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Tsunami disaster - dive centres report order in the chaos
The tsunami disaster in South-east Asia has taken so many lives, and wrecked those of so many survivors. Families have been broken through loss, and thousands of people have seen uninsured homes and businesses destroyed.
From the point of view of leisure scuba-diving, a number of divers and snorkellers are believed to have died in the tsunami. Others, holidaying from all over the world, have described their experiences when the wave went through as they dived in open water. Some have spoken of suddenly reduced visibility and being surged up and down, others of being spun as if in a washing machine.
In some of the worst-hit areas, dive businesses have been destroyed. But offshore, dive boats were often unaware of any problem but for an unusual swell passing beneath the vessel.
Tsunami waves grow largest as they run over increasingly shallow water. It is thought that, at its epicentre, the Indian Ocean earthquake would have created waves no more than 30cm or so in height and of long wavelength. Only as they ran into coastal shallows did they evolve into the steep, 10m-high, breaking sledgehammers that were filmed crashing on to shores with such devastating consequences.
So many places were struck by the tsunami and some of the worst losses were suffered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and south-east India. In time news will no doubt filter through from dive centres in these areas.
A picture is emerging of badly hit areas but others less affected than might be gathered from viewing the disaster through the eye of the TV camera.
Obtaining a full picture will take time, but Divernet has studied the two affected regions best-known to British divers - Thailand and the Maldives.
Common strands in communications from dive operators have been their participation in rescue, relief supply and fund-raising - and expressions of irritation with the blanket nature of media coverage. This, they say, has given an impression of total destruction in some places where the majority of infrastructure and business activity remains intact.
Many have stressed the need to push on with trading and drawing back visitors as soon as possible. They say that recovering tourism is best not only for their own businesses but also for local populations that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.
National tourism authorities also urge that everything should be done to help tourism industries recover, while accepting that priority must go to providing affected populations with housing, sanitation, nutrition and protection from contamination and illness. - Thailand
- Maldives
- Divers describe tsunami experiences
THAILAND
A team assembled by one of the country's main hotel and tourism associations has reported its findings after touring with emergency supplies in the affected areas around Phuket, Krabi and Phang-nga (Khao Lak).
The Khao Lak area was the worst hit and suffered the greatest loss of life - probably about half of Thailand's total. 'Most parts of Khao Lak are virtually destroyed and it will take time to get a picture of the full extent,' said the team.
In Phuket, the main hit was to the Patong Beach area, spreading some 500m inland. 'However, the impression that Phuket is gone is wrong,' said the team. '80% of the hotels are unaffected and fully operational.' Damage to a number of others was relatively superficial, it added.
The island of Phi Phi was devastated, with a 'large part of infrastructure destroyed' and 'many lives lost'. But because Phi Phi lies in Krabi Province, said the team, it has been assumed that the mainland around Krabi was also badly hit.
'Only a few selected areas, like Railay Bay, got hit by the wave, but popular destinations like Ao Nang [near Krabi] are totally safe.'
Dive centre reports back up the observations.
'The media is talking in a general way and many think that Ao Nang and Krabi do not exist anymore - the opposite is the case,' said Meike and Adam, of Ao Nang's Coral Diving, which has resumed diving activities. 'Everything looked like nothing had happened only two days after and all restaurants and shops are open. The Krabi Resort operates as normal,' they said.
Meike and Adam admitted that, in the wake of the tsunami, it had been a 'very hard decision' to restart their dive operation - but that it would be good to get back to normal and boost the economy.
'There is nothing against coming for a holiday... and the local people will suffer from further loss if the tourists stay away,' they said. 'Everybody here in Ao Nang is helping to support the victims in Kao Lak, Phuket and elsewhere, and we all are deeply touched by worldwide relief efforts. But... an essential support is the one which helps us to get back to a normal way of life and business.'
Meanwhile Krabi Seaview Resort has reported that it faces 'lots of cancellations in January and February', even though its diving arm Ao Nang Divers had resumed diving activities.
'Everybody here, especially Thai people, needs to keep their jobs and earn money to survive,' said Andre Gysin, Krabi Seaview Resort General Manager. 'We are already going out to regions which are badly hurt like Khao Lak and Phuket, bringing them clothes, shoes, medicine, food, water and moneyÉ but we cannot help if we lose all our reservations.'
Another operator, of the Ocean Rover diving liveaboard, has claimed that, for Phuket, the dangers have been over-blown.
'There are many exaggerated news stories... reports about disease, contamination, water and food shortages and even 'widespread looting' are totally incorrect,' he said. 'TV footage of the horrific events of 26 December is repeated over and over but meanwhile a lot has happened that is not shown on TV.'
He added that the Director of the Royal Phuket Irrigation Project had declared the sea off Phuket's beaches as clean and safe for swimming.
Phuket's Scuba Cat Diving has confirmed that its customers, staff and boats survived the tragedy without harm, and that diving operations have resumed. Its shop in Patong had been damaged but was being repaired.
