Losin

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Buadhai

Contributor
Messages
816
Reaction score
281
Location
Korat, Thailand
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Losin is one of my favorite dive sites. I first dove it in July of 2012 on the M/V Scuba Explorer on a trip that started at Losin and ended at Koh Tao. In October of that year I did another Scuba Explorer trip that went the other direction (Koh Tao to Losin) and on which I saw my first Whale Shark. Losin is not a spectacular site in the manner of Richelieu Rock, but it is huge, not often visited until recently and has its share of both beauty and interesting stuff.

Here's a 19th century British map showing the location of Losin.

OldLosinMap.jpg


Losin on Google Maps

Losin is more precisely here: 7.3240 101.8966

Losin is about 80 nautical miles offshore, so takes an overnight sail from Songkhla to get there. Here's what it looks like on a sunny day.

LosinSurface.jpg


Although Thai's call it an island, probably for territorial reasons, it is actually a pair of broad seamounts, one of which breaks the surface and has a navigation light, also probably for territorial reasons. Losin is claimed by Malaysia, but Thailand also claims it. It is under the administration of Pattani province.

Here's a dive chart of Losin. It is easiest to begin near the light on the northwest pinnacle, but it is also possible to dive beginning at the southeast pinnacle. It is not usually difficult to swim while diving from one pinnacle to the other.

LosinSiteMap.jpg

(Thanks to Tapana Live Aboard)

What follows are a few videos that I've made over the years. Nothing particularly spectacular, but an enjoyable place to spend a few days diving and enjoy being out at sea in the middle of nowhere.


A few more videos on in the next post.
 
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This last one is one of the first videos I made. I used a Canon PowerShot in a large and unwieldy plastic housing. Looks like junk now but I was sure pleased with it when I made it.
 
Thanks for the info and vids...been diving LOS for two decades but never been to Losin. My interest has increased the past couple years, when I was looking for domestic dive destinations during the pandemic, when international travel was banned or difficult (put me on to Lipe, which I dived twice in 2021/22). My concern is the weather...being out in the open ocean, if there's bad weather there's no place for the boat to take shelter.

What is the season and is the only way to dive Losin a liveaboard? The reading and video I've seen seem it's mainly open water big stuff (with mantas and whale sharks being the cherries on top). Is there much macro? I may line up a trip during gulf season when the Andaman season winds down in June.
 
I was diving Losin once when the weather got really nasty. Two or three meter swells and high winds. As you say, nowhere to hide. It came up during a dive and boarding the boat with the huge swells was nearly impossible. Once everyone was on board we cancelled the last day of diving and headed back to Songkhla. They gave us a refund for the missed day of diving and let us sleep and eat on the boat until we could leave on our scheduled flights out of Hat Yai. It gave me a day to explore Songkhla which I enjoyed.

The only practical way to dive Losin is via a live aboard. Some boats that are based in the Andaman relocate to the Gulf when the Andaman season ends. They sometimes stop in Songkhla and do a few Losin-only dives and then do a Losin/Chumphon trip. When the Gulf season ends they do a Chumphon/Losin trip and then maybe a few Losin-only trips out of Songkhla.

As for macro, my log has entries showing both Dorid and Aeolid nudibranchs; but not many. However, I'm not much good at spotting macro stuff. If you look at the dive chart you'll see what seems to be a nice wall at the Southeast corner of the Southeast pinnacle. I've only managed to dive there once. I think that area would be a good place to look for nudis and other macro stuff. Trouble is, most dive guides seem unwilling to dive there. You may have better persuasive powers than I do.

Good luck.
 
@Buadhai
I did try to contact the operator that you suggested but never received any reply.

The Thai boats seems to prefer to deal with an agent rather than directly.

I just did a Google search on "Losin Live Aboard" and came up with the following:

Losin

Losin | Diving Trips 2023-2024 by DiveShop.in.th

I've never used either one, so have no idea how they are.
 
Thank you very much .
Pretty expensive for an unemployed, I will stick with Koh Lanta.
 
Thank you very much .
Pretty expensive for an unemployed, I will stick with Koh Lanta.
Live aboards are indeed pricey, which is why I only dive a few times per year. I'm not at all fond of day trip diving.
 
I was diving Losin once when the weather got really nasty. Two or three meter swells and high winds. As you say, nowhere to hide. It came up during a dive and boarding the boat with the huge swells was nearly impossible. Once everyone was on board we cancelled the last day of diving and headed back to Songkhla. They gave us a refund for the missed day of diving and let us sleep and eat on the boat until we could leave on our scheduled flights out of Hat Yai. It gave me a day to explore Songkhla which I enjoyed.

The only practical way to dive Losin is via a live aboard. Some boats that are based in the Andaman relocate to the Gulf when the Andaman season ends. They sometimes stop in Songkhla and do a few Losin-only dives and then do a Losin/Chumphon trip. When the Gulf season ends they do a Chumphon/Losin trip and then maybe a few Losin-only trips out of Songkhla.

As for macro, my log has entries showing both Dorid and Aeolid nudibranchs; but not many. However, I'm not much good at spotting macro stuff. If you look at the dive chart you'll see what seems to be a nice wall at the Southeast corner of the Southeast pinnacle. I've only managed to dive there once. I think that area would be a good place to look for nudis and other macro stuff. Trouble is, most dive guides seem unwilling to dive there. You may have better persuasive powers than I do.

Good luck.
Thx. A repositioning cruise may be the way to go...then maybe a month on Ko Tao.
 
Live aboards are indeed pricey, which is why I only dive a few times per year. I'm not at all fond of day trip diving.
In and out diving at Ki Lipe...many of the sites are 5-20 mins from the the beach. They will often go out for two dives then back to the beach so you're not out all day 🏖️
 

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