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Dive Pattaya: Live aboard boat trips
by Bill Collis
The Marine Disco at 12:30 on a Friday night, Thai boxing, music
blasting, the loud pulsing beat of the South Pattaya strip in full swing.
Climb aboard a 70 metre (former) fishing boat, spread your lounge chair
under the stars and head out into the peace of the Gulf of Thailand. Dave’s
Diver’s Den has been sending dive boats out into the gulf from the dock of
the Marine Disco once or twice a month for the last 10 years. Dave’s, which
has been in business since 1975, along with Mermaid, Scuba Tech and others,
do overnight and multi-night live aboard dive trips to various sites out in
the gulf.
An overnight or multi-night dive trip is not your average Pattaya
experience. This form of eco-tourism offers no loud music, no traffic, and
no bars - just the peace and calm of the Gulf of Thailand, and plenty of
snappers, groupers, stingrays, moray eels, barracuda’s, and a variety of the
more colorful tropical reef fish. For the adventurous diver willing to camp
out on the high seas, its an experience to remember. For the resident, there
is no better break from the weekly grind. It offers an opportunity to see a
part of Thailand that your average resident or tourist never experiences.
The most common trip involves an overnight boat trip to dive sights off
Sattahip and Samae San, and includes dives on the wrecks “Hardeep” and/or
“Bremen”, as well as night dives on the coral reefs of Koh Chung (Sattahip)
or the “Far Islands” off Pattaya. The wreck dives are deeper (25-30 m) than
the standard reef dives and require a PADI or NAUI Advanced Diving
Certification. This training can be obtained as part of your trip package.
As well as the Sattahip trip, Dave’s conducts trips for the more adventurous
diver to sights everywhere around the gulf, including Koh Chang (a Thai
marine Park not far from the Cambodian coast), wrecked ships all over the
gulf, the “big fish” underwater pinnacles near Koh Samet, and the best reefs
in the gulf off Koh Tao (near Koh Samui).
While diving in the gulf can be conducted year round, the best visibility
for the upper and eastern gulf is found from November to April, while in the
lower and western gulf (Koh Tao, Chumpon, Koh Samui), the best visibility
occurs from March through August. What strikes most non-nautical types is
how small the gulf actually is. From 24 km of Prachuab Kiri-Khan, where we
did most of our diving on this trip, you can see both sides of the gulf.
Costs for these trips generally run about B2,000-2,500 per day, which
includes tanks and air, all food, and non-alcoholic beverages. Discounts are
usually available for groups. Most reputable dive boats run on a “bring your
own booze” basis, with a strict no drinking allowed policy until after your
last dive of the day. All dive shops will, for as extra charge, provide
rental dive equipment as well as wet suits and any specialty gear needed for
specific types of dives (night dives, wreck dives, etc...).
Sleeping accommodations vary. In most boats, some small cabins are
available, and most dive boats offer mattresses or folding deck chairs.
Divers are advised to bring their own blankets or sleeping bags, though we
found that sleeping in sweat pants and a hooded sweat shirt worked very well
in the warm weather. The best sleeping, though, is on deck under the stars -
cool breeze and the gentle rocking of the boat contribute to the whole
experience.
The food is usually simple, available in large quantities and tasty - a
communal kitchen with everyone eating a variety of western and Thai food
together. Dave’s specialty is barbecue, and a very dangerous punch provided
in the evening after diving. Most of the overnighters encourage fishing by
day and night, and most have hand lines available on board. On our trip we
caught lots of squid, snappers, grunts, and five big barracuda.
Dave’s most recent trip was to explore three new wrecks; the gunboats
“Paree” and “Phakhani”, and the coastal freighter “Naung Samlie” off
Prachuab Kiri-Khan south of Hua Hin, and the old standby, the wreck of the
“Bremen” on the way back to Pattaya. Dave had 20 divers of various
experience levels on two boats taking part in the dive. All of the divers
were residents; a third were women, and what was most encouraging was that
half of the divers were Thai.
