King Cruiser Wreck Site

“Experienced dive wreck!”

Deep with impressionant species.

Max depth 32m - Visibility 10/20m
Open All Year
Experienced divers
Last dive within 6 months
At least 30m divers
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King Cruiser Wreck Site scuba diving koh lanta Thailand
King Cruiser Wreck Site scuba diving koh lanta Thailand
King Cruiser Wreck Site scuba diving koh lanta Thailand
King Cruiser Wreck Site scuba diving koh lanta Thailand

King Cruiser Wreck site, Old sunk ferry

On the 4th May 1997, the MS King Cruiser (a catamaran style car ferry) was travelling on its normal route transporting around 560 passengers from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, as it had been doing since entering service in 1989. For unknown reasons, the captain veered off course and collided with the Anemone Reef, causing one of its twin hulls to rupture. King Cruiser Wreck site, the ferry slowly began to sink and finally came to rest on the sea cot less than one mile from the reef it had originally hit. Before sinking, all the passengers were safely evacuated with only a few injuries having been reported.

King Cruiser Wreck site, perfect inhabitat

The King Cruiser now lays in an upright position at approximately 33 meters deep waters, where it can be accessed via a descent down a buoy line attached to a winch at the stern of the boat. This marks the highest point of the dive at about 16 meters.

King Cruiser mapping

As the diver descends, the ship becomes visible beneath him, and upon reaching the winch, the first thing to see are the toilets! Taking a route down the port side of the boat, divers can enjoy a wall type dive where many nudibranchs can be found. There are also numerous large openings to look in for the chance to find groupers hiding in the darkness. Moving around the bow of the boat, a sizable gap makes up the bow loading area, although penetration is not allowed due to the fast deterioration of the ship. Two winches placed on either side of the ship at about 18-20 meters are home to various shrimps hiding within the mechanisms. Ornate ghost pipefish can be seen here as well.

Deep Dive life

If the diver has excellent air management skills, then he can enjoy in a second wall dive back down the starboard side. Alternatively, if shallowing up is required, then a trip down to the centre of the ship can be undertaken. At this point, the deterioration has reached such an extent that the top of the ship is nothing but a tangled mess of steel collapsing on itself. Hundreds of dark recesses have been formed there, providing a home to countless species of morays.

Wreck dive in

Regardless of the fact that the main cargo area is out of bounds, there are still numerous swim-troughs that divers can enjoy, particularly towards the end of the dive where large semi-enclosed expanses are filled with huge schools of snappers. The wreck is a huge attraction to predators such as rainbow runners, trevallies, barracudas, mackerels, and tunas occasionally, and large schools of these fish can be seen hunting all around the wreck.

WHAT PEOPLE SAYS

 

  • positive review  Big Thanks to Blue Planet for a great day 3/3. And specially thanks to Brice who was a very professional and nice diveinstructor. He gave me a very good refresh for my OW cert because its been a while sins my last dive. After that we did two really good dives at Koh Bida.

    thumb Liselott Håkansson
    4 March 2020

  • positive review  Super søde instruktører og meget tålmodige. Man føler sig tryk og i gode hænder. Helt sikkert et sted jeg altid vil vende tilbage til.

    thumb Randi Bergfriedt
    1 February 2020

  • positive review  Des pro, organisés, toujours passionnés de plongée et surtout, toujours au top avec la clientèle, ne pas hésiter, leur catamaran de 16 17m saura vous ravir sur le lit bleu des îlots de koh lanta

    thumb Théophile Creach
    30 January 2020

  • positive review  Super équipe ! Très pro et bon esprit !

    thumb Paco Fernet
    26 April 2019

  • positive review  Brilliant friendly staff definitely recommend 👍

    thumb Ian Westerby
    14 February 2019

  • positive review  Together with my son and daughter we booked a day dive trip to Koh Haa, Hin Muang and Hin Daeng, with Blue Planet Divers. Although a bit expensive (specially after Koh Tao), we were very satisfied with the high quality of their service. The office staff were kind, friendly and helpful with information in both english and french. Highlights: catamaran trip to dive sites with tasty food and enough space to chill and admire the beautiful landscape * well maintained equipement * Koh Haa is a must! With caves, extraordinary biodiversity and a gorgeous setting. Thanks to Yann, Johan and Fins for their diving support. Highly recommended!

    thumb Eliane Bueno De Sá
    6 February 2019

  • star rating  I just did my open water diving licence there and the guys from the Diving Center are doing a very professional job (they are not overwhelmingly friendly or funny, I... read more

    avatar thumb Stay08598734055
    9 February 2023

  • star rating  Blue Planet was very responsive on WhatsApp to organise the dives, and the package quoted for 2 days diving was very reasonable. They pick up and drop off from your... read more

    avatar thumb pap5225
    1 January 2023

  • star rating  Fantastic day diving and snorkelling with Blue Planet Divers. Our sons (11 and 14) tried a Discover Diving day and my wife and I snorkelled. Etienne looked after the boys... read more

    avatar thumb 198antb
    25 December 2022

  • star rating  Etienne is our great experience Dive Instructor. My friend and I having funny diving time with him. And he always take care of us.

    avatar thumb Ming C
    9 December 2022

  • star rating  This shop is amazing, they are very professional, super friendly and organized, the boat is quite nice and the food on the boat is delicious.

    We did 4 dives... read more

    avatar thumb 902fernandoo
    29 November 2022

  • star rating  First time trying diving and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience! Instructor Lawrence is a top professional and knows everything, he made us feel calm and secure which... read more

    avatar thumb N7484GTlucasw
    19 November 2022

  • We've had a great 3 days diving experience at sites like Ko Bida Nok, Kled Kaeo Wreck, Koh Haa - some of the best places in Thailand. Dive instructor Katarina... read more

    thumb Mariya Velychko
    8 December 2019

  • Awesome experience. It was my first dive ever, definitely not the last. Great places, awesome people ...

    thumb Julien Quéré
    23 February 2020

  • Very warm and welcoming staff, equipment and safety in place, the food in the boat was much better than in other boats I’ve been in Thailand. I’ll definitely come back... read more

    thumb Pau Badia
    24 December 2020

  • Blue Planet Divers is the place to go for diving in Thailand, they're based in Koh Lanta and dive close to Koh Phi Phi and other dive sites. I did... read more

    thumb YOUR STORY GUY
    9 October 2019

  • Great outfit, good food and equipment, and excellent staff. Diving was awesome especially to see whale sharks up close on three of my dives.

    thumb Nico Wempe
    8 March 2020