Awesome Dives. #1 Hin Daeng, Thailand.

During our visit to the beautiful Koh Lanta, we stayed at the Lanta Castaway Resort. Koh Lanta is situated on the West coast of Thailand near Krabi. The Dive and Relax, dive centre has a base in the resort complex and it seemed like the obvious choice to use them, being right on our door step.

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Talk about ‘does what it says on the tin!’ These guys were really professional and above all, chilled out and, well, relaxed! This was particularly important to me at the time because my daughter was very new to scuba diving and I wanted these dives to be very low key and easy for her. The staff fill you with confidence straight away and that made me look forward to the dives ahead. Raoul was our guy and he was excellent, especially with my daughter.

We had 4 great dives with these guys but the best dive was Hin Daeng (Red Rock). This was the second dive of the day and a bit of a boat journey from the resort. The water was crystal clear, visibility was roughly 25 meters and the water temperature was at 31 degrees. Hin Daeng is a feeding station and has great topography.

The coral is plentiful and the light penetrates well so the colours are incredible. The amount of marine life was unbelievable as you will see by my list. Fusiliers, Amber Jack, Blue Fin Trevally, Giant Trevally, Oriental Sweet Lips, Giant Morey, Grouper, Parrot Fish, Anemone Fish (Nemos), Wrasse, Needle Fish, Squirrel Fish, Puffer Fish, Red Tooth Trigger Fish, Titan Trigger Fish, Dancing Durban Shrimp, Boxer Shrimp.

Getting on board and Clarks Clownfish, right.

Puffer Fish, left and Grouper, right

Butterfly Fish

But what made this dive extra special was the Whale Shark! It was only a baby but it was it was still three and a half to four meters long and absolutely stunning. It was so graceful and seemed to enjoy doing a little loop around all of us to say hello. It lasted for maybe a minute and then was gone. Without realising it I was hyperventilating and had nearly hit the surface I was so excited. Total dive time was 47 minutes and seemed like 5! Maximum depth was 26.5 meters.

Nicola's video of the Whale Shark

Returning

When we got out of the water and removed our kit the chatter was intense. We were all buzzing. Even the instructors were buzzing so you know it’s been a good one. It’s not unheard of to see whale sharks at Hin Daeng but there is still a fair amount of luck involved too.

I would totally recommend the resort, the dive center and I would definitely recommend the dive site.

Other useful info:

Mu Koh Lanta Marine Park opens Oct 15 - May 15.
All trips are 2 dives a day
Trips depart from Long Beach
Trips Depart 8/9am, return 2pm
Toilet & shower on-board
Boat 2 schedule 1 Nov - 30 Apr

Some extra details below.
Dive and Relax. Website
Lanta Castaway Beach Resort (south end of Long Beach)
Phone number: 0890503009 / 0848422191
Email: [email protected]
223 Moo 2, Saladan, Koh Lanta, Krabi 81150

Photo Sources:
The video of the dive is my copy made by my dive buddy Nicola. The amazing photos were taken by a Canadian couple on the same dive.

All other photos are mine with the exception of the maps.

Source for the maps:
Thailand Map
Hin Daeng Map