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WRECK DIVING...! We are fortunate to have some very diveable wrecks in the Pattaya area that are easily accessible.
Pattaya/Samae San:
Pattaya is the base for the best wreck diving in Thailand. In fact, with the exception of Phuket we have the the only wreck diving in Thailand. These include the "HARDEEP", the "BREMEN", the KHRAM, and a selection of other, more rarely dived wrecks. These are also good training sites for your Deep and Wreck Specialty courses. |
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DIVING the HTMS KHRAM:
This is the most popular wreck dive in Pattaya. Depth to the top of the wreck is 15 meters; Depth to the sea bed=30m; Visibility 5-15m. |
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| This ship has been well prepared by the Thai Navy as a dive site, and is free from armaments, oil and most hazards to divers. Large holes have been cut in many areas and penetration dives through the ships passageways rarely takes the diver out of natural light. |
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The Bridge/Radio room: This is the highest area of the wreck. It is possible to stand on the bridge at 15m depth. All the glass has been taken out (sadly the portholes have gone too, sigh!), telegraph, steering mechanism, and any bits that may be used as spare parts are gone. Entry into the bridge area is simple and safe. A few new divers will probably have their certification cards presented to them in this room.
Deck Area and side passageways: The ship was made for carrying tanks, troops and equipment to a beach head, so the center of the boat is a large flat area with built up sides. There are several points of entry into the well lit side corridors, don't kick up the silt in them as you swim through, else a complete silt out will occur.
Engine room: Located aft, entry via a large access hole in the middle of the load deck. Again, great natural light in this area (unlike most engine rooms) Both main engines have been removed (probably to use a spare for her Thai Navy sister ship HTMS Kut). This is a great tech diving classroom, with pipes gauges and dials everywhere, though who knows how long they'll stay. Again, careful with silt in this area, as it's possible to get trapped under overhanging ledges far under the deck. The dive site is marked by 2 buoys at each end of the wreck.
HARDEEP WRECK
Vessels name: Supornthep, Registration: Thai, Sunk: May 1941
The "HARDEEP" was an 80-meter freighter, pressed into inter-coastal transport service by the occupying Japanese, and sunk towards the end of WWII. It is fully penetrable, and a great site for getting your Wreck Diver specialty certification. |
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Bombed by French Aircraft during World War II during Franco/Thai Hostilities Powered by 3 cylinder coal fired engine. Single screw Vessel type: Cargo ship Length/Tonnage: 60meters/1000tons Wreck Location: N012'31.5, E100'57.5. Near Koh Chuang, Gulf of Siam Wreck details: Lying on its starboard side. Max depth 26 meters, with two 1000 pound bombs nearby. |
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The Petchburi Bremen
Steamship: PETCHBURI Built at George Seebeck AG shipyard, Bremerhaven, Germany Tonnage: 2191 gross tons. Length: 88,5m, Breadth: 11,9m, Draught: 7,3m Engine: 3-times expansion-steam engine. Power: 1150 Hp, Speed : 12,5 nm/h, Crew: 3424.09.l901: Launching under the name PETCHABURI for the company North German Lloyd in Bremen.
Bremen Wreck Dive details:
The "BREMEN" was another old freighter, approximately 100 meters long, which sank around 1942, after a fire in the engine room. The "BREMEN" should NOT be penetrated, as she has been used extensively by the Royal Thai Navy for underwater demolition exercises, and is therefore relatively unstable. She is, however, a spectacular artificial reef, with much more marine life than the "HARDEEP". This wreck is very broken up, in an area of very strong currents, and subject to plenty of Thai Naval activity. Some attempts to dive this wreck have lead to dive boats being 'ushered off' by Thai patrol boats, or the wreck just not being found. If anyone has confirmed accurate GPS positions, please email us.
The Hardeep and Bremen wrecks lie in 25-27 meters of water. Diving in Pattaya is really year-round, but best in November-April.
If you find yourself in Pattaya, try to dive the 3 wrecks (cannot be done in a single day), as well as the reefs at Koh Rin, Koh Man Wichai, Hin Chalarm, and Shark Fin Rock. In the last year or two, several new wrecks have been discovered, but due to their remote locations they are neither day trips or dived as often as the "HARDEEP" and the "BREMEN". One is a Japanese chemical tanker, the other 3 are phased-out Thai warships sunk for target practice in the early 70's. The warship wrecks lie deep (30 meters+ at the top), so bottom time is severely limited unless you are into decompression diving.
POTTERY WRECK
In conclusion we would like to mention the “Pottery Wreck”, a 600 year old Chinese Junk, of which there is nothing left except under the sand. However there are still some artifacts to be found in the area, and we do take experienced divers out to search for the artifacts. The remains lie in 24m of unprotected water and are subject to strong currents most of the time. However we try to choose a good time to dive and have had some success. Visibility is generally about 4m. |
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