Trang Islands · Thailand · Artificial reef
Koh Waen Train Wreck
Twenty railway wagons still sitting on their train rails
Photo: Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Koh Waen Train Wreck is a set of 20 railway wagons on train rails, sunk off the small uninhabited island of Koh Waen as an artificial reef. With a maximum depth of 18 m it suits divers of all levels.
Also known as Train Wreck, Train 666 Wreck.
Where it is and how deep
7.3796° N, 99.2474° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wreck is 20 wagons resting on a stretch of train rails, with the bottom at no more than 18 m. Thousands of yellow fusiliers swirl around the wagons, and when a current picks up they slip inside the carriages for shelter. The wagons, sunk as an artificial reef, have become a hiding place for many other reef fish too.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Trang Islands: Diving runs November to April, the dry season; Ko Hai Divers on Koh Ngai is shut from May to October.
Know before you go
- A current can run across the wagons; the fusiliers retreat inside the carriages when it does.
Dive videos
Koh Waen Train Wreck Trang 666 · Norbert B on YouTube
Sources
- Dive Sites - Ko Hai Divers — Ko Hai Divers
Photo credits
- A red speedboat and a longtail boat on a calm sea between a tall limestone cliff and a small rounded islet under cloud by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Trang Islands
Pinnacle
A pinnacle whose top only just pokes out of the sea
A wall covered in purple and white soft corals, home to nudibranchs and tiny shrimps
Artificial reef
Man-made reef structures 2 km off Koh Libong
Similar dives elsewhere
About twenty sunken army trucks, a patrol boat and a turtle statue
Artