With the boys now being newly minted PADI Open Water divers, and me fresh off my Rescue Diver Course, it only made sense that we should do some scuba diving while in Thailand — at least that is how my brain is wired. There is the minor fact that I had Dengue Fever and was supposed to be taking it easy, but in my defense I did wait until the last day so I was practically better, honest (that being said, I hope that neither my doctor nor my mother read this blog entry!).

Shortly after we arrived, as a family we took a half day trip snorkeling at 3 islands around Koh Chang and had a wonderful time basking in the waters, getting terribly sunburned, and enjoying the coral and the schools of fish which swam beneath us. That being said, it only whetted my appetite for more.

I was particularly anxious to take the boys diving in Thailand because when they did their Open Water course in Goa the visibility was only about 1-2 meters at best (the instructor said it was the worst he had seen it in 15 years). I wanted them to know that this was not the norm and that there were actually places where they could have a view and enjoy seeing lots of different forms of sea life. The diving on Koh Chang is not world class, but we still had 15-20 m of visibility.

The first dive of the day was a wreck dive — the 712 HTMS Chang. The ship had an interesting and storied history with the US Navy, first as LTS-898, and then as the USS Lincoln County. Having first been commissioned during the waning days of the Second World War and taking part in the Inchon landing during the Korean War, the ship was decommissioned in the early 1960s and sold to the Thai Navy. After another 50 years of service, rather than being sold for scrap it was decided to intentionally sink the HTMS Chang to buoy the local dive economy and create an artificial reef. The ship is just over 100 m long and stern of the ship is in about 30 m of water, with the main deck about 20 m deep. Unfortunately this meant that it was too deep for the boys to dive since Open Water divers are only certified to 18m. I, however, was able to head below with the dive master and enjoy the sights. The ship was only sunk in 2012, but I was amazed by how thoroughly it had become one with the ocean and the variety of marine life which call the ship home.

There can be great things to see deep underwater, but the unfortunate thing is that the deeper you dive, the faster you use your air supply. As a result the dive only lasted 35 minutes. That being said there was lots to see and the boys were encouraged to do their Advanced Open Water so that they can be certified to do deep dives.

We weighed anchor and had a nice Thai lunch while moving to the first of two reef dives — Hin Luk and Hin Raab — that we were all able to enjoy in the afternoon. There was lots of marine life to see — angel fish, parrot fish, puffer fish, groupers, moray eels, lots of others kinds of fish that I don’t know the name of, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and various types of coral.

It has been 20 years since I last dived in Asia. Perhaps it is just the location at Koh Chang, but the thing I found most striking was that the coral was dull and grey. It could be that my memory is playing tricks on me in my old age, but the thing I remember most about diving in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia is the brilliantly coloured coral. Of all the coral I saw, there was only one piece, about the size of a loaf of bread, that was bright electric blue. I fear that global warming and the rising temperatures of the world’s oceans has bleached much of the life out of the once vibrant reefs. I am sad that this is something that my kids might never be able to experience. That being said, to prove my point I guess I will now just have to travel around the world diving in search of beautifully coloured coral reefs.