As most of the avid wreck divers of Thailand know, the HTMS Chang was finally sunk on November 22, 2012. As we had visited the wreck before it was an underwater wreck I could not wait to see it underwater. We took a three day trip down there, with the main objective being to find out how to fulfill all the logistics of organizing a week end dive trip just on the wreck. Most of the existing dive shops on Koh Chang will have the same restrictions that we have here in Pattaya, mainly that since our boat is not full of only wreck divers, we can only generally offer one wreck dive a day. Now, if I am going to make the trip to Koh Chang, I don’t really want to do coral dives that we can do right here, so hence, the necessity of our own boat, tanks of Nitrox, food, lodgings and control of our own schedule. In this respect we were really quite successful as we have been able to organize everything to our satisfaction. One thing we did learn while there is to give December a miss, as all resources on Koh Chang will be booked tight for the whole month.
The second part of our mission there was of course to dive the HTMS Chang. We lucked out and found some extra tanks and booked a small fishing boat to take us out there. After about a 45 minute slow steam to the wreck we found a nice big buoy with a solar powered light on it marking the wreck. All around the wreck were large schools of small fish all leaping out of the water all around us. I was ready first and jumped in to the water and swum to the buoy and put my masked face in the water and looked down. I could touch the top of the communications tower with my fin while still floating on the surface and from there could see down to the main deck 22 meters down. I shouted out impatiently for the others asking “Hey, do you guys need a special invitation to go diving?”
Once we got together and started to go down, I couldn’t believe it. At three meters down, after at least three years of no problem equalization of my ears, I couldn’t equalize! After a few moments of trying, I signaled to the other two guys to go ahead with out me. As I struggled to get to five meters I watched in despair as the two others reached the main deck and disappeared. Determined not to have made this trip in vain, I climbed down the communication tower’s ladder, one step at a time, equalizing through osmosis till after thirteen minutes I was finally on the deck. On the way down I saw two juvenile Bat Fish hanging around the tower and could see a school of squid hanging off the stern a few meters out.
Once down to twenty meters, equalization no longer a big problem I started my dive. Unencumbered by buddies I decided to have a good look inside. Once inside more than a meters in, little or no preparation was made to make this a recreational dive wreck. With furniture having fallen in front of doors and hatch ways, wires and lights hanging from the ceiling down stairways, it truly is a wreck with all of it’s intrigue and dangers. I cleared the way down to the middle decks and opened some doors by kicking on the latches till they gave way and made it in about four rooms down when I came to door that I could not open. Next time I go there I will definitely bring a lump Hammer and a large cable cutter to get around with. At any rate, this wreck can offer some pretty sedate but spectacular dives or some definitely challenging ones. (not for the faint hearted)
Once this ship has become truly inhabited, this will be beyond a doubt the best wreck dive in Thailand. (Unless they donate their idle Aircraft carrier for a new artificial reef)