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Snorkeling Travel

Many thousands of people go snorkelling each year . Some just want to snorkel and others scuba dive and snorkel. We will be expanding are Snorkeling Travel section in over the next few months . In the Snorkeling Travel section we aim to provide information on Snorkeling Travel based on firsthand experiences and local knowledge. Snorkeling Travel is growing in popularity but there are many books on dive sites but often the information on snorkelling sites is scanty at best . With are expanding our Snorke ing Travel section we aim to bring you information on the best snorkel sites in the world, with local information like access points and if the site should be tackled by beginners or left to more experienced snorkelers. Our Snorkeling Travel section will also provide information on points of safety to remember whilst snorkelling, plus information on how to snorkel, the best way to enter the water from a snorkelling boat and how to get back on the boat. All these experiences can prove a little daunting when you first tackle them especially if when you go on your Snorkeling Travels you do not speak the local language.

So if you have any Snorkeling Travel experiences , local knowledge of a resort or photos from your Snorkeling Travel experiences then please send then to us at info@activeaqua.com

Diving Accessories

With many airlines cutting luggage allowances and increasing the cost of taking extra baggage on holiday, taking you diving equipment with you on holiday can be extremely expensive and sometimes not even possible!. If you buy arrange of Diving Accessories you can easily customise rental equipment with your own Diving Accessories.

Although we love using own Diving Equipment, to get to some of the most beautiful snorkelling and diving destination means cutting luggage allowance but we have always found it a sacrifice worth masking. Personally I like to take the following essentials my own mask, snorkel and fins plus a range of Diving Accessories, you can use this basic equipment and Diving Accessories for snorkelling and diving .

Other Diving Accessories I always take with me as they are generally not available in resort are of a small LED torch which is powerful enough to use on night dives and during the days for looking into nooks and crannies and the other essential Diving Accessories is a small knife made of either stainless steel or lightweight titanium. Most diving resorts keep a check on discarded fishing line and regular check their favourite dive site for old fishing line, but I like to have small knife or line cutter with me just in case .

Lastly I would recommend that whatever Diving Accessories or equipment you take on holiday with you, that you take a bag to put all you Diving Accessories and equipment in we sell several bags for Diving Accessories and equipment and they are all lightweight and compact so are easy to pack in your luggage.

Thailand Diving

Thailand is great holiday destination it’s so easy to combine a few days of Diving in Thailand in an idyllic ocean paradise with a stay in Chang Mia which will give insight into the true heritage of Thailand or a shop to you drop experience in Bangkok. Once you get start to research Thailand Diving you will find countless Thailand Diving resorts offering you varying degrees of quality of diver centres and boat operators. Personally for me diving is about getting away from the hustle and bustle of life. Wwhen I researched were to go Thailand Diving I came up will the little known resort of Koh Lanta.

Ideally situated in the growing southern Thailand Diving province of Krabi, Koh Lanta has converted from an 80's backpacker haunt into a new hot spots in South East Asia. And while budget travelers still find ample space to cool their heels, Lanta has gone up-market in the past years with new four and five star resorts dotting its picturesque 40 kilometers Andaman coastline. The island's proximity to Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi and even Bangkok, makes it a great holiday alternative for Thailand Diving to other crowded and commercial tropical island destinations.

Koh Lanta is actually made of two islands; Koh Lanta Noi and Koh Lanta Yai. Koh Lanta Noi is the smaller of the two islands and doesn't have tourist facilities for Thailand Diving . Visitors traveling by road from the main land pass through the smaller island on the way to resorts on Koh Lanta Yai.

With white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters it’s the idyllic spot to relax between Thailand Diving adventures. Talking of Thailand diving adventure I can personally recommend the dive centre at the Pimalai Resort and Spa. You don’t have to be staying at the resort to use the dive centre for your Thailand Diving adventures and there are plenty of inexpensive hotels a short walk up the beach. They are the only dive centre on Koh Lanta to operate Thailand Diving trips from the south island . they have the fastest boat of all the local operators so will get you to the most remote, un- spoilt Thailand Diving sites in speed and comfort- you also get to the dive site first so you can enjoy it before other operators arrive with their divers.
Here is a taste of some of the best dive sites the area can offer in Thailand Diving. We found the dive sites were limited but the marine life was exquisite and of our we were privileged enough to see beautiful Manta rays on two occasion which for us was the high light of our Thailand Diving.

KOH HAA

This is one of our favorite Thailnad diving destinations. Five beautiful limestone islands with a shallow lagoon and white powder beach above the surface, and a magical Thailand diving experience below. The islands are separated by deep water channels, and are famous for the exceptional visibility. With a choice of six dive sites, provide excellent Thailand diving for all levels of diver. Here you will find colorful coral gardens and fringing reefs, impressive walls, strange pinnacle formations, and huge cathedral like caves.

Marine life is both diverse and abundant for Thailand Diving , with beautiful soft corals, fans and anemones covering walls and pinnacles. The macro buff will find nudibranchs, ghost pipefish and sea horses, as well as many species of exotic reef dwellers, giant Morays and playful Octopus, whilst out in the blue Tuna and Barracuda hunt shoals of small fish in formation, creating a moving picture of silver and bronze.

Another great attraction of Thailand diving at Koh Haa is its location, just 15km. west of Pimalai. Departing at 0800 we have normally completed our first dive before anyone else arrives. After two dives with one hour surface interval, we are back at Pimalai at 1400. Leaving you the rest of day to relax and share your Thailand Diving experience with other guest or holiday makers at the resort.

PHI PHI ISLANDS

Phi Phi provides a stunning setting, for Thailand Diving with a number of good dive sites to choose from, the best by far for Thailand Diving are the Bida islands. Koh Bida Nai is also known as fantasy rock, for the pinnacles creating a playground of swim throughs on the south of the island. This is a very popular area suitable for all levels of diver, with an average depth of 10 to 25 meters. Famous in Thailand Diving for the huge Gorgonian fans found on the wall and ledges to the North of Koh Bida Nok. With limestone outcrops and pinnacles everywhere, covered with an amazing variety of soft corals and marine life. The little critters are abundant, but our favorites are the Turtles and the Leopard Sharks, which can grow to three meters in length, although you are more likely to encounter the two meter version. Koh Bida offers a great Thailand Diving experience, but it must be said that all of the Thailand Diving sites around Phi Phi can be busy. Situated North West of Pimalai we are normally return at 1500, after our two dive schedule. Occassionally visiting Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed for the surface interval.

HIN DAENG (THE RED ROCK)

35 Km South West of Koh Lanta, we find the most famous dive site in Thailand Diving. Many articles have been written about Hin Daeng and it is easy to see why, this is one of the most dramatic dive sites in Thailand Diving waters. The Red Rock is named from the huge red soft corals that cover the upper part of the sea mount. Rising up from the depths the peak of this rock formation only just breaks the surface, but underwater you will find a series of vertical walls and ledges that plunge down well below 50 meters on one side, and a relatively gentle slope and canyon on the other, that is home to an incredible variety of fauna and marine life.

When conditions are good the visibility can exceed 35 meters, and looking up at the rock formation surrounded by dense clouds of shoaling fish is a magical experience in Thailand Diving. Everything here is bigger, and Hin Daeng attracts many pelagic species. Rainbow Runners and giant Barracuda hang motionless in menacing shoals, while Jacks and Tuna are in perpetual motion buzzing in on the unwary. Sharks and Manta Rays are seen regularly and if you are very lucky in your Thailand Diving experience you will encounter a Whale Shark. The trip starts at 0800, returning at 1530.

HIN MUANG (THE PURPLE ROCK)

Hin Muang is the other world class Thialnd Diving site in the southern Andaman and our favorite, perhaps not as well known as Hin Daeng, but easily on par with the quality of diving in the Similan Islands or any other site Thailand has to offer. Situated 500 meters from Hin Daeng, it features a series of five sea mounts or a large ridge starting at eight meters below the surface and going progressively deeper with vertical walls dropping off to 70 meters, making it the deepest dive site in Thailand.

At 35 meters the ridge breaks up into a series of pinnacles and rocky outcrops that continue, well below recreational dive limits, and almost join up with Hin Daeng. This dive site is absolutely covered with purple and pink soft corals, close encounters with huge Manta Rays are common, often in groups, and large shoals of pelagic fish are every where. Hin Muang offers everything Hin Daeng offers and much more. On good days it is quite simply awesome, and a dive you will remember for a very long time.

STOP PRESS…….Look at our new TRAVEL section

This months travel hot spot is The Grand Cayman

We are please to announce the launch of our new travel section we will be featuring information on a particular resort every month. Please let us know if you have had a good or bad experience of any resort worldwide and we will try and include your comments when we feature that resort. So send us any information and pictures to info@activeaqua.com

 

 

Snorkeling Travel
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