Similan Dive Sites - Atlantis 2000
Part of our ongoing series of entries regarding Similan Dive sites.
Located on Beacon Reef, the Atlantis 2000 is (was?) a diving liveaboard operating in the Similan Islands. .....
This site is easy and accessible to all advanced divers. The bow is located at 18 meters and the aft at about 32 meters. She is resting on the reef with her aft resting on the sand at depth.
This was a liveaboard operating out of Phuket. She was running in the off-season (August) when they discovered that the bilge pump wasn't working. There is much discussion as to whether this was human or mechanical error. But there was so much water that the bilge pumps couldn't work even if they were fixed.
The crew and staff pitched in to form a bucket chain to dump the water but it appeared to be a losing game. The captain, rather than continue his race to the mainland, decided that to preserve the vessel he would ground it and then bring it assistance later.
Again the stories diverge. It is my understanding that the boat had fishing boats tie up, to help keep her upright. The crew and staff evacuated. As the boat took on more water, the fishing boats tried to continue the original plan and bring her to the shallows. Whether through failed plans or weather - it didn't work. From the 5m mark all the way down to where she rests now you can see the field of destroyed corals. She sank to the depths and there she sits.
You can still see the tank racks and other treats. Because the passageways are quite narrow it is not a great wreck to do penetration dives on. While not the most fascinating wreck, she is in almost perfect shape and makes for great photography.
If you look around the web you'll find that several operators are still offering this boat to their guests. I would imagine that you should get a pretty good discount on your trip!
The biggest irony? The same company built a new boat and started running a few years later only to have this happen...
"ANDAMAN SEA: Six passengers and seven crew spent around seven hours in the water yesterday morning waiting to be rescued after their liveaboard dive boat sank, apparently without warning and in just six minutes, close to the Surin Islands." - april 2006
Diving depths range from 8-35 meters (25-120 feet) with the main diving done at 20 Meters (50 feet).
Currents are light, generally helping rather than hindering.
Visibility is pretty good (unless we get thermoclines) – 20 meters (75 feet).
Dive site is accessible to Advanced Divers due to depth.
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