Story and Photos by Bob
James
While often overshadowed by Koh Tao and the Similan
Islands, Pattaya grabbed the spotlight of Thailand’s scuba diving world - at
least for a weekend - as nearly 300 divers hunted for undersea treasure,
cleaned reefs and planted coral in the first-ever Pattaya Dive Festival.
Pattaya
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome offers greetings in English and Thai to open
Pattaya Dive Festival 2010.
Sponsored by Pattaya’s top three dive shops - Mermaids
Dive Center, Aquanauts Dive Centre and Adventure Divers - and four Bangkok
outfits, the festival aimed to remind Bangkok-based dive fans they don’t
need to travel to southern Thailand to experience great diving. As
Thailand’s “shipwreck-diving capital,” Pattaya offers unique adventures for
experienced divers and well-explored training grounds perfect for beginners,
organizers said.
The festival drew a wide range of participants, from
entire Thai families to Japanese couples to an Australian trying diving for
the first time. While drawing only 282 of the originally estimated 500
participants, the festival still proved a great success, both for organizers
and for divers themselves, who collected 120 prizes and got to see
first-hand the impact trash flushed into the canals of Bangkok have on the
reefs of Pattaya.
Staff
from sponsor Reflection Condo enjoy breakfast while prepping signs for the
Festival’s “Save the Ocean” theme.
The day started early, with registration and breakfast
starting at Bali Hai Pier at 7 a.m. Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome officially
kicked off the festival with opening remarks in both English and Thai,
followed by Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya office Director Niti
Kunplome and sponsors.
“Today the seven best dive centers in Pattaya and Bangkok
are showing that Pattaya offers a rich underwater environment and is a
world-class diving destination,” Itthiphol said.
“The Dive Festival not only boosts Pattaya tourism in
general, but introduces divers to new, beautiful sites,” Itthiphol said. “It
also helps raise awareness about environmental conservation, garbage
disposal and coral planting that can bring life back to the seas.”
One of
the Bangkok divers on the Aquanauts Dive Centre boat shows off the 16 tokens
she found in the Festival’s underwater treasure hunt.
From there, divers boarded the seven boats needed for the
day. Organizers originally envisioned as many as 500 divers descending on
Pattaya for the festival. But non-participating dive shops in Bangkok, they
claimed, went on a smear campaign against the festival and participating
centers, perpetrating rumors about crowds, safety and the weather.
As it turned out, the weather was perfect for the day,
with flat seas and no current. Even the sun made an appearance, after
starting to hide behind thick clouds in the early morning.
Hundreds
of divers take the “giant stride” off Koh Larn Vak.
The first dive of the day was the popular undersea
treasure hunt. Divers searched the reef off Koh Larn Vak for steel pots,
each containing small pink animals. Find a figurine, win a prize. Some did,
with one lucky diver on the Aquanauts Dive Centre boat scooping up 16 of the
little dolls. Unfortunately, another young woman diving a few minutes behind
her found only empty pots!
Divers counted their treasure over lunch, a sumptuous
multi-course meal of Thai and western food and fruit. Then it was back into
the water after noon for the reef cleanup.
Aquanauts Dive Centre instructor Gary Gwilliam, center, waits with his
charges to begin the underwater treasure hunt.
Each armed with gloves, scissors and bags, the 282 divers
scoured the bay, removing bottles, cans, plastic bags and other assorted
trash thrown carelessly into the sea or washed into the bay by rainwater.
The amount of trash pulled up shocked many of the Bangkok residents, who
didn’t realize much of the garbage that pollutes Pattaya’s waters comes, in
fact, from the capital.
Treasure and trash collected, the diving armada set sail
back to Pattaya. After a shower and some rest, the divers reassembled around
the pool at the Captain’s Corner restaurant for a huge buffet and party.
Free cold beer went down well after a day in the sun and models dressed as
sharks and clownfish made for interesting entertainment.
A fleet
of seven boats was needed to shuttle all the divers to Koh Larn.
The festival continued for a select group of sponsors and
public officials Sunday as they assembled on Koh Larn for a coral-planting
exercise.
While disappointed by the suppressed turnout, organizers
were still pleased with the Festival’s results, saying success is measured
by the enjoyment of those who participated, not by the number of people who
didn’t.
Already having garnered new support from the Tourism and
Sports Ministry, organizers are already planning next year’s festival,
promising an even bigger event that will be marketed overseas, not just to
Bangkok divers.
A select
group of sponsors and public officials assembled on Koh Larn for a
coral-planting exercise.
A full
day of diving was topped off with a buffet dinner and entertainment at the
Captain’s Corner restaurant.
Some of
the organizers, crew, sponsors and local officials begin the day with a
group photo.
