Hin Daeng / Hin Muang

[Christian]

Hi list

I'm going on a family trip to Thailand on march 1 and thought I'd get some diving done as well. Since it will not be a diving trip, I can only dedicate a maximum of two days for diving. We will stay in the Krabi province in Ao Nang.

My idea was to catch a 2-day liveabaord to Red Rock and Purple Rock, or do speedboat daytrips to the same destinations.

Anybody can give some advice on operators and details about their operations; where does their trips depart from, how many dives a day etc?

cheers

Christian

 

[divingbook]

Dear Christian,

I think there is no boat from Krabi goes to Red Rock and Purple Rock.

What you can do is go to Lanta island from Krabi. There are many dive operators there doing day trip to Red Rock and Purple Rock.

Have fun !!!!

 

[Christian]

thanks

I know there are trips departing from Kho Lanta, it is only a two hour boatride (or taxi) from Ao Nang, so it will be no problem for me to depart from Lanta. Do you have any specific information about operators to reccomend?

I know for sure there are speedboats departing from Phuket as well as from Phi Phi Islands, but have no updated information because my last visit to the region was a few years ago.

Anyway, I would prefer a 2-day trip, spending the night on the sea because the speedboat trips only offer 2 dives a day due to the long travel distances fort and back.

cheers

Christian

 

[Jonathan]

don't go on the speed boat - you'll regret it! That is not from personal experience but from DM's whilst I was there last month. Also a friend of mine went on a day trip from Koh Lanta and she wasn't impressed. There are many live aboards from Phuket and I went on the MV Colona VI 2 day trip from there and can highly recommend that.

Hope that helps
Jonathan

 

[Christian]

Thanks

Is Colona VI the little sailboat owned by Freddi Storheil? Maybe it is the Colona V ..?

How many dives did you get on Hin Muang and Hin Daeng? No of dives in total? Did this trip depart from Phuket?

Can I be as blunt to ask what you paid for the trip?

cheers

Christian

 

[Jonathan]

We did one dive at Hin Muang and 2 at Hin Daeng - then on to Phi Phi and King Cruiser.

No it's not a sailboat but a 30m+ boat - up to 14 guests.

You can be as blunt as you like I don't know! My booking got so mixed up as I originally payed for another boat and schedule. I think it was around the $400 mark, maybe a bit less.

Jonathan

 

[RSdiver]

Krabi is very nice, I've been there and enjoyed it.

You can book trips via the internet prior to going, but I've found that the prices are significantly lower if you barter with shops in person.

Diving at Hin daeng, and Hin muang are dependent on water conditions as it takes a bit of a trip to get there.
Click here for a good website on Hin daeng diving

 

[Batfish]

Both the Colona 6 and the Mermaid 2 run trips to Hin Daeng/Hin Muang by liveaboard. The Colona trip is a 2 day/2 night and is a bit cheaper than the Mermaid which offers 2 day/3night. Note that not all the dives are at Hin Daeng/Hin Muang - you also dive at Koh Ha and Phi Phi. The Colona schedule has dives at King Cruiser and Racha Noi on this trip...I'm interested - Jonathan, which dive sites did you dive??

For day trips, the Marina Catamaran runs on Thursdays to Hin Daeng.

Prices are (approx)

Colona $320
Mermaid $385

Day Trip $105

There are not so many boats running to Hin Daeng. It's a great dive site, so is Hin Muang. I used to work on a liveaboard called the Koon. We were one of just a few going down there. For me these sites are equal to any in Similan/Surin, and I saw 3 whalesharks in one day in April 2000.

Have a good trip!

 

[Jonathan]

I did Hin Muang, then 2 dives at Hin Deang then it was all over for me as I had a cold.

I was pretty out of it for the next 24 hours but they did a night dive near "The Beach", the first morning dive the next day was around a small Koh nearby, then the King Cruiser and then another site on the way back to Patong maybe 1 hour from King Cruiser.

Sorry for being vague but as I said I was out of it and as I did not do the dives they are not in my log book!!

Also as RSDiver says Hin Daeng and Muang are dependant on the weather....

Jonathan

 

[Christian]

Thank's for the info. Appreciate it. Looking forward to the trip since my last trip to Thailand ws a few yeras ago (1997). I have dived all of the sites around Phuket, Phi Phi, Similan Islands and Surin Islands, but have yet to dive Red Rock and Purple Rock. Hopefully the weather will be calm as I only have a week there. But this time of year it is normally calm enough.

Cheers

Christian