 7 Dives 349   320  

Choice of special discounted scuba diving packages

The collecting of corals or shells is forbidden in the park and there is a 'hands off the coral' policy. These policies are only instigated by the dive industry itself, which is mainly self-regulated and does a better job of educating divers and keeping them off the reef, than in many other areas of Asia. Environmental protection is less than perfect in Thailand, and it's a relatively new concept here. However, the level of protection is ahead of many other South East Asian countries.

A short term management plan suggested that restricted status areas be designated for heavily impacted areas such as southwest of island number 7 and the northern part of island number 8. Other initiatives included repositioning upturned corals, under the supervision of a marine biologist, and reef debris collection. Longer term management plans include the implementation of a coral reef monitoring programme, assessing the marine parks tourist carrying capacity (quota restrictions are often talked about, but remain unimplemented) and public conservation awareness. Environmental Impact Assessment.

Referrance

http://scuba.about.com/od/whatisscubadiving/a/About_Scuba.htm

http://www.divetheworldthailand.com/thailand-scuba-diving-dive-sites-similan-islands.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79L7wsy0NKI&feature=related