Impressions of Phi Phi islands

[darsunt]

I had the opportunity to snorkel with a diving tour at phi phi recently. I came away with some impressions and wonder what you guys think of them.
1) I've heard that Indonesian and adjacent oceans were the richest reef bio systems in the world, and this tour convinced me that was true. Sometimes I felt I was swimming in a soup of life, in clouds of baby fish and plankton.
2) I saw lots of damage to the reefs (as I had been warned) not too mention lots of trash. But I got the impression the ocean is so fertile there the reefs would recover rapidly if protected. How likely is this to happen around Phi Phi?

 

[Wingy]

Just my opinion and I havent dived Phi Phi in two years but I have friends who operate a dive boat from there...

1) Yes Indonesia makes up part of the coral triangle and is great diving, but like everywhere in SEA you need to go further and further afield year after year to avoid over dived sites that are full of trash and damage to reefs and in the vague hope of finding any sharks and big fish still living.

2) Yes I have seen pics of the damage on the Phi Phi dive sites and ask about the fish..and we reminisce about diving years ago when there were massive schools of fish. Its now a tourist destination with rampant uncontrolled growth that is simply unsustainable. Yes you still see those schools of fish (I saw footage taken today of king cruiser wreck covered in fish soup) Yes reefs and oceans can recover, but we need to leave them alone to allow them time to do so. Phi Phis tourist dollar drives the economy and fills the sea with its detris..thats the price we've caused the ocean to pay for cheap holidays, cheap diving, cheap quick holiday diving and snorkelling and general pressure on insufficient infrastructure. Phi Phi cannot keep up with growth driven by demand.

What has gone is the big fish. The breeding size fish. To find those in the numbers the ocean needs, the flights get longer each year. The ocean is resilient, but its never had this much pressure put on it in such a short time span so aggressively. If you do the maths it works out worldwide a shark is killed around every 3 seconds. Those baby fish and plankton are important, There are illegal fish traps all through those waters, and the fish appearing on the tables are smaller and smaller every year. I hope some of them make it.

 

[drbill]

I spent two weeks diving on Phi Phi back in 2001 before the tsunami devastated it. I truly enjoyed that time and barely squeaked past the Thai-Malay border at midnight on the day my visa expired. I still have hopes of returning there. The oceans have taken a terrible hit (or, more accurately, a series of many hits) over the past few decades. Even the open areas in the Pacific are showing serious signs of deterioration. Yes, the marine life is resilient IF we give it the chance... but when will that really happen?

 

[darsunt]

You guys paint a sad picture. But from what I saw, a true picture.
One of the divers mentioned that a heat spell a few years back killed and whitened the coral around Phi Phi. How much of the damage is due to that influence?
I understand there are a number of national parks protecting some of the best Thai reefs, such as at the Surin islands. How good is that protection, and are those reefs relatively pristine?

 

[Wingy]

The 2010 Coral Bleaching? I wouldn't blame the heat for the state of the reefs now. Diving in 2012 the reefs showed a lot of recovery. Yes it did some major damage but that damage seems to be coming back pretty good considering the water was 30c for extended periods. By closing some of the dive sites ie Surin, Similans it gave those reefs a bit of a ''breather'' as they were starting to become LOB and day trip hot spots, and rightly so, great diving in the Sims. However the number of boats doing the Sims grew exponentially so I commend the thai govt for taking those steps. How good is that protection? as good as any protection can be in any ocean particularly one such as thailand with waters accessible to fishing boats from within and without the country.

What you are seeing is not unique to Phi Phi, to a much worse extent the rapid development for the tourism industry is wreaking havoc around Bali too.

 

[darsunt]

I suppose there isn't much sympathy from local Thai for reefs when so many are struggling with poverty. However I read somewhere there is a growing environmental movement in Thailand?
In Maui there are a number of coves on a 7 mile stretch where the last lava flow reached the ocean. That area has a reputation for the best sea life. When we visited we were so disappointed the entire area had been made a no dive/snorkle zone. But having seen the damage in Thai reefs, I am SO supportive of that protection now.

 

[lord khram]

I don't know why governments / authorities seem only to put protection schemes in place for the most beautiful / renowned reefs, all areas of the Ocean are part of the Marine ecosystem and should be treated with equal respect. Are such schemes genuine efforts to preserve the marine life, or are they simply put in place to preserve localised tourist income for as long as possible?
We all have a part to play, governments, local authorities, people who make their living from the sea, and those that use it for leisure.
I have seen old photographs of what reefs in the Pattaya area were like years ago, Whilst I doubt they were ever to the same standard as what we have around Phi Phi, they were still living reefs, many of which are now completely destroyed. I do hope people can learn from past mistakes before the continued growth and encouragement of mass tourism in Thailand continues to damage the marine ecosystem at such a rate that we have seen recently.