Just off the coast of Koh Phi Phi the Thai authorities have sunk a decommissioned naval vessel. This is to give an additional diving site for the tourists and visitors to the Phi Phi Islands National Marine Reserve. Fish are attracted to wrecks very quickly and within a short period of time a wreck will quickly become a fantastic dive site. Soon the structure of the wreck will be covered in corals and like magic we have a brand new coral reef to explore.
I ventured out to the wreck not long ago by myself. Its a little bit illegal, or at the least frowned upon, to solo dive a wreck but when it comes to diving I make up my own rules. It is after all what I do for a living....:) I also wanted to dive it without other divers so I could film without being disturbed. I brought a friend along to film me on the boat and I did a little talking before entering the water - now you can all see what I look like hahaha.
As I said on the video - descending on to a new wreck alone for the first time can be a little disconcerting. It's spooky and when the weather is cloudy (as on this day) its kind of gloomy down there. It's only during the descent though that I feel a little nervous - once I arrive on the wreck and see all my old friends there waiting for (the fishes), I immediately feel relaxed and at home.
The wreck had not been down very long when I filmed so there was very little coral yet to form but I was excited to see just how many fish had moved on to the wreck already. There were schools of snapper, some longfin bannerfish, pufferfish, triggerfish and lionfish and many other species. The wreck still had all its structure in place and it was even possible to go inside a little.
So all things considered it was a pretty good dive. I must point out to readers that solo diving is not recommended and solo diving on a wreck that you have never been on is borderline dumb...:) Phi Phi Islands already have tons of beautiful dive sites and I don't think this new wreck offers anything better than the long established dive sites around the island. But from a training perspective for divers it's great that there is a wreck nearby to learn the protocols and procedures of wreck diving. Hope you like the video...:)
