Spotlight on King Cruiser diving

The King Cruiser wreck is dived by Phuket day trip boats, normally as part of a 3 dive day trip that includes Shark Point and Koh Doc Mai. It is also dived from Krabi and Phi Phi and by some Phuket / Phi Phi liveaboard boats.

The King Cruiser is dived all year round.

The King Cruiser was a Phuket to Phi Phi Island passenger ferry that sank in 1995 when it hit Anemone Reef. All passengers were safely rescued, no one really knows why the captain had veered so far off course. The ship, originally from Japan, was once a roll on roll off car ferry although as there are no roads at Phi Phi there were no cars on it when it sank.

The wreck now sits upright on the sand in 32m of water. 85m long and 23m wide, this large twin hulled steel vessel used to be penetrable by all divers but it’s back has broken and it’s caved in on itself so now the only places that can be entered are tech diver suitable. There is plenty of the original ship still recognizable like the propellers, rudder, anchor winches, railings, toilets and the funnels. The trouble is that sometimes you can’t see the wreck for all the fish, it is absolutely covered in them!

The shallowest part of the wreck is in 17 metres of water, most of the interesting stuff is below that down to a max depth of 32m at the propellers. Currents can be strong on the wreck but shelter can be found. Visibility can be poor. Mooring lines are usually in place at both ends of the wreck, divemasters secure them to help with descents and ascents, but they sometimes break off requiring divers to make free descents and to do their safety stops in open water. So the King Cruiser wreck can be a challenging dive, it is not ideal for newbies.