funrecdiver
Contributor
I have recently been to Koh Chang intending to dive on most days of my holiday and went only once. Believe me I would have been glad of a change in destination, I simply could not believe the 2 dive sites that I was taken to.
How anyone can charge good money for two dives and take their customers to such locations that I saw is nothing but a joke.
I also had a bad experience in Koh Chang. Oddly enough, we were charged "extra" to be taken to the national marine park where we were guided over beds of broken coral and explained how the coral had been destroyed by local fisherman.
What a total waste of time and money.
On the second dive, where the coral was a bit better, there was a terrified snorkeler from one of those big snorkel-only boats who was standing on the reef trying to find a way to get back to his boat. He was obviously stressed out and afraid of the reef. One of the senior instructors on the boat started yelling and screaming at the terrified snorkeler, demanding he get off the reef. I watched in a kind of horror as this obvious inexperienced snorkeler was verbally abused by our DM for standing on a reef. Of course, standing on a reef is not good, but "terrified humans under stress have rights too", I thought quietly to myself!
Then, the nice Thai people on our dive boat sent the inflatable dingy out to pick up the snorkeler and nicely give him a lift back to his boat. The DM on our boat then yelled obscenities at the Thais for rescuing the under stress snorkeler.
What a great day of 2,500 Baht diving that was