In a rather typical scenario for a two day trip, the gung-ho bubble blowers
got in seven dives, while the more relaxed got in four dives. Out of 20
divers, two divers completed the PADI Advanced Diving Course with Chris Owen
- a Dave’s Diver’s Den PADI instructor and the trip divemaster, while three
others completed a NAUI Wreck Diving Specialty Course with Dave Doll
himself. Several of the divers were video taping and photographing the fish
and wrecks, while others were along just for the peace and calm of a trip in
the gulf and the adventure of diving on previously unexplored wrecks. More
details on Pattaya wrecks will be available in the upcoming “wrecks”
article.
Picking a dive shop or a boat is one of your most important decisions. Look
for a group with experienced and qualified dive instructors and dive masters
who require that all divers follow standard safety practices. The boat
should have standard safety equipment, like life vests, ship to shore radio,
and for dives away from Pattaya, GPS navigation equipment, full color sonar,
and a radar. The boat should be set up for divers with oxygen, a diver
recall system, advanced first aid kit, trailing ropes and buoys, a dive
platform, and lots of tank and equipment storage space. Most important is a
boat captain and divemaster who know the local waters and know the
requirements of divers. Dave’s has been lucky in that while Dave himself is
one of our more knowledgeable dive guides, on our trip he was accompanied by
Captain Sombat of the Sombat 1 and 2. Captain Sombat, one of Pattaya’s first
certified diving instructors, is arguably the most experienced dive and
fishing boat captain on this coast.
If you are a tourist, Bangkok or resident diver looking for something
different, this is it. I can say without exception that this has been my
most enjoyable diving experience in Pattaya. If you are looking for a
different Pattaya experience, try an overnight or multi-night dive trip with
one of the certified PADI or NAUI dive shops in Pattaya that offer live
aboard dive experiences.
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Pattaya media and local businessmen play to 1 all tie
Members of the Pattaya media and a group of local
businessmen got together for a soccer friendly last week to strengthen
friendship between both groups.
Organised by Phichai Panomwan Na Ayuthaya, head of the Media As-sociation,
the game ended in a 1 all tie.
The media team managed to score its goal in the first half to go up by one
when the whistle sounded for intermission. The businessmen countered with a
second half goal to end the game even.
Generous Monk and sister donate land for sports complex
On 11 October at Pattaya City Hall, Monk Kittiwithatho
Phikhu and his younger sister presented a deed for 330 rai of land to the
Sports Authority of Thailand to build an international sports field.
The monk and his sister told reporters that they were donating the land as
they felt that sports were an important part of the development of the
nation and a healthy society.
Mr. Somchai Prasertsiriphan, Director of the Sports Authority of Thailand,
said that as Chonburi is a large province, it has great potential for
development. The existing budget for the complex is now 1,114,317,000 baht.
He said that a site for the construction of the complex had not yet been
found, but since the monk and his sister had most generously donated the
land, construction may begin.
He also said that Pattaya should make every attempt to be a centre for all
types of sports.
The committee wishes the complex to be finished as soon as possible. At
first, the complex will be used as a regional sports centre for the Eastern
Seaboard. In the future there are hopes that it could be host the Olympic
Games.
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Three way tie for top spot in Friday darts
After starting the new season in the Friday Night Mickey
Mouse Darts League with 3 straight wins, Beer Put has lost its last two
decisions to fall into a three-way tie for top of the league. Palmer’s has
put on the best surge, winning three in a row after starting the season with
2 straight losses. Mick’s Place, meanwhile, has been up and down throughout
the start of the season. All three teams, however, have won enough to put
themselves at the top of the standings, with Palmer’s officially in front
with more beer legs won.
Its shaping up to be a very competitive season, even at this early stage.
Every team in the league is within striking distance, none more than one win
out of first place.
