Dive sites explained – King Cruiser

King Cruiser sank on the 4^th of May 1997 after a collision with Anemone Reef, a well chartered pinnacle. All passengers escaped on life rafts and picked up by nearby diving and fishing vessels.

The ship is a rebuilt, 85 meter long catamaran type, car ferry that was carrying passengers between Phuket and Phi Phi Islands and now stands completely upright at 32 meters of depth. During the years, she has rusted away and collapsed into a fantastic artificial reef, filled with gorgonians, soft coral and large schools of fish.

Access to the wreck is from a mooring line secured at the stern at around 18 meters. Due to the current, sometimes low visibility and the deep average depth, to really enjoy this dive you should be a comfortable advanced diver.

Highlights

• Right below the mooring at the stern you can find several toilets, still intact. This calls for some very interesting underwater photo shoots.
• Following the stern towards the starboards side you will find a huge propeller, half buried in the sand. This is also one entrance to swim the whole length of the ship under the hull.
• In the bow of the ship you can still find paint on the inside of one of the hulls.
• Due to the depth, Nitrox is a great way to extend the bottom times. For double cylinder tec40 or sidemount divers, there are great rewards for having a deeper profile as you can stay away from the crowd and have time investigating these parts.
• The wreck has such an abundance of schooling fish, which in turn are hunted by larger predators. Here you have a great chance spotting huge trevallies as well as leopard sharks on the bottom and other passing pelagics.

To think about

• Currents can be very strong so the mooring line should be used during both descents and ascents. As King Cruiser has many visitors, the line gets crowded at times so here we make sure to be considerate.
• There are still many swim troughs along the wreck that calls for some caution, as the rusty edges of the wreck are extremely sharp.
• Keep a close eye on the computer and gas supply as the average depth is usually deeper than 18 meters.

depth:               18 – 32 meters
current:             moderate – strong
visibility:            10 – 25 meters

You can dive King Cruiser from our dive centers in Phuket, Koh Lanta & Krabi

Kon-Tiki Krabi receives TecRec Centre Rating

We are proud to announce that our dive center in Krabi has received the prestigious PADI TecRec Centre authorization. This season the Ao Nang destination will add to our range of technical diving courses. If you are ready for a new challenge on your holiday and traveling to Koh Lanta or Krabi this season, tec diving might just be your new found activity.

Keep an eye out for our new Cavern, Sidemount, Self-Reliant and Tec courses that will be announced soon!

 

 

Book your technical diver training now…

It is time to sign up for this season technical diving courses.  Book your course before the end of August and we will give you last year’s prices.

PADI Tec 40             18,800 baht      (you save 2,200 baht)
PADI Tec 45             18,800 baht      (you save 2,200 baht)
PADI Tec 50             18,800 baht      (you save 4,200 baht)
PADI Sidemount          9,900 baht      (you save 1,000 baht)

Join us in October for our month dedicated for technical diving and receive an extra special price on this package.

Tec 40, 45 & 50        45,000 baht     (you save 7,000 baht)

Kon-Tiki launches PADI Sidemount Diver Course

Learn a new and different way to dive with the PADI Sidemount Diver course!

Sidemount is an equipment configuration which has diving cylinders mounted alongside the diver, below the shoulders and along the hips, instead of on the back of the diver. It began as a configuration popular with advanced cave divers, as smaller sections of cave can be penetrated and tanks can be changed with greater ease. The same benefits for operating in confined spaces were also recognized by divers who conducted technical wreck diving penetrations.

Sidemount is now growing in popularity within the technical diving community for general decompression diving and is becoming an increasingly popular specialty training for recreational diving.

PADI Sidemount diving training with proper Side Mount Configuration offers:

• an alternative way to streamline yourself and the equipment in the water
• easier cylinder logistics on the surface
• reduced lower back strain
• provides redundant gas supply
• ability to monitor all regulators, valves and gauges because they are in front
• increased gas supply for longer dives

During the course you will learn:

• Equipment configuration and preparation
•  Body posture and trim
• Propulsion techniques
• Gas management
• Proper Sidemount diver procedures and emergencies

Take a new, fun and challenging course on your next holiday to Thailand!