Khao Sok Lake Diving

From Dani after a recent trip...and photos from Leigh Dunne

What about sleeping in a floating house surrounded by astonishing limestone karsts, waking up
early in the morning with the gibbon's call and, before having breakfast, go kayaking in the calmest
waters, looking for monkeys, birds and other wildlife? And, afterwards, jump from the longtail and
dive the lake waters, amongst trees, caves, stalagtites and curious catfishes? All this is part of the
amazing experiences that you can live in the Chiau Lan Lake in the Khao Sok National Park.

Around Khao Lak there are not only beaches, islands and coral reefs! The Lake is only at 2 hours
car ride from our office.

Lake Diving in Thailand? Yes, is an experience that have been described in a lot of different ways
for the people that have been enjoying it: unreal, completely different, creepy, of a weird beauty,
awesome,...we would agree with all of them.

We are talking about a young lake; only thirty years ago, before the waters sunk all the area, this
was part of the ancient and rich rainforest that fills all the park and surrounds the lake, one of the
richest and oldest jungles in the world. This means that, underwater, there are still a lot of huge
trees from this jungle. Also, as you're going discover in your trips with the longtail and the bamboo
raft, and from you walks through the jungle, the area is full of misterious caves, and, underwater,
of course, is not different. While flying amongst the dead branches of these impressive trees,
spectacular stalagtites surprise you, welcoming you to caves; and, while staying outside, admire the
stalagtites that come from far ahead you, the stone columns, and, pointing inside with the light of
the torches, more and more stalagtites and holes, and darkness...and, between the rock formations,
an elusive and fantastic featherback swims away, and inquisitive catfishes come close to you,
guessing what are these big and strange things that make bubbles and visit their quiet territories.
find out more about our Khao Sok Lake Diving
Other species that you can find are: tiny freshwater shrimps, transverse-bar barbs, nandids or, If you
are lucky, a green pufferfish. But, altought all this animals are amazing and interesting, what really
catches the people is the landscape and what is surrounding you. Diving around “tim burtonian”
trees and ancient stalagtites, being touched by the barbels of an inquisitive catfish, and then surface
in this marvelous landscape, is really something different!!!

And what about the conditions? Is lake diving, but don't think about the diving in mountain lakes
back home; here we are not talking about altitude diving nor about cold water diving. Diving in
Chao Lan is being submerged in warm waters, the same temperature as the one you enjoy when
diving around the Surins or the Similan Islands; yes, we are talking about 29 C...a tropical lake! So
you are going to be able to dive confortably with your shortie, or If you like, with your swimming
suit. And, If you add to this the fact that you are diving in fresh water, you are going to be amazed
about the small amount of weights that they need (or not at all!). Also, the waters are so calm that
sometimes, in front of motionless pieces of dust or a solitary hovering leaf, you have to look to your
dive computer to make sure that the seconds are still running, and that the time hasn't stop; a feeling
that you can have often during your dives in the lake.

-Similan Diving

Khao Sok National Park

Below is a blurb from our revised Khao Sok page. Information about how to get there, what to expect and more. Oh yeah - and we do diving there!!!

Khao Sok National Park

Established as a National Park in 1980 Khao Sok is one of the most unique and popular destinations in Southern Thailand., the park itself is part of the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world. Located in the Western part of Suratthani Province, it is easily accessible from Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak and Koh Samui.

Khao Sok National Park covers 646sq km of thick native rainforest with towering limestone cliffs, an island studded lake and is connected to two other Thai National Parks, Kaeng Krug and Phang-Nga. Khao Sok is also enjoined with the Khlong Saen and Khlong Naka wild life sanctuaries. Together these five locations combine to form the largest protected nature preserve on the Thai-Malaysian peninsula, covering an area of 4,000sq km.

The landscape features three breathtaking waterfalls; Sip-Et Chan (4km), Than Sawan (9km) and Than Kloy (9km) which filter down in to beautiful smaller streams found all along the various trails.

Another prominent feature of Khao Sok National Park is the imposing Pantoorat Mountain.Named after a giant in Thai mythology who is said to have died at Khao Sok of a broken heart when her adopted son ran away, the mountain outline resembles a body laid to rest.

Wildlife
Visitors will be treated to glimpses of the plethora of wildlife living in the park, such as Wild Elephants, Leopards, Tigers, Malayan Sun Bears, Malayan Tapir, Wild Boar, Sambar Deer various species of Monkey, the Asian Ox and neumerous reptiles and amphibians.
There are also 38 species of Bat living in the network of caves scattered around the park and over 180 different species of Bird can be found in the skies of Khao Sok.

Fauna and Flora
Khao Sok is perhaps most famous for the Rafflesia flower, discovered by Dr. Joseph Arnold and named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (the founder of Singapore) this impressive bloom can grow to over 100 centimetres (39 in) in diameter, and weigh up to 10 kilograms. To see the Rafflesia flower you have to go when it is in bloom around late January or early February
Other prominent flora and fauna found in The Khao Sok National Park include bamboo, lianas, ferns, palms (such as the rare Kerriodoxa elegans which only grows at Khao Sok and Ko Phuket), rattan (including the giant rattan with 10 cm diameter stems), and last but not least the wild lotus (Bua Phut which can reach up to 80 cm in diameter).

Activities
There is so much to see and do here in Khao Sok! You can find a great selection of activities at Khao Sok, ranging from visits to caves and River Running to Elephant Trekking, Jungle Trekking, Canoeing, Rafting, Night Safaris, Zipline Riding, Spelunking, Tubing, Swimming and Scuba Diving. The great news is that here at Wicked we offer Khao Sok Diving tours to the Chiaw Lan Lake where you will see Giant catfish, caverns, submerged trees and even a sunken village!

-Wicked Diving Thailand

Khao Sok Diving

Wicked Diving - Khao Sok Lake diving!

The renovations of the Wicked Diving shop are going well, so Ricky and Diego organised a trip to Khao Sok as a treat for us, and a little break from the painting and hammering etc!

Khao Sok is a national park pretty close to Khao Lak, in Suratthani province – it was established in December 1980, and it’s got some of the oldest rainforest in the world.

The national park’s about 2 hours drive from Khao Lak, and when you’re nearing the park, it’s a beautifully scenic drive through jungle and massive limestone karst formations. Within Khao Sok, the Ratchaprapa Dam was created in 1982, by closing off the Pasaeng River, resulting in the formation of a 165 square km lake. The dam was built as a hydroelectric source for the surrounding area, so obviously it’s extremely useful and helpful to the economy to provide sustainable energy in this way, but it’s also an awesome place to go visit for a daytrip!

There are some scuba divers who head to the lake in Khao Sok for full-on cave diving and technical courses, but we were after a slightly more restful day, so recreational diving all the way! Keep it fun, easy and interesting.

There’s something really fun about diving from a longtail in a lake surrounded by pristine jungle and limestone cliffs... the Thai captain cruises through the maze of limestone mountains, and we’re the only ones at the dive site, it’s so peaceful. Jump in, the surface is a bit hazy, but then you descend down into clear water, with a funky green light, the torch lights sparkle purple instead of the yellow you’re used to.

The lake is about 80 metres deep, although the level of the reservoir has fallen by 10 or 15 metres in the last year, so the bottom’s a wee bit closer now, but because of the trip back over the hills we kept the diving nicely conservative, with a max depth of 20 metres. The topography’s stunning. We’re used to diving on limestone dive sites north of the Similan Islands at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, and on the islands there you can see the rock formations, but Khao Sok takes it to another level – the stalactites and rock strata make the dive into a fairy grotto – very cool.

The sun came out in time for lunch on the longtail, listening to the birds and monkeys in the surrounding trees, then we had a wander (and a bit of a swim!) around the floating rafthouses on the lake before heading back to the longtail for another dive at Par Daeng – lots more fish at this dive site, and even bigger stalactites and trees around us during the dive. Loads to see on the dives: the underwater forest - huge trees covered when the lake was created, plenty of catfish, some up to a metre long, little shoals of glassfish, teeny shrimps and lots of other varieties of smaller freshwater fish that we need to look up in the fish books! The aquatic life isn’t as varied as diving in the Similans, but it’s more about experiencing diving in a new and totally different underwater environment than seeing colourful fishes.

With 4 tired people in the taxi on the way back, persuading P’Toy to stop the taxi for Thai pre-dinner munchies on the way back through Takuapa, we decided it was a fantastic day off - votes all round for another trip to Khao Sok soon!

We are offering these Khao Sok diving trips to all of our guests as either one day trips - or stay overnight ON the lake in floating houses. you do not need technical or cave diving background to join our trips as we are simply there to enjoy the scenery and unique setting. All these trips are in addition to our 3 day Similan Liveaboard and 5 day Similan Liveaboard trips

-Khao Lak Diving

KHAO SOK, Lakes and Diving!

Thanks to Eric for taking Adam and I on a cavern excursion to Rajjaphapa Lake by Khao Sok National Park. We did 2 dives into the caverns on NITROX to check out the limestone formations under water. AMAZING for sure!








It only started raining on us just before we got back to the pier when had to stop the longtail boat and take down thewe cover before it blew away. Just another diving and exploration adventure here in the Khao Lak area. Come and join us for some fun if you can!!



-robyn WICKED DIVING

Khao Lak Diving

Khao Sok Redux...

Khao Sok National Park




Went for a bit of a ride this week. Made my way over to Koh Tao, which is on the other side of Thailand and a bit of a boat ride. So I took my scooter and rode like the wind. A slow sort of sputtering wind, but you know I was screaming "Born to Wild" while cruising along.


(click on all pictures for a larger copies)


One of the main reasons that I took the bike was so I could poke around in Khao Sok National park. One of the most beautiful places in Thailand.



I've included just a few pictures here. There is also a bit on Khao Sok in this posting.



These massive pillars and geographical features start here in this region and continue south until you reach the much more famous (and crowded) pinnacles in Krabi and Phang Nga bay.





We often take day trips to visit these and to remind ourselves that this region of Thailand is so much more than just diving and snorkeling. Khao Sok National Park is the largest in Thailand and has some amazing wildlife - including wild Elephants, Bears, Largest Flower in the world and plenty more. The region surrounding the park is undeveloped and features not only the largest stretches of Rain forest in Thailand but the oldest existing rain forest in the world.






There is also the lake, man made and still rising. So much more - Rock Climbing, Golf Courses, rafting, trekking as well as the beaches.