Throughout the region, restrictions have been in place regarding divers volunteering to scour the seabed for wreckage, possessions and possibly human remains.
'While many divers have called to volunteer to go to Thailand to assist with recovery efforts, host countries have said that they do not need direct assistance and are not allowing anyone in the ocean,' said Joel Dovenbarger, Vice President of DAN Medical Services. 'Officials are asking that no divers respond in person to the tsunami relief effort in the affected areas at this time.'
DIVING CONDITIONS
Following communication with dive centres, the Dive Operators Club of Thailand is maintaining that underwater environment has been left largely undamaged by the tsunami.
'Diving operations, both in terms of liveaboard boats, day trips and courses, remain unaffected and unchanged,' said Alistair Beveridge, DOCT President, on 4 January. 'Dive sites along the coast, including the Similan Islands, Ko Bon, Ko Tachai, Surin and Richelieu Rock, and into the Mergui Archipelago are not damaged in any significant way.
'Some sites were affected slightly, others not at all. There is absolutely no truth to rumours of heavy devastation and loss of marine life. We have had divers out diving since the waves and surge hit, and although there are some changes to dive sites, mostly around Island No 9 in the Similans, all of the areas still offer world-class diving.
'The dive sites in the Mergui Archipelago were completely unaffected by the waves or surges.'
Also on 4 January, during a press conference detailing its responses to the tsunami disaster, the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced results from its examination of beaches and underwater sites on 31 December, just five days after the waves came ashore.
It said the ecosystems of southern Thailand's coral reefs were still intact and, citing the Similan Islands near Phuket, said that what damage had occurred was to shallow-water corals - mainly staghorn - in the 6m to 9m depth range.
Calling for help from divers, TAT, according to an unofficial translation of the press conference, said: 'A lot of the damage that occurred is due to sand covering the corals. They can survive like that for two weeks, but after that they will die, so if any volunteers help now, those partially damaged corals can still be saved.'
It said that the sea off Phuket's Patong Beach was clean following a rapid clean-up operation - even cleaner than before. It added that the popular Richelieu Rock was found to be undamaged, with good water clarity and a healthy fish population.
Referring to the Surin islands, TAT said that Hin Lueng showed damage but that Phakad Bay was unharmed. 'On the whole most of the coral that was affected was in the 3m to 9m area and all hard coral. Soft corals haven't been affected much.
'The staghorn corals that have been affected are corals that grow very fast as compared to the soft corals, which takes years.'
MALDIVES
The Maldives consist of a number of atolls running north-south, with the majority formed in two lines that face one another. Reports have shown that the islands in the eastern line were hit, while those in the western line escaped practically unscathed.
Although the Maldives are low-lying - no more than 1m above sea level- the oceanic islands have shores that drop off quickly into deep water. Where the tsunami did land, waves were not as high or powerful as those which devastated areas such as Sri Lanka, SE India, Indonesia and Thailand.
Flooding, loss of life and structural damage occurred in the east, but the great majority of people, infrastructure and businesses remained unharmed.
'We did not suffer a huge destructive breaking wave, but we did experience a rise in sea level and much smaller wave which damaged local islands and some 23 resort islands on the east side of the atolls,' said Sam Harwood of Maldives Scuba Tours.
'The remaining 64 resorts are operating as normal, and the diving remains excellent and unaffected.'
Harwood confirmed that the company's charter vessels were 'operating as normal and all our trips are running as planned'.
Liveaboard operator Sea N See, speaking for the Maldives Liveaboard Group, reckoned that 17 resorts in the Maldives' eastern isles were out of action, with another 12 partly affected in that diving operations continued but some accommodation had been damaged.
The company, which runs the vessel Manthiri, agreed that the great majority of resorts, particularly in the western isles, remained unaffected.
'Male International Airport closed down for a day on 26 December but resumed operations on the following day,' added the company.
The Maldives Liveaboard Group has helped compile a list of affected resorts for the US magazine Scuba Diving. Resorts listed as closed, at the end of December, were:
Club Med - Kani; Dhonveli Beach; Four Seasons; Fun Island; Gasfinolhu; Hakura Club; Kandooma; Kihadhuffaru; Medhufushi; Olhuveli; One and Only Kanuhura; Kanuhura; Rihivelhi; Soneva Gili; Taj Exotica; Velavaru; Vilu Reef; and White Sands.
Resorts listed as operational but with some rooms closed were: Alimatha; Boduhithi; Club Meda-Faru; Dhiggiri; Gangehi; Moofushi; Nika; Paradise Island; Ranveli; Reethi Beach; Taj Coral; and Veligandu Island.
Tsunami disaster - how to donate
The Disasters Emergency Committee - www.dec.org.uk
Related links
Diving Layang-Layang
href='http://www.divernet.com/travel/0702sabah.htm'>Diving Sabah
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