Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008

rogeringebo · 28th August 2008, 18:25

For the second year running me and Andy Fritz (Rebreatherlab) packed up the rebreathers and went to the amazing Khao Sok National Park in Southern Thailand for some unbelievable diving in the hart of the Thai jungle.
The national park is a huge area with valleys full of Gibbon monkeys, exotic birds and even hold Tigers.
About 20 years ago it was decided that a dam should be built and the water level was raised over 60 meter in places.
This means that it is now possible to dive in what used to be the jungle and what used to be dry caves are now submerged.
According to the locals there were at least four villages that now rest on the bottom of the enormous lake.
We among others have been looking for the villages that suppose to hold a temple and a hospital among other things.
The whereabouts of the villages have not been known or been dived before to our knowledge.
In 2007 we did not find anything but this year I am happy to say we found and filmed some really interesting remains of one of the villages.
We also tried to find the deepest part of the lake but could not find anything deeper than 63 meters.
One has to remember that the area is huge and I am sure there are lots of interesting things down there.
Here are some pics of our adventures in the caves.
Frame grabs from our search for the villages will be posted later.

Enjoy!

Cheers
Roger Ingebo

jkaterenchuk · 28th August 2008, 18:54

Roger

Thanks for the pictures. Very timely as Bruce Konefe and I will be diving there mid next month.

John

Mixaddict · 28th August 2008, 19:00

Roger,

Thanks for sharing the report and pics. Looks like you had a great time!

Regards,
Randy

pwl4476 · 28th August 2008, 21:18

It looks like great fun and I can almost feel the jungle when looking at the pictures.What depths did you reach in the caves? Do the caves have line installed in them?Paul

narked at 90 · 28th August 2008, 23:06

hi Roger i lived in the park for 2 years and spent a lot of time exploring!!!.
the depth was reported at the time of near 200m in places.. i never confirmed this,
but some of the dry caves are stunning and many at or bellow water level,
i've seen cat fish pulled out of this place that make me look small,
they weighed in at the 200lb mark, 2 of them in this tiny boat!!!!
i would have loved to dive the vilages but the reported 200m depth was a no go,
if you want a great dive watch there is one under the pontoon on staition 4...you might have to dig for it mind!! as it's been 8 years
kind regards john routley

rogeringebo · 29th August 2008, 04:57

Quote: (Originally Posted by narked at 90)

hi Roger i lived in the park for 2 years and spent a lot of time exploring!!!.
the depth was reported at the time of near 200m in places.. i never confirmed this,
but some of the dry caves are stunning and many at or bellow water level,
i've seen cat fish pulled out of this place that make me look small,
they weighed in at the 200lb mark, 2 of them in this tiny boat!!!!
i would have loved to dive the vilages but the reported 200m depth was a no go,
if you want a great dive watch there is one under the pontoon on staition 4...you might have to dig for it mind!! as it's been 8 years
kind regards john routley

Hi John!
The lake seems to claim dive gear for us disturbing its peace.
Last year I lost a brand new Halcyon back up light on the very first dive.
On the last dive we lost a Olympus camera in a housing and even worse the 100 or so pictures of our adventure.
This year I lost my back up mask on the first dive and later in the week Andy lost a his back up mask and a fully rigged Alu 80 tank with regulator and 50/20 mix in it.
The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m.
Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish.

Cheers
Roger

**wedivebc** · 29th August 2008, 06:16

Yes this park has many possibilities.

wreckseeker · 29th August 2008, 06:52

Quote: (Originally Posted by wedivebc)

Yes this park has many possibilities.

those are a couple of nice looking ccr's , not bad caves either!!!!

jkaterenchuk · 29th August 2008, 21:21

Quote: (Originally Posted by rogeringebo)

Hi John!
The lake seems to claim dive gear for us disturbing its peace.
Last year I lost a brand new Halcyon back up light on the very first dive.
On the last dive we lost a Olympus camera in a housing and even worse the 100 or so pictures of our adventure.
This year I lost my back up mask on the first dive and later in the week Andy lost a his back up mask and a fully rigged Alu 80 tank with regulator and 50/20 mix in it.
The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m.
Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish.

Cheers
Roger

I'll keep my eyes open and hope to not add to the lost count.

John

Dragan · 30th August 2008, 09:56

Quote: (Originally Posted by rogeringebo)

Hi John!
<snipp>
The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m.
Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish.

Cheers
Roger

Aren't there bigger caves in the Khao Sok area? From what I've understood people have been cave diving in the area for several years, including doing training.

But that's maybe away from the artificial lake?

