This article is part of the "Asia Route Travel Log 2025-2026" series.

Not long after getting my diving license in Cebu, I dove again in Pattaya.

I'd just gotten my AOW, so I signed up with a casual "I can dive anywhere now, it'll be fine" attitude — and it turned out to be all muscular veterans. Having dived fewer than ten times, the two of us started to worry about keeping up.

This is a record of wreck diving in Pattaya, after getting certified in Cebu.

Before I started diving, I never imagined diving a shipwreck. But Pattaya is a holy site for wreck diving — it's even called "Thailand's wreck-dive capital."

Jumping in from the boat was nerve-wracking. In Cebu we walked in from the beach, so a giant-stride entry off a boat was a first. On the boat heading toward the Koh Larn area, the instructor briefs you. "The entry off the boat goes like this," "ride this current." Just listening, you think "am I really okay with this," but you just have to do it.

When it's actually time to jump, my heart was pounding. But once I jumped in, the rest is the same as Cebu. Remember "calm down, relax," and settle down. Ride the current and descend to the point.

Approaching the wreck, it's pretty powerful. A huge structure sitting on the seabed has a distinct atmosphere. The very fact that a former warship is right there is a kind of excitement that's hard to describe. Diving a place with history makes you feel that "boys' romance" thing.

Before I started diving, I thought a shipwreck was some special world even within scuba. But once you actually do it, it's an experience you can have as an advanced diver. Having just gotten our AOW in Cebu, it felt like we'd taken a step into a new world here.

Dive 2 wasn't a wreck, but a point where you can see beautiful sea turtles. Maybe because the tension eased a bit on dive 1, this descent felt a little more relaxed.

The moment you enter the water, the first thing you notice is the murkiness. Cebu was quite clear, so you feel again, "ah, so this is what Pattaya is like." Visibility isn't that high. But maybe because of that, the creatures you meet can look more striking.

And then, meeting the sea turtles. We saw them in Cebu too, but here in Pattaya there were plenty. Turtles really are in every sea. Watching them swim slowly, you naturally slow your own pace too.

By dive 2, the group's vibe shifts a little. Looking around, everyone's buff, well-equipped, and moves smoothly. You can tell by sight: "ah, these guys have dived a thousand times." Since we were diving mixed in with people like that, we were giving it everything too.

But strangely, that tension isn't bad. Diving with people who have more experience, you learn a lot — "ah, you handle this current like this," "you move through here like that."

In Cebu I'd just gotten my AOW, so I had a "this is fine now" kind of feeling. But facing the experienced divers in Pattaya, it hit me: "ah, so this is what it means to have the license but not the experience."

We'd dived fewer than ten times, yet there we were saying "we're fine" with a straight face — almost embarrassing. But on the flip side, diving in that environment gives you learning that's different from Cebu. Watching the experienced divers as you go, there are so many small techniques and adjustments you can pick up.

The boat dive was scary at first too, but once I did it, it worked out. Don't forget "calm down, relax," ride the current, and you'll be fine. What I learned in Cebu is alive here too.

Being able to dive a wreck made the world of diving expand all at once. Right after getting certified in Cebu, just "diving" took everything I had. But in Pattaya, perspectives like "what do I dive" and "where do I learn it" started to appear.

Get certified in Cebu, then dive again in Pattaya. Even the same "diving" becomes a totally different experience when the environment changes. Cebu was also a place to get certified, but in Pattaya I dove already holding the license. That's exactly why what you see, and what you learn, is different.

This time I used a dive shop called "Pattaya Scuba Adventures Thailand."

Pattaya is where Thailand's first dive center was established, and over the past 40 years it has grown as a base for professional dive training and wreck divers. Around Pattaya there are five wrecks scattered about — the dive spot with the most wrecks concentrated in one area in Thailand. As the home of the famous WWII wreck the HTMS Khram, it's called "Thailand's wreck-dive capital."

The wreck-dive spots, starting just 40 minutes from Pattaya Beach, let you dive historic wrecks packed with history and stories. On the daily courses, which wreck you go to is decided by the day's weather and sea conditions. So the destination changes each time, and being able to have a different experience no matter how often you come is maybe part of why Pattaya is called a holy site for wreck diving. For many divers, becoming a wreck diver is a big motivation to explore scuba further, and it remains an exciting experience.

The course this time was Wreck Diving. You can join if you hold an advanced diver certification. If you're interested in wreck diving, definitely check it out once.

Bottom line, I'm glad I dove with them. The instructors were kind, and the explanations were thorough.

This article is part of the "Asia Route Travel Log 2025-2026" series. The full route and article list are organized in the summary post.