Thailand | Jan 4 2023 |
A highlight of my extended stay in Koh Chang ("Elephant Island"in Thai), was 3 dives with Koh Chang Divers. While all sites were good, the best was the wreck dive at the HTMS Chang, the former USS Lincoln County, a WW2 Liberty Ship with an extensive combat history. It was scuttled in 2012 to create an artificial reef, which has materialized very well, full of fish and coral. Down in Davey Jones' Locker, the Chang's flag "blowing" with the current was a very cool sight to behold.
After the 3rd dive, end of the day, those of us on the boat experienced something special, when we saw a large fin sloshing around beside the boat: a whale shark. My rapid response was to jump right in, and swim with it, which I did for about 10 minutes. Apparently, it was a juvenile (though huge), and it seemed to have some kind of attraction to the boat. The beast was totally fearless and indifferent to humans being close by (maybe a bit too close in my case). Turned out the shark visited multiple dive boats that day, as reported in the local and even national online media. Apparently, Whale Shark sightings in Koh Chang are rare.
Koh Divers Divers are reputable, it was a great day out, and I'd go with them again in future. The price is pretty high at B4,000 for a 3-dive trip, but that seems to be the going rate in Thailand, with rental gear, out on the boat all day (unlike Tioman, for example, where you come back after 1 or 2 dives, then out again).
Comments