/Dragan

28th August 2008, 18:54	#2 (permalink)
jkaterenchuk . Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Megalodon Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lititz, PA Posts: 1,084	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Roger Thanks for the pictures. Very timely as Bruce Konefe and I will be diving there mid next month. John
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28th August 2008, 19:00	#3 (permalink)
Mixaddict RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Draper, Utah USA Posts: 520	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Roger, Thanks for sharing the report and pics. Looks like you had a great time! Regards, Randy __________________ Randy Thornton (MixAddict) Inspiration, Evolution, Hammerhead & Sentinel CCR Instructor
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28th August 2008, 21:18	#4 (permalink)
pwl4476 RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Olathe, KS Posts: 113	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 It looks like great fun and I can almost feel the jungle when looking at the pictures.What depths did you reach in the caves? Do the caves have line installed in them?Paul
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28th August 2008, 23:06	#5 (permalink)
narked at 90 John Routley Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Dolphin Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Dolphin Home Build Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: middlands uk Posts: 1,073	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 hi Roger i lived in the park for 2 years and spent a lot of time exploring!!!. the depth was reported at the time of near 200m in places.. i never confirmed this, but some of the dry caves are stunning and many at or bellow water level, i've seen cat fish pulled out of this place that make me look small, they weighed in at the 200lb mark, 2 of them in this tiny boat!!!! i would have loved to dive the vilages but the reported 200m depth was a no go, if you want a great dive watch there is one under the pontoon on staition 4...you might have to dig for it mind!! as it's been 8 years kind regards john routley __________________ *WWW.NARKEDAT90.CO.UK* *http://www.grpservices.com/pursuit/* Supporting Shearwater Research Products in Europe Narked at 90 Go Military
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29th August 2008, 04:57	#6 (permalink)
rogeringebo Life starts at 100 Current Rebreather/s: Pelagian Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Classic Kiss Pelagian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Stockholm Sweden Posts: 739	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by narked at 90) hi Roger i lived in the park for 2 years and spent a lot of time exploring!!!. the depth was reported at the time of near 200m in places.. i never confirmed this, but some of the dry caves are stunning and many at or bellow water level, i've seen cat fish pulled out of this place that make me look small, they weighed in at the 200lb mark, 2 of them in this tiny boat!!!! i would have loved to dive the vilages but the reported 200m depth was a no go, if you want a great dive watch there is one under the pontoon on staition 4...you might have to dig for it mind!! as it's been 8 years kind regards john routley Hi John! The lake seems to claim dive gear for us disturbing its peace. Last year I lost a brand new Halcyon back up light on the very first dive. On the last dive we lost a Olympus camera in a housing and even worse the 100 or so pictures of our adventure. This year I lost my back up mask on the first dive and later in the week Andy lost a his back up mask and a fully rigged Alu 80 tank with regulator and 50/20 mix in it. The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m. Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish. Cheers Roger
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29th August 2008, 06:16	#7 (permalink)
wedivebc Dave Tomblin Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Vancouver Island BC Canada Posts: 1,507	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Yes this park has many possibilities. __________________ Cheers, Dave.... Man is the only animal burdened with the knowledge he will eventually die
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29th August 2008, 06:52	#8 (permalink)
wreckseeker RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: nanaimo b.c Posts: 46	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by wedivebc) Yes this park has many possibilities. those are a couple of nice looking ccr's , not bad caves either!!!!
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29th August 2008, 21:21	#9 (permalink)
jkaterenchuk . Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Megalodon Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lititz, PA Posts: 1,084	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by rogeringebo) Hi John! The lake seems to claim dive gear for us disturbing its peace. Last year I lost a brand new Halcyon back up light on the very first dive. On the last dive we lost a Olympus camera in a housing and even worse the 100 or so pictures of our adventure. This year I lost my back up mask on the first dive and later in the week Andy lost a his back up mask and a fully rigged Alu 80 tank with regulator and 50/20 mix in it. The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m. Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish. Cheers Roger I'll keep my eyes open and hope to not add to the lost count. John
(Online)

30th August 2008, 09:56	#10 (permalink)
Dragan RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Vasteras, Sweden Posts: 23	Re: Khao Sok Thailand Expedition 2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by rogeringebo) Hi John! <snipp> The caves we dived so far are no deeper than 30m and not longer then maybe 50m. Not much of penetration really but an awesome feeling swimming in to the green light among all the cat fish. Cheers Roger Aren't there bigger caves in the Khao Sok area? From what I've understood people have been cave diving in the area for several years, including doing training. But that's maybe away from the artificial lake? /Dragan __________________ "It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning." Claude Bernard {1813-1878, French Physiologist}
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