King Cruiser Wreck

Wreck Diving Koh Lanta, Thailand with Ocean Divers

The sinking of the King Cruiser car ferry in 1997 has become a local legend, with many people suspecting the vessel was sunk as part of an insurance fraud. While many of the details are obscured by rumor and innuendo we do know that the ship struck Anemone Reef and sunk in 30m of water. The top of the wreck lies at about 16m, and on very good days can be seen from the surface.

There can be very strong currents that can make descents and ascents interesting, there is a mooring line without which diving the wreck would be almost impossible when the current is running. Visibility can vary greatly from one day to the next, with a minimum of 5m up to 30m. Unfortunately the wreck has suffered from its time underwater and many parts of the ship have collapsed over time. As recently as 2008 it was still possible to penetrate many areas of the wreck including the vehicle deck (which is empty, even though it is rumored the insurance claim had details of lots of cars and trucks!) however apart from some nice “swim throughs” penetration of the wreck is now strongly discouraged on safety grounds.

Like the visibility, the marine life on the wreck varies wildly from one day to the next. In low currents the boat can be virtually obscured by huge shoals of snapper and trevally. Big barracuda are frequent visitors. There are a lot of lion fish and scorpion fish, which while interesting, are another good reason to avoid penetrating the boat. For the macro lovers and photographers there are many nudibranchs and other critters which inhabit the nooks and crannies.

While this dive does have some challenges, it also has many rewards. Due to the unpredictably of the conditions and the exposure to some very strong currents this dive is suited to more experienced divers. Less experienced divers can enjoy the wreck as part of a course, under the supervision of one of our PADI instructors.

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