DIVE HAPPY

A new DVD tells the fascinating history of one of Thailand's most popular wreck dives and provides great footage of its present day status as a marine life haven

One of the things I love most about scuba diving is the people you meet through a shared love of being underwater. Recently I met Peter Walker, a British businessman based in Bangkok who has produced a fascinating DVD called "The Wreck Of The Steamship Suddhadib". This DVD is the result of Peter's painstaking research into one of the most popular wreck dives off the coast of Pattaya, which is usually referred to as the Hardeep. How this change of name came about, and the dramatic wartime history of the Hardeep/Suddahib, forms the backdrop to Peter's excellent underwater video footage of the wreck as she lies today in around 30 metres of water off Pattaya. Combining the wreck's maritime past with its present-day status as a magnet for scuba divers, Peter also documents the many marine creatures that now call the wreck of the Hardeep their home.

SS Suddhadib, aka The Hardeep

Peter has a dedicated page about The Wreck Of The Steamship Suddhadib DVD that describes more about its wartime usage and subsequent sinking, as well as providing details on how to order the DVD online. It's a very reasonable $15 ot 500 Thai Baht - if you're visiting Pattaya in the future, you'll be able to find the DVD on sale in various dive shops there, like Mermaids Dive Centre.

It's also worth looking around the rest of Peter's site as he is an accomplished photographer with hundreds of shots of life in South East Asia, grouped by subject matter like Angkor Wat and portraits of Muay Thai boxers.

Previously: Thai Wreck Diver