Cave Diving Sites in Khao Sok National Park
When we started cave diving in Southern Thailand's Khao Sok National Park, there were only three known caves being dived. Since then we've explored more than eighteen caves.
Even to this date, few divers visit the national park, so there are enormous possibilities for exploration in this giant lake. We continue to devote time and resources to locating and exploring new caves.
Here are some of our favorite cave diving sites in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, which you'll have the option to dive on our two day cave diving tours.
“Temple Cave”
Temple cave is the best know cave dive in Khao Sok marine park. The cave is approached by passing a small island in towards the north-western extremity of the lake, entering a small lagoon area where the cave is located.
When the water level is low (as water is allowed to pass through the dam) a large cave entrance at the surface penetrates 100M into the cliff face. It’s possible to swim in on the surface, or even get a long-tail boat or kayak into the cave, which is filled with bats.
There are eight known entrances to the cave ranging from 5 to 30M depth. Permanent fixed lines run into two of the entrances at 5 and 20M and it’s possible to make a traverse dive entering one of those entrances and exiting through the other.
Inside the cave you can dive through multiple rooms at different levels. The granite walled cave is filled with columns, and to date we’ve reached a depth of 30M within the cave system. Completing the full traverse isn’t for the faint hearted – it’s a long dive which requires passing several obstructions and narrow cave sections which makes it a very challenging and technical dive.
Also interestingly, directly outside the entrance to the cave, the bottom rapidly slopes away to 50M, with the bottom covered in dense forest. This makes an interesting contrast to the cave diving.
‘Par Daeng’ – Red Cave
Par Daeng has several deep entrances. The main entrance is at about 24M depth, and approximately 6M across. Currently there are no fixed permanent lines laid in Par Daeng.
The front section of the cave offers about 60-70M of comfortable penetration, diving between beautiful giant stalactites, stalagmites and columns. The profile of the cave slopes gradually up to a depth of about 4M.
For seasoned cave divers there’s an option to extend the dive into a restricted area we refer to as ‘The Loft’. There’s a small hole at about 4M depth, just large enough for a technical diver to pass through which allows you to access a further 4-5 chambers. The chambers eventual narrow into a restricted narrow passage which allows another hundred meters of penetration.
‘Craig’s Cave’
Craig’s cave is a great introductory cave / cavern dive. Located midway between Temple Cave and Par Daeng, the outer rock face and cave entrance are striking. Giant columns, stalactites and stalagmites drop from above the surface right down to 45M depth, with the wider columns ranging up to 5M wide.
Swimming through these giant rock formations reminds you of an aircraft flying into the old Hong Kong airport, snaking between the sky scrapers.
Divers can enter a small cave at the surface then drop down to a depth of 5M to pass through a hole. This leads into a chamber roughly 4 – 5M across. There’s an air space above the chamber and maximum the depth drops down to about 19M.
This isn’t a giant penetration but it’s a great opportunity to give divers a first taste of cave and cavern diving.
‘The Forest’
Although not a cave dive, this makes an interesting addition to any diving trip to Khao Sok National Park. About 10 minutes from the accommodation we dive on a limestone rock wall which drops to a depth of 12M below the surface. This then meets a steep slope which goes right the way down through the thermo-cline to 40M. The floor is covered in dense forest, which make a really interesting and different dive.
But the really interesting feature (especially for divers who’ve spent their time diving in the ocean), is the visibility. The top section of water is pretty clear, with visibility in the 10-15M range. This meets a thermo-cline at about 24M. From above you can’t see anything, and the thermo-cline looks like a thick ‘pea soup’.
But descend down through the murk, and you’ll find that it’s a narrow interface. Visibility is reduced to zero, but if descend another couple of meters and you’ll be back into clear water again, right down to the bottom at 40M.
This makes for an eerie dive. The water is as clear as spring water, but no light passes through the thermo-cline interface so it’s completely dark. Usually we explore the dense forest covered bottom for about 10 minutes, then deploy a life bag and ascend up one of the trees.
