 |
|
March 2003 Similan Islands-exploration of deeper areas in 50-55 m Purpose of the project: To explore the deeper areas of the Similan islands and to find new as well as interesting dive sites. Only a few dives go deeper than 40 meters in this area of the world famous national park, usually 3-4 dives are made daily, which is not compatible with deep diving. Description of the dive sites: The rock formations we know go down to 60-70 meters at Christmas Point, Elephant Head and Deep Six. We have been diving a lot in these places before, down to 50-60 meters, though never with the best equipment, big enough tanks or enough time. Details of the dives: Christmas Point offered the most unforgettable dives and we christened an underwater rock formation north of Christmas point as Shark Valley, we saw more sharks there than ever before anywhere in these waters. The place literally bristled with different reef and leopard sharks. Also the underwater scenery was impressive; with steep rock formations, canyons and swim-throughs down to 60+ meters. The problem at this dive site was very aggressive and unpredictable vertical currents: on one dive we had to do a hard “aerobic” session and this made us realize that you can only dive here during half-moon when there are very mild currents. Elephant Head is one of the most famous dive sites in the Similan islands. A deeper dive it offers magnificent scenery and also big fish, although we did not see anything spectacular on these dives. The site is best around the 0-30 meters level. We also tried to find the second peak of this underwater mountain on the southern side though we did not during these dives. Deep Six is a really magnificent site both in the shallow and deeper water. We made several dives down to the 40-55 meter level: gorgeous big sea-fans are abundant in this area together with steep cliff walls, swim-throughs and canyons. A lot of sharks at the depth of 40+ meters. On a few of the dives the currents were difficult, although not as strong as the downward pulling currents that we had encountered at Christmas Point. Gases used: All dives were done with air, using EAN 40-60 mixes for decompression stops. Equipment used: Wetsuit 5 mm 2 X 12L aluminum 200 bar tanks 1-2 X 12L aluminum 200 bar deco-tanks 2 X ScubaPro MK25 + S600 regulator Diverite backplate, harness, wings Reel + SMB |
 |