Diving at Chumphon
Chumphon Province, which has eight districts, is 500 kilometers south of Bangkok. Chumphon Town lies on the intersection of the main routes to the south and west. It was named over 600 years ago from the Thai word 'chumnumphon', meaning social meeting place.
The Chumphon area is popular with Bangkok residents as it is the nearest southern resort and offers a wide selection of attractions, both natural and man-made, including spectacular beaches, over 30 permeable-limestone islands, picturesque landscapes – featuring waterfalls and caves – and holy shrines. The area is now famous throughout Thailand for its production of fruit, in particular its delicious red rambutans, finger bananas and pineapples.
Beyond the beaches of Chumphon Town are seven offshore islands, the largest and nearest being Koh Samet. Going southward, the others are Koh Sak, Koh Mattra, Koh Maphrao, Koh I Raet, Kow Lawa and Koh Ka. The outer islands, from north to south, are Koh Ngam Yai, Koh Ngam Noi and Koh Lak Ngam.
One thing to bear in mind when visiting this area is that the vast majority of signs still feature only Thai characters. Moreover, the vast majority of the local people speak only Thai...
Diving in the Chumphon Area
Local diving is concentrated around the outer islands and rocky outcrops in the area north and southeast of Chumphon Town. The nearer offshore islands are much affected by freshwater runoff and so have unhealthy corals and little marine life; they are not really suitable for diving.
Amenities aboard dive-boats can be fairly basic: all lack galleys and freshwater showers and some have no toilets.
Local diving operators leave from one of three locations. If you are staying at either of the two beach resorts providing diving services, your boat will leave from the beach directly in front of the resort or – like divers not staying at these resorts you can go from the Koh Tao passenger-ferry pier on the Taphao river just south of Chumphon Town; from both beaches Longtail boats are used to transfer divers and their equipment to the dive-boats. When the departure point is the ferry pier, local dive operators will arrange transfers from their dive offices.
The plankton-rich waters attract a healthy diversity of marine life around the islands fringing reefs. Populations are high and pelagcs frequent. Gardens of fire, staghorns and small boulders of lesser star corals dominate the fringing reefs-flats, with a range of black seafans and long sea whips being confined to the lower reef-slopes.
Visibility ranges from 3 meters to over 20 meters and currents are moderate enough for divers of any level.
In calm conditions night-diving around the islands can be very pleasant. The diving season is May to October.
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