Thinking of diving in Cambodia

[djkpsu]

I am thinking about doing some diving in Cambodia in October this year, and was wondering if anyone can tell me about the dive operations in Sihanoukville? Or, any other information that might be useful?

 

[tzeyap]

Cambodia is not a reputed dive destination. Unless you are going there for other reasons and want to take some time off to get a few dives in. If you are travelling all the way to this part of the world to dive , there are many better and some world-class destinations in Thailand and the Philipines.

 

[Kupu]

I passed through Sihanoukville a couple of years ago with the intention of doing a few dives. Unfortunately, I never made it into the water for various reasons but I did pick up a bit of info that might help you. It sounds like the worthwhile diving is done by 2-3 day dive safaris. I hung around for several days hoping to get a group together to split expenses, but no luck and I could not afford to pay for a solo trip. So it might be worth contacting the dive shops ahead of time to see when they might be heading out. I was dealing with Eco Divers but there are several shops in town, a google search will give you contact info. Also, there is a post by DocVikingo on this board which is informative.

 

[djkpsu]

I read the post by DocViking yesterday, and liked what he had to say. However, his trip was at the latest May of 2002, and I was looking for some recent information. I also found the Eco Divers and Scuba Nation websites. They both look like decent dive centers, but again I was looking for recent information.

With regard to Cambodia not being a reputed dive destination, is it because the diving is not good, or that just nobody goes there?

 

[buksida]

A lot of the dive sites off the coast of Sihanoukville are still being discovered. Conditions and marine life are similar to that found in the Gulf of Thailand. Theres a little information and a basic map here:

http://www.asiadivesite.com/cambodia-dive-sites/sihanoukville/

 

[ssra30]

I never dove in Cambodia but did some diving right along border of Thailand/Cambodia in the past. Generally visibility is not great great but at the right time of the year (Oct-November), viz is a good 15-20m especially when you are further away from land. Most dives are relatively shallow. Bangkok Post ran a series of articles about diving in Cambodia last year. The pictures in the paper was just so so (but that could have been just the photographers). Right now there do not seem to be a lot of information regarding Cambodia. One major concern is safety and if anything should happen, healthcare/decompression chamber is not going to be easy to get to. If you like the frontier kind of diving, it might be the place to try (however it might not be very prestine, I don't know if the area suffer much from dynamite fishing or fishing nets etc).
My impression of diving in the Gulf of Thailand generally is that it is handy because it is easy to get to from Bangkok but I would not travel there from abroad specifically for diving just because there are so many other excellent sites in Thailand,Myanmmar, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia that are easier to get to.
However if you would like a little adventure, why not