Technical diving in Thailand
This article is written by Ben Reymenants. If you would like to read more about him CLICK HERE.
Technical diving or the extreme branch of scuba diving is often associated with deep drops and pristine walls, offering easy access for mixed gas divers to greater depths.
Wrecks looming in the twilight zone or caves with gin clear waters are the common ingredients to create a ‘technical diving hotspot; Easy access to an extreme diving environment.
Why is Thailand such in high demand for technical diving? The average depth of the seas in Thailand lies between 60 and 150 feet, not exactly extreme depths.
Most technical diving destinations have only one specificity; cave systems, OR wrecks OR pristine blue walls.
Technical diving Thailand offers a flavour of all of the above; Similan Islands present crystal clear waters to depths well in excess of 200feet. Koh Racha Noi and Hin Daen/ Hin Muang make part of the same deep granite shelf that fringes the Andaman Sea.
There’s wrecks scattered throughout Thailand; from recent sinking’s to world ward II wrecks, up to Ming Dynasty Chinese Junks in the Gulf of Thailand.
Cave systems are widely spread around the country. The karst fault line running from Singapore all the way up to Laos, has made the underground into a gruyere cheese, forming caves deeper than any other in South east Asia. CLICK HERE for our Cave Diving Courses.
But the main attraction should be the nurturing of the technical divers’ hunger for exploration, whilst residing in one of the numerous luxury hideaway resorts, liveaboards or national parks, surrounded by lush rainforest, pristine beaches, indulging in the famous Thai cuisine.
The wanting technical diver will find it hard to find a place where he/she can combine a hard day of technical diving and relaxing at night with a seafood dinner at the beach, facing a table with 10 different exotic dishes, followed by a massage whilst drinking from a coconut.
The Indiana Joneses’ amongst you can get a real unspoiled feel by staying in one of the flooded valleys, swimming through submerged rainforest, hunting for caves, sleeping on bamboo floating huts, surrounded by wildlife.
Thailand is moving up the ranks quickly, from a 3rd world country to one of the fastest rising nations in Asia. You will find wifi in most spots and 3G cell phone roaming throughout the country. This also makes that logistics to support technical diving have nothing short of western run diving facilities; in the last decade, technical diving centers have popped up left right and center, offering the traveling technical diver all he needs, from rebreather support to Helium, twin sets and of course cave diving logistics.
Even today, new caves are being found and old wrecks discovered. As technology improves, this doesn’t look like exploration in the Kingdom of Thailand will halt anytime soon.
With airlines limiting luggage allowances, the technical diver/traveler has to exercise serious scrutiny on which destination can offer special cylinders for rebreathers, torch rentals for wrecks/caves or simply twinset rental.
Try Thailand…For more information about Thailand CLICK HERE