Hello, we are Gowithgu, a group of friends who are addicted to adventure and the beauty of nature. We devote our physical strength, mental strength, and financial resources to sleeping in tents in the forest, carrying backpacks up mountains, and diving into the sea.

Anyone who loves adventure, both on land and underwater, both Thai and foreign, can like the Facebook Page Gowithgu.

If you can't decide whether to go to the sea or the mountains, come with us and we will take you to the mountains and the sea.
#4teenpeenkhao #2taoteefin
Mon Thu Le, wandering to Mon Klui http://pantip.com/topic/34878685
Sipping beer, watching the stars, driving along the Lao border to "Sam Phan Bok" http://pantip.com/topic/34911201
Solo trip to Chumphon, diving and sleeping like an islander http://pantip.com/topic/35021089


On Saturday-Sunday, March 19-20, 2016, we had the opportunity to go diving in Bang Saphan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. At first, we were confused because we heard that Prachuap Khiri Khan has a deep diving spot. Because it is more famous for snorkeling. Out of curiosity, we decided to go without hesitation.

The dive sites we went to were
Day 1
-SOS Rock Pile
-Duck Shop Island
-Chicken Shop Island
*night dive: Ao Thonglang (O2 tank fee 120 baht)

Day 2
-Koh Sang
-Koh Talay

Cost 7500 baht (excluding equipment rental fee of 400 baht per day)

As for the first day of diving, the dive site is far from Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, closer to Chumphon. The name of the island is unfamiliar. It sounds like I'm hungry for poultry right away. I have a question in my mind. Why is it called Duck Shop Island, Chicken Shop Island? What's going on…? I can only keep my doubts. As for the second day, the name of the island is very familiar. Many people must have had the opportunity to go snorkeling. Because the island is beautiful, the underwater nature is still abundant. Snorkeling tourism is therefore very popular.

We set off on Friday night, traveling for about 5 hours. It took quite a while because the road down south is not yet finished.
(And I don't know when it will be finished) When we arrived at the accommodation, we went to bed early because we had to go to the boat early in the morning.

On Saturday morning, we left the accommodation for the pier, which is not far away. We had breakfast at the pier and then boarded the boat to the first dive site, SOS Rock Pile.

It takes about an hour and a half from the pier. We got our equipment ready and then rested. When we were close to the dive site, the staff would give us a briefing. So we learned that the SOS Rock Pile was discovered by a diving group called SOS and was named after their group. This rock pile is only a short distance from Duck Shop Island and Chicken Shop Island.

But then we had to change our plans because we couldn't find the buoy at SOS Rock Pile. In addition, there were fishing boats fishing in the area (later we learned that the fishing boat was parked on top of the buoy). So we moved to dive at Chicken Shop Island first. After listening to a brief briefing, we learned the origin of the name Chicken Shop Island (Million Chickens). This is because the island used to be home to a large number of seabirds that would come to nest periodically, making loud chirping sounds. The villagers therefore called it Chicken Shop Island (Million Chickens). As for the island next to it, it was given a similar name: Duck Shop Island (Million Ducks). The area is abundant with black coral in many colors, like an underwater forest, providing shelter for many small marine animals.
For this reason, we had to change the dive sites to Chicken Shop Island - Duck Shop Island - SOS Rock Pile in that order.

The highlight of Koh Racha Yai is the heart-shaped hole in the cave. When looking up from below through the heart shape, you will see the beautiful waves on the water surface.


In a slightly cloudy cave


Scorpionfish are masters of camouflage, blending seamlessly into their surroundings. If you're not careful, you might miss them completely.


Beautiful colorful buttons


Duck Shop Island


Dive into the channel, surrounded by anemones.


Lod Chong is here


The highlight of Ko Raet is the cave that goes through from top to bottom.


Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm underwater or in the sky.


Baby moray eel


Encountered Scorpion Fish again, this time with a good angle for a head-on shot.


Looking for trouble, huh? Indian clownfish


Look up at the sky.


Details of nature


This area around the SOS stone pile can be called a Black Coral forest. It's truly pristine.


After being satisfied with the three dives, we went ashore for dinner and prepared to go for a night dive. The special thing about this night dive was that it was a shore dive, which means we put on our equipment on the shore and walked from the shore into the water. We were especially interested in this because we don't often have the opportunity to dive like this in Thailand (usually we have to take a boat to the dive site). And what's even more special is that this night dive was a REAL night dive! It was already 22:30 by the time we got into the water. This was due to the delay of some divers who were late to board the boat on the last dive in the afternoon (divers need to be on time!). Plus, the distance to the night dive site at Ao Thong Lang was more than an hour away from our accommodation (unexpected). Of course, fatigue and drowsiness were overwhelming, but that wasn't a problem for those of us who wanted to try a new experience, so we had to "force" ourselves to prepare our diving equipment.

This night dive was less than 3 meters deep, which made us susceptible to the waves on the surface. The sandy bottom was littered with garbage due to its proximity to the shore. The water was murky with sediment, significantly limiting the area we could explore. The flashlight couldn't penetrate the sediment, so we had to stick together. We saw very few creatures, and the surface waves made it impossible to take good pictures. So I thought, "Well, at least I can try out the new flashlight's UV light." The UV light's property is that when it hits coral, anemones, and some marine life, it makes them reflect beautiful fluorescent colors. It was an impressive sight (although the photos didn't turn out well because the waves made the camera shake).

I could only dive for 20 minutes, no more. I had to rush back to shore and call my friend out of the water because I got seasick!!! I forgot to take motion sickness medication beforehand. (lol)


Finally, we washed our equipment and returned to our accommodation. It was already 2 am by the time we went to bed. We had to prepare for diving the next day...


**Note for those who have their own equipment: I highly recommend avoiding shore dives as much as possible. Sand can easily get into the nooks and crannies of your beloved equipment, as we experienced.



And then came the last day of our trip. Today, we had a plan to dive at Koh Sang and Koh Taloo, which are already famous for snorkeling. When we arrived at the dive site, there were tourist snorkel boats parked there. But we were diving at a different spot. Before diving, we jumped in for some snorkeling.

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The dive site at Koh Sang is only 7 meters deep, which allowed us to stay underwater for a very long time. This dive lasted a total of 81 minutes! The water wasn't very clear, but there was so much to see! We had a lot of fun diving and taking pictures.

Coral planting


This one is so cute, sleeping soundly for a photo


A field of fiery red anemones


Little sea snake


And then we arrived at Koh Thalu, which is our last dive site for today. The island is beautiful and worth going ashore to collect the light. And like Koh Sang, there are already tourist snorkel boats parked there. The boats are packed with tourists of all ages, but it's not a problem because they're getting ready to go back.



This dive site is only 8 meters deep, not much different from Koh Sang. This time we started by jumping into the water Free Diving.

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After being tired from free diving, so as not to waste time, we got dressed and prepared to continue diving. This dive was 63 minutes long and there were a lot of things to see, just like Koh Sang. The environment, depth and creatures we encountered made me want to come and do a night dive at both dive sites.



It's so hot!!!

This tiny sea slug is incredibly fast, making it extremely difficult to photograph.


Watch your back!!!!!


Hooray!!!! Humphead wrasse


Yellow Butterflyfish Weibels


The Indian Red Anemonefish in Baan Saen Rak


Normally, we only see mullet on the table for ancestor worship, right?


Am I handsome?


I've caught a lot of fish, time for a selfie!


Normally on the beach we will find small hermit crabs, but if we dive down we will find ones bigger than our hands!!


I see a lot of people going to see the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan lately. I guess we'll just have to settle for looking at the cherry blossoms under the sea for now...


Let's go with this green fish that reflects light. Its color is so bright!


These are just a few photos from our diving trip in the "Gulf of Thailand". The beauty from a new perspective on the world we live in is truly amazing and worth exploring.


Recently, I have been reading news about coral bleaching, which is increasing and becoming more severe. This year will be the hottest year on record. The latest news that saddens me is that the Great Barrier Reef in Australia has suffered extensive coral bleaching...
[Spoil] Click to view hidden text(hide) Some news content
http://gizmodo.com/a-nightmare-is-unfolding-in-the-great-barrier-reef-1767702006
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/30/11332636/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/03/29/widespread_coral_bleaching_in_australia_s_great_barrier_reef.html

Because coral is a very sensitive organism to environmental changes, such as temperature, water quality changes (salinity, pH), and sediments, all of which can easily kill coral. Now, when the coral reefs die and collapse, it will affect all the creatures under the sea. The beautiful scenery will disappear. The consequence is that we will lose the ecosystem services that we get for free, such as tourism, breeding grounds for aquatic animals, fortresses that prevent coastal erosion, and this does not include the butterfly effect that will continue to affect everything from plankton to whale sharks and humans.

Finally, I would like to tell everyone that global warming, which we have been talking about for decades, is still happening and is getting worse. I don't need to talk about how to prevent or reduce global warming. Everyone knows it already. Please believe that we can do it. At least we can slow down this disaster... even a little bit.

Additional


Thank you to P'Ton Nemo, the coolest tech diver, for being our dive leader on this trip.

And P'Pat, the most beautiful dive leader, always pointed out things for me to take pictures of. He's really amazing.


We didn't take any pictures together on land, only underwater. Hehe.

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