Turtle Education & Conservation in Thailand

Dive with Turtles in Thailand

Turtles are among the most popular of our aquatic friends. They are docile, curious and very serene. Whether you had the chance to see one in the wild, or at an aquarium - they are very memorable. In Thailand humans have had quite a profound affect on their numbers and locations. Fortunately they can be still be found frequently in the Similan Islands and the nearby regions.

In November and December of 2009, Wicked Diving presents the opportunity to experience them first hand! The Similan Turtle & Reef Exploration trip will take 12 lucky guests on an educational tour of the most common sighting areas.

Education and Conservation are the essential themes on these trips. A portion of the proceeds will be given to a local UN sanctioned Conservation program. The participants will all help clean up the reefs as well as gain more knowledge of the species and their environment.

All participants will also be certified as Ecological divers - a certification only a few schools int he world can issue

As we may encounter more than one species on the trip - we will be taught how to identify the different species and how the interact with their environment, with each other and how our (human) activities have an affect on them

Here is a bit of information about the turtle...

"The distribution of turtles in Thai waters is spread out along the fine sand quiet beaches of the coastline and islands in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. These two geographical areas also reflect different nesting times of the turtles. In the Gulf of Thailand the most important nesting areas for green and hawksbill turtles are Khram and adjacent islands which are located in the inner Gulf, Chonburi Province. There are some islands along the east coast from Chonburi, Rayong and Trat Province and some islands in the middle Gulf of Chumphon and Surat Thani Province where sea turtles are occasionally found. In the Gulf areas, green and hawksbill turtles lay their eggs all year round with the peak from May to August. In the Andaman Sea coastal areas of Thailand, the main nesting areas are north-west coast of Phuket, and Phang Nga provinces. In particular these areas include Thai Muang Beach and Phrathong Island, Maikhao beach Phuket, Tarutao Island and Adang-Rawi Islands of Satun Province . Olive ridley and (occasionally) Leatherback turtles are found in these areas. The green and hawksbill are found at the Similan Islands, Surin Islands and Tarutao Islands. The nesting season of sea turtles in the Andaman Sea region occurs only from October to March with a peak from mid-November to mid-January."

As taken from the Similan Islands Marine Life - Turtle Page

-Similan Diving