During my trip to Thailand, many people suggested me to do a Coral Island trip, which offers traveler opportunity to do some water based adventure. One of the adventures was Underwater Sea Walk. It is the substitute of Scuba Diving and since we didn’t have time to do scuba diving, we opted for this.
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| Underwater World, Pattaya |
It is an activity where Underwater Sea Walk operator will put a big metal helmet-kind-of-mask on top of your head through which you will get your oxygen supply. One by one, you will go in the ocean with the mask put on you before you enter the sea. Once you reach inside, you will be taken on the bed of the ocean and others will be gathering around you. The activity involves groups of around 6-8 people for approximately 20-30 minutes.
Once you reach at the bottom, they will help you sit on your knees and instructor will release bread crumbs in the ocean to attract fishes around you. If you opt for a photograph and video, they will also take it when you will be admiring the ocean view. Once your time is up, they will take you, again one by one, on the top and remove mask once out of water.
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| Waiting for my turn at Coral Island |
The activity is not scary or life threatening as one might believe, but at the same time, if you have a fear of water and doing adventure, it might scare you a little bit. Like one person in my group, felt the water coming inside and adjusted his helmet/mask many times making water do come inside. The instructor used his oxygen pipe you remove the water and adjust the helmet so that it doesn’t happen again. The second person was not able to sit at the bottom of the ocean, making her drift away with water unless you hold their hand tightly and control the body floating. As for me, I was quite comfortable doing the entire Underwater Sea Walk (where we didn’t do any walking but more of sitting). Helmet-cum-mask was quite heavy, before entering the water, but as I went down, the ocean had made it light on my shoulder.
My Take: Do it, if you have never done scuba diving or never had a chance to see the underwater world. However, at Pattaya, I didn’t find the operator well organised. They were little rude and very quick in doing their job where they ended up ignoring people’s discomfort or questions. The water was not clear, rather it was so dirty that even pictures have come out bit bad (result is shared below). If you happen to go to other destinations, they you can definitely think of doing this!
Important: Don’t be scared of water coming in, the oxygen which is released through the pipe keeps water below your neck, hence, fidgeting will only make it worse. Also, have control over your body when they make you sit on your knees or even while walking in the water.
Place: Coral Island, Pattaya
Must Carry: Extra pair of clothes, sunscreen and lot of enthusiasm !!!
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| Yay.. I did it.. Underwater Sea Walk – Check! Ignore the bad quality picture (This is what Operator offered) |
Hi Mansi. I hear that this activity has been stopped in Phuket due to damage to the environment. May I know when did you do this trip to Coral island-Pattaya? Would you know if this is still an ongoing activity?
Hi Irene, apologies for the late reply. I did this activity in 2016 in Coral Island Pattaya. Dunno about Phuket, but this activity is still happening in Pattaya. My personal suggestion will be to avoid the activity in Pattaya as it is not well managed. If you wish to do underwater sea walk, explore destinations like Mauritius, they have better coral and clear water. Hope this helps!