Bida Nok & Palong Wall - Phi Phi Islands
Today I am diving with Visa diving Center to Bida Nok, a small cliff island south of Phi Phi Ley and Palong Wall on the Western side of Phi Phi Ley. Bida Nok is known the world over for its excellent diving.
We depart at 8.15am for a morning dive to get the most of the sunlight. Return will be at 2.30pm after 2 dive with a nice lunch (there is a large selection of various local dishes or sandwiches) and rest in between.
I am with a group of students doing their second dive on this amazing spot. A group from another dive company joins us on the VisaDiving boat.
My buddy’s name Chris, a cool dive master from Sweden.
Dive log
Location: Bida Nok, Phi Phi Islands
Max depth: 19.2m
Average depth: 14m
Time: 50mn
Seen:
- Hawksbill turtle appeared sudenly after a beautiful pass between 2 big rocks.
- Leopard shark was sleeping on the sand with a Re Morray fish on its back. I got very close to him (50cm), slowly approaching on my knees. It let me approach and then went away touching me with its tail. It was amazing!
- Bearded Scorpion fish. Chris told me that with 12 venimous darts on its back, it’s better not to touch it. In the best case, you would spend a month in the hospital with terrible joints pain.
- Juvenile boxfish (yellow)
- Coral Rock Cod
- Big bromfish grouper
- Angel fish
- Big school of yellotail snappers
- Boring clams
- Morish Idol & longfin banner fish
- Marble Sea Cucumbers
- Bubble corals (favorite lunch for turtles)
- Whip corals
- Brain corals
- Fan corals
- Fire corals
- Staghorn Corals
- Sponge coral (basket coral)
- Large Solid Table corals with black small fishes with a white dot
- The following coral which opens up a night:
After this really amazing dive with a lot of fishes, colorful corals and a Leopard Shark, the boat picks us up and we can go to the 2nd dive spot, Palong Wall where we have lunch.
Dive log
Location: Palong Wall (starting from north to south), Phi Phi Ley Island.
Max depth: 16.4m
Time: 62mn
Seen:
- A few small (50cm) and a big (1.5m) Black Tip Reef sharks
- Two white Punted Spinay Lobsters (and a dead one)
- A huge green turtle (90cm+): Chris said it was the largest he ever seen and it was like double the normal size!
- Parrot fishes. At night, this fish spits some mucus which forms a protective bubble around it. Sprinkle sand to see this bubble.
- Pufferfish. This fish can blow up 3 times max with venemous dart. The acid released each time will kill him after 3 times. So don’t make it blow up.
- Titanfish.
- Clark’s Anemone fishes (Clown fish).
- Seal Faced Puffers
- Varicose Wart Slug
- Blue Ringed Angelfish
- Black Diadema Sea Urchins
- Indian Cushion Seastar
After this very good dive, the boat brings us a back to Phi Phi Don Island where we get our dive book stamped.
Diving in the Phi Phi Islands is absolutly a must for fun divers or diving students coming to Thailand.
Contacts
Visa Diving Center
Tom Sorensen (Manager)
77, Moo 7, Phi Phi Islands, Krabi 81000, Thailand
Telephone: +66 (0) 75-601-157
Fax: +66 (0) 75-601-269
Mobile: +66 (0) 86-119-4570
visadiving @ gmail.com