Diving Koh Lanta
Having now worked on Koh Lanta for over 6 seasons, I am proud to call this place my second home. It is friendly, easy to get around, relaxed, beautiful and best of all not too touristy. Koh Lanta is located 2 hours drive from the nearest big town of Krabi. Krabi has an international airport and is on the South West coast of Thailand. Koh Lanta is divided into 2 main islands, Koh Lanta Noi (small) and Koh Lanta Yai (big).
Most of the tourism is based on the big island of Koh Lanta Yai. Lanta itself is 30km long and 6km wide and still retains its Thai charm and has not yet overly commercialised. It has a much more laid back atmosphere than some of its surrounding neighbours such as Phi Phi and Phuket. Don’t worry as there are plenty of beach bars and night clubs on the beach that can be found for late night parties.
One of the main reasons for its laid back atmosphere is a big ex pat European community based on the island. The island has a large Swedish community and also boasts two Swedish schools and one international. For some reason Lanta is less well-known than the adjourning islands and there lies in one of the best parts about it. Non crowded beaches, stunning coastlines, plenty of places to stay, reasonable prices and many good dive shops to choose from makes Lanta what it is. Currently there are around 14 dive shops on the island all catering for different nationalities. All dive shops have good customer service and high standards.
Koh Lanta was also recently voted as having some Best Secret Beaches on the Earth according to Travel and Lesuire.com. The further south of the island you travel the quieter it gets. Koh Lanta is a great place to dive for beginners all the way up to experienced divers. The dive sites are varied and the conditions differ from site to site. It is also an excellent place to get certified as most of time the groups are very small. Generally courses are taught either 1 on 1 or 2 per instructor and an absolute maximum of 4 (this is generally at very busy times (Dec & Jan). Standards are high, the levels of service are 5*, best safety records in Thailand with full briefings. In depth training is always given and all the DM’s and Instructors are very passionate about marine ecology and sustainability.
Koh Haa
Koh Lanta’s main dive site is the archipelago of Koh Haa. Haa means 5 in Thai, which is 5 islands surrounding one main island called Koh Haa Yai. To get to the islands can take either 45 min ride by speedboat or 2 hours by big boat. Koh Haa is around 6km from Lanta. They are further away than most dive sites but this has it benefits. The dive sites not over dived and is in the middle of the ocean which means anything can pop up. I have seen Mantas, Whale Sharks, Eagle Rays, Frogfish, Harlequin Shrimp, and lots of macro life there. As well as plenty of batfish, trevellies, octopus, cuittlefish, Koh Haa is a great place to dive. Visibility most of the year is around 15 – 30m. There is limitied diving in the “green season”. It has been my office for over 6 years now and a pictureseque place above and below the waves.
The are around 12 Dives Sites on Koh Haa but my personal favourites are;
1 Koh Haa Lagoon –
The Lagoon is where most operators start the 1st dive of the day as it is a great place for all levels of divers, scuba refreshers and DSD’s. It is perfect for snorkelers as it’s shallow (4-5m) and teeming with coral and marine life. There are 3 islands in this group which create a beautiful sheltered lagoon – Islands 2,3 & 4. Marine life in the lagoon includes giant Morays, Lionfish,, Butterfly fish, Garden Eels, Clown Fish and very friendly Porcupine Fish called Porkie. Porkie even has his own Facebook Page! The topography of the islands makes for some scenic diving with gradual drop offs and beautiful surroundings for surface intervals.
Most divers start in the lagoon but swim out around islands 2 & 4 along the walls that drop down to about 27 metres. They are covered in colourful soft and hard corals, anemones and barrel sponges. Either on the back of island no 2 or in-between islands 2 and 4 there is a large shoal of barracuda. There are also puffers, sea snakes, box fish, octopus, scorpion fish and squid with the occasional sightings of harlequin shrimp and sometimes frogfish. When crossing between the islands 2 & 4 the sandy bottom offers lots of macro life in the form of Nudis, sea moths, flounders, stingrays, harlequin shrimp & peacock mantis shrimp. The 2013-14 & 14 &15 season we also saw Whale sharks and Mantas in around the Lagoon.
2. Koh Haa Cathedral –
Koh Haa also boasts the famous “cathedral” which is an accessible small cavern. You can enter without doing a cave or cavern course as it is not fully submerged but this is only for certified divers. It makes for some stunning scenes and pictures and a must do if you have the chance. There are 3 caverns in total located next to each other. Only 2 of them have big openings that are easily accessed. Outside the caverns is a shelf and then a drop off down to around 14m. When you ascend in the main cavern among the blue glow of the spray that comes in, you can view the stalactites above. It sometimes feels like you are in the middle of the island when you are on the surface in the caverns.
Outside of The Cathedral there are great pinnacles, walls, swim throughs and canyons to explore. Outside the caverns there are many types of nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs and sponges and whip and harp corals
3. Island No 1 –
For some reason Koh Haa No 1 is less dived than the other sites but is an excellent site with huge soft coral coverage, amazing swim throughs, sometimes big swells and some great macro life.. The best swim through is “The Chimney” with an entrance at 18 metres into a small cavern with an opening going straight up to the opening at 5m or right in to an open cavern. All around the dive site are giant trevllies, the odd turtle, loads of Nemo, butterfly fish and tons of soft corals.
4. Island No 6 –
Less dived than all of the other dive spots around Koh Haa is island No 6. It is a beautiful and easy dive site with plenty to offer. It’s basically a large pinnacle that stands out from the water with soft and hard corals. It has a large sandy area to the north and south where you can occasionally spot Leopard sharks. Most seasons you can spot turtles, harlequin shrimp, yellow snappers, trevellies and lots of macro life.
Hin Daeng / Maung
Voted on many internet sites as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. Arguably one of the best dive sites in Thailand which is home to some of the best soft corals in Thailand. It also hosts excellent marco life, schools of batfish and trevellies. Its main attarction is Mantas and Whale Sharks at certain times of the year (Dec and Jan). You can access the site by either speedboat – 1hr 30 mins or Big Boat – 4hrs.
I would suggest the speedboat option, although slightly more expensive. 4 hours there and 4 hrs back on a big boat is a long day. The site is reserved for AOW divers only due to the dive site depth and some strong currents. The currents are reasonably strong here so be stay close to your DM or instructor, these sites are also great if you want to get into Tech Diving.
Hin Maung
Generally the first dive that you do when you get out there as it is the deeper dive site. Hin (Rock in Thai) & Maung (Purple in Thai) is littered with purple soft corals. It is only around 300m from Hin Daeng but it feels like a totally different dive site. Deep pinnacles that stick out from the ocean floor at around 45m makes it best to be done on Nitrox. Hin Maung is approximately 200 metres long by 25 metres wide and challenging if the current is strong. Whale Sharks and Mantas are here occasionally and I had one of my most amazing experiences with them here. 3 Mantas gliding into get cleaned and a baby Whale Shark pops up in-between them, obviously feeling left out of the action!
Hin Daeng
Littered with Red Soft Corals and gives the site its name – Hin (Rock in Thai) & Daeng (Red in Thai). It is a large oval pinnacle which just about breaks the surface. It has some great walls and cannons to swim around. Lots of Jacks, glass fish, lion fish and from time to time Whale Sharks and Mantas. The best time to see these beasts are generally in mid Dec to Mid Jan, but check with the dive shop as it’s a big ocean and they can pop up anytime.
It is also possible to access the Phi Phi dive sites from Koh Lanta, they are the same journey time as going to Koh Haa. If you want to save on cost and journey time to the dive sites I would advise staying on Phi Phi.
