Cave Diving in Thailand
Image: Khao Sok National Park - one of our cave diving sites in Thailand In addition to our technical wreck diving expeditions, MV Trident runs cave diving trips throughout Thailand. Currently in it’s early stages of development, cave diving in Thailand offers enormous opportunities for exploration, with many challenging cave systems waiting to be explored and mapped. From our technical diving hub in Southern Thailand we visit several cave diving sites, mostly located in Thailand’s national parks which boast spectacular scenery both above and below the surface. This makes our cave diving trips enjoyable for both technical divers and accompanying non-divers. Also importantly, our cave diving trips are available all year round. When the wind and waves pick up in monsoon season (and long range tech diving trips throughout the Gulf of Thailand aren’t wise), cave diving offers an exciting tech diving option for our winter months.
Logistics of our Thailand Cave Diving Trips:From Koh Tao, trips leave in the afternoon, staying one night in Chumporn or Samui, (and include all transport and meals). The following morning, we leave early for the lakes morning, which are only a few hours drive away. We schedule 2-3 cavern or cave dives per day, with all the diving conducted by long-tail boat which departs from a simple jetty a short distance from the rooms. You need to be moderately fit for this kind of diving (no 300lb whales). All gas fills, re-breather sorb and diving spares are available on site. Accommodation on the lake is simple, yet charming and picturesque. The bamboo huts are clean and comfortable and add to the overall experience of spending time in a national park. On the day of return, we make two dives and again spend one night in Samui or Chumporn, returning to Koh Tao by noon the following day.
Image: Our long-tail boat of divers passes a spectacular limestone formation en-route to the dive site
Our Cave Diving Sites:Khao Sok National Park – Surat Thani
Khao Sok, Surat Thani is a huge area of valley flooded 25 years ago. Only a short drive from Chumporn or Samui, the scenery is spectacular. Wildlife such as gibbons and hornbills are common and there are tigers about, but we haven't seen any. Underwater scenery consists of huge stalactites, stalagmites and columns, some big catfish, and lots of trees from before the valley was flooded. We know of about a dozen caves so far, with maximum depth around 35m and maximum distance into the cave 100m. The water is clear and warm, with the minimum temperature around 25C. There are literally hundreds of caves in the limestone cliffs above water, so there must be as many below. Diving in the lake the maximum depth is 90m, and there are a few villages down there waiting to be dived too.
Left: Spectacular scenery above and below the surface in Khao Sok Right: Simple accommodation in the national park, but comfortable and peaceful
Image: Thailand's traditional long-tail boats can pull up close to the accommodation
Image: We use a portable compressor to fill up the tech twin sets on the jetty
Left: Entrance to one of the caves in Khao Sok Right: A technical diver inside the cave
Left: Jamie supervises from the boat as two tech divers begin their cave dive Right: Long-tail boat loaded with technical diving equipment
Left: Simple restaurant in Thailand's Khao Sok National Park Right: End of day beers and food after a day's diving
Ratchburi Dam, Kanchanaburi.
About a 6 hour drive north of Chumporn, this is another reservoir. The diving is a little more challenging here, great for full cave diving training and certified cave divers. Water temperature and visibility are similar but the caves are much bigger, up to 200m penetrations are possible. Rooms and diving logistics are similar to Khao Sok. An added bonus is that if you're interested in WW2 history, the Bridge of the River Kwai is very close-by.
Other Cave Diving Trips:There's plenty more cave locations around Thailand and we'll running regular road trips to explore. Qualified cavers welcome.
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