Results from week 5: Palmer’s defeated Beer Put and took the beer leg in the
battle for top of the league. Mick’s Place kept pace with a win away over
Cheers, but lost the beer leg in the process. Pleasure Dome tightened up the
league standings with a win away over Rising Sun, but lost their first beer
leg of the season.
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Splinter Golf Group
receives USGA sanction
The Splinter Golf Group was notified early last week that they are now
officially an affiliated club of the United States Golf Association. This
sanction signifies that the SGG can now officially provide Splinter Golfers
with USGA handicaps and the other benefits that are part of the USGA
membership. As a result, the Splinter Board of Directors have nominated the
following Splinter officers who will serve until the Splinter AGM in the
second week in January, 1997.
Chairman, Brian Imrie. Vice-Chairman, Martin Furzer. Secretary, Bill Collis.
Treasurer, Steve Ross. Handicap Chairman, Bill Thompson. Rules Chairman,
Harry Riley. Events Venue Co-Chairmen, Harry Riley and John Cole.
Entertainment Chairman, Jody Mazerat.
In its first move, the SGG officers unanimously selected as honorary
captain, the long time Pattaya resident and good friend to all Splinter
golfers - John Murdoch. This was given in recognition of John’s contribution
to golf in Pattaya, not to mention his financial contributions to Splinter
golfers. John will be leaving Pattaya to start a new business in Australia -
he will be missed.
The Splinters will continue to play from the same location; the Green
Bottle/Diana Inn, on the same days; Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at the
same time; 10:30 a.m. (except for Noble Place, Laem Chabang and
Century-Chonburi; 10:00 a.m.).
In other Splinter news, sponsored monthly tournaments will be held on the
first Friday (Wild Chicken Medal), the second Friday (Hasse Soft Rock Cup),
the third Wednesday (Pleasure Dome), and the last Friday (Diana Group
Monthly Medal). The Players Cup, a quarterly cumulative points competition
sponsored by Bill Thompson, is also running concurrently with the other
tournaments. The Ryder Cup (Shakey Pete’s vs. Pleasure Dome) will continue
to be held on a monthly basis. SGG schedules can be obtained from any of the
officers of the SGG or seen in any of the sporting venues.
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New Leader in Wednesday Quiz
“In which US city is the movie Towering Inferno set?”
“Which islands in the Atlantic are named after dogs?”
Two weeks into the new season, Britannia Bar has taken the lead in the
mid-week trivial pursuits bar league. Recently under new management, the bar
has built up a strong team on subjects across the board. Second comes last
season’s winners, Bob’s, followed by Fawlty Towers, Rising Sun and Cheers.
Aussie Ken’s, Palmer’s and Shamrock are also rans at this stage.
Last week, question setter Barrie got in trouble for not remembering that
Coronation Street’s budgie was called harry. Only when it laid an egg was
the bird named Harriet. Still, these events on British TV were twenty years
ago. There was also confusion about whether a gazelle’s excrement smells of
violets. Apparently it does! Someone must have been up to Nong Nuch to take
a closer look.
Bar owners introduced a new scoring system last week. The bar with the top
marks gets eight points, second best seven points, and so on. The bar with
the lowest percentage gets one mark. The idea is to increase the competitive
atmosphere and to make the winner less certain until the last coupe of weeks
in the season.
But it is still good fun. You can join any of the bars by turning up at 8:30
p.m. and Wednesday evening.
Answers to the above questions are: “San Francisco” and “The Canaries”.
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Tony Davis atop leader board again
Tony Davis found himself at the top of the PGS leader
board for the second time in the past three weeks when he put together a net
round of 73 at Eastern Star on Tuesday, October 8, 1996. Tony’s low net
round earned him the weekly title in Pattaya Golf Society tournament action.
Norman Brooks returned to form, carding a net 75 to finish in second place
for the week. John Gibson, who has really found his form of late, finished
third with a net 78. Les finished fourth, also with a net 78, but lost to
Gibson on count back. William Rice, a welcome returner to the top of the
leader board, rounded out the top five with his net round of 80.
Nearest the pin honors went to Peter Platt on hole #3, and George Meigh on
hole #16.
Palmer’s maintains sizable lead in Sunday Quiz
What was John Wayne’s final film, first shown in 1976?
(Look for the answer at the end of this write up.)
Palmer’s Bar lost six points to the surging Cheers team, but still holds
what looks like an insurmountable lead in the Sunday Night Quiz League. With
only four weeks left, it will take a minor miracle for anyone to catch the
leaders now.
Cheers’ hold on second place is fairly comfortable as well. They have
managed to put 46 points between themselves and third place Pleasure Dome.
Results from week 14: Palmer’s defeated Mick’s Place 82 to 75 away. Cheers
gained slightly on Palmer’s with an 88 to 64 home victory over Fawlty
Towers. Viking Beachcomber beat Rising Sun in a mild upset, 70 to 68 away.
Wild Chicken won for the first time in a while, a low scoring 56 to 54 win
over Bob’s at home. Pleasure Dome scored 77 points at home alone.
The answer to this week’s question; “What was John
Wayne’s final film, first shown in 1976?” The Shootist.
The public is invited to join the fun every Sunday night in the Quiz League.
Interested parties need only show up Sunday nights at 8:30 p.m. at the
venues listed n the Sports Roundup column of Pattaya Mail.
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Attention all fishermen
The fishing section of the Pattaya Sports Club has
announced they will sponsor their next Deep Sea Fishing competition on
Monday, October 28, 1996.
Rules for the monthly tournaments are as follows: Each team captain will pay
an entrance fee of 600 baht to the Pattaya Sports Club. The entrance fee
must be paid by 12 noon, October 27. Included with the entrance fee must be
a listing of the name of the boat or the boat’s captain and fishermen on
board. Each team will be responsible for hiring their own boat. There will
be no limit on persons or tackle on board. Boats and crew may not leave
shore before 4:00 a.m., October 28. Weigh in for trophies will be at the
Fishing Lodge, Bang Saree, or the Marine Bar Pier, Pattaya, no later than
6:00 p.m., October 28.
The Pattaya Sports Club will award individual trophies for 1) First Place:
the biggest fish (by weight), 2) Second Place: the second biggest fish (by
weight), and 3) First Place Plaque for boat captain with the biggest fish.
Only one trophy will be awarded per individual.
To register for the tournament, please contact Carl Engel, Pattaya Sports
Club Fishing Chairman, tel: 410 228, fax: 426 121. Registration and entrance
fee can be left at the Shamrock Bar, Soi Pattayaland 2, or Atlantis Cafe,
Soi 15.
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Inter-Hotel Tennis
underway
The Montien Hotel Pattaya and the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort were the early winners in the opening round of the 6th annual Singha
Beer Inter-Hotel Tennis League played on Monday morning, October 7 at the
tennis courts of the Montien.
wait pic
Chakkri gives it his all in a
losing effort in the opening round of the Singha Inter Hotel Tennis League.
The first team competition of the day saw Montien defeat the Amari Orchid
2-0. Dea-Cha (Montien) defeated Chakkri (Amari) 9-2 in team singles
competition. Dea-Cha then teamed up with Somkiet to give Montien a 9-4
victory over Piak and Chakkri of Amari.
In the second team match, Prasong from Royal Cliff defeated Komkai from the
Siam Bayshore 9-5. Prasong and Toy (Royal Cliff) then beat Komkai and
Paitoon (Siam Bayshore) 9-6 in doubles.
Due to the opening ceremonies before play began, only one match each was
played in Singles A and Singles B. Peter defeated Frank 9-5 in the opening
match of Singles A, while Carlos beat Anand in the first Singles B match of
the tournament. All matches played are pro-set to nine.
The Inter-Hotel Tennis League will be played every Monday morning for six
weeks. Finals are scheduled for November 11.
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Splinter Golf Group at the Green Bottle
October 7 - Monday Khao Kheow
Stableford
1st Martin Furzer 38 points
2nd Brian Imrie 34 points
3rd John Naponick 34 points (lost on count back)
A last minute change of schedule, Sattahip was reported flooded, saw the
Splinters back for the second week at Khao Kheow, this time playing the
A and C courses. Avid readers of this column will recollect the problems
with stroke index on this course’s card. This time the A course index
was different on the card “A, B and C” to the card “A and C”.
Overcoming these problems, the Splinters sat out a heavy rain storm half
way through and Martin came through an unlikely winner. Handicap
committee (of one) please note. Welcome to John, standing at least 7
feet and whose lazy swing off the tee propelled the ball some three
hundred yards. His short game was good enough too, with a drive like
that you only have a short game after the tee box.
Caddies were still very slow and the course was cut up badly by carts
being allowed on the soaked grounds.
October 9 - Wednesday Century-Chonburi
Stableford
1st Svein Vistung 43 points
2nd Brian Imrie 38 points
3rd Ed Rosenquest 38 points (lost on count back)
4th Bill Collis 38 points (lost on count back)
Splinter Group golfers once again dominated a benign Century Course. The
former Oslo cabby, Svein Vistung, had his best round of the year,
shooting a stellar 81 - nine strokes under his former handicap of 18.
Svein was not the only golfer to have a good day. Three other Splinter
golfers; Brian Imrie, Ed Rosenquest and Bill Collis, ended up on 38
points - 2 strokes under their handicaps. Another notable score was
posted by Arthur Bailey who shot 36 Stableford points. This short IMG
design is very similar in layout to the other IMG design, the Great
Lakes Country Club. Century is a bit narrower and not quite as testing,
but still a well laid out course with good greens that will improve as
it matures. Hopefully, the food, which is non-existent at present, will
also improve with time.
Mats Lindborg wins inaugural Hasse Soft Rock Open
October 11 - Friday Natural Park Resort
Stroke Play
A flight
1st Mats Lindborg net 75
2nd Andy Wellington net 75 (lost on count back)
3rd Jean Blank net 79
B flight
1st Adrian Ort net 76
2nd Gez Tracy net 77
3rd Martin Furzer net 83
The inaugural Hasse Soft Rock Open, sponsored by the popular Soi Post
Office watering hole, the Hasse Soft Rock Cafe, was held on October 11
over a monsoon drenched Natural Park Resort. The overall and A flight
winner on count back was one of the owners of the Soft Rock, that five
handicapper, Mats Lindborg. Under very difficult conditions, Mats had a
back nine good enough to squeak by that graying long haired Australian
Andy Wellington. In third place was the French gourmand Jean Blank.
While in B flight, the winner was the part time Pattaya resident, the
Swiss golfer, Adrian Ort. In second place was Pattaya’s most active real
estate agent, Gez “Orchid Tours” Tracy. In third place, bringing up the
rear, was the former PSC golf committee member Martin Furzer with an
improbable net 83. Though rumor has it that Steve Ross, with a net 82,
was forced to disqualify himself after encountering some difficulties a
palm tree?
The SGG and Pattaya golfers would like to welcome a returning Splinter
Dr. Tony Moore, an Adelaide veterinary procto-logist, and a new Splinter
Dr. John Naponick, a specialist in surgical contraception, vasectomies
and tubule ligation. Nice guys, but watch yourself in the shower.
The Splinters are very pleased to welcome the Hasse Soft Rock Open and
the Hasse Soft Rock Cafe to the growing list of regularly sponsored
Splinter golf tournaments. The SGG appreciates the fantastic spread of
food, several rounds of Swedish Vodka and the support of golf in
Pattaya. Next month’s Soft Rock Open will be played at laem Chabang. We
look forward to playing in this great tournament on the second Friday of
November.
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