Boonsung Wreck
was formerly one of many vessels that were used in the previously booming tin mining trade along the west coast of Thailand especially around Phuket and Khao lak. Allegedly it sank due to a faulty toilet and came to rest on the sandy bottom in just 18m of water just outside Khao Lak. Originally it was a hazard to shipping and the Thai navy dropped a couple of bombs to level it out a bit, add that to the damage created by the 2004 tsunami and we’re left with something that’s hardly recognisable as a boat but it attracts an incredible amount of life.
Although technically not part of the Similan Islands it’s used as the final two dives of many liveaboard safaris’ due to it’s close proximity to Khao Lak. It’s location on an extensive flat, sandy and featureless underwater plain makes it a haven for fish and attracts wildlife from miles around. The schools of fish are simply huge and consist of many different species – forsters barracuda, snapper, fusilier and batfish to name a few. Even puffer and porcupine fish congregate in large numbers here, something we don’t see on any other Thailand west coast dive site.
It’s location does have one significant disadvantage, visibility is rarely more than 10m so descending on one of the buoy lines is a must, very often you can’t see the wreck from the surface. Once you’ve reached the wreck navigation is easy and you simply move in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction moving from one section of this broken up wreck to the next, ending the dive hopefully on the buoy line that you descended on. Don’t stray away from the wreck and you won’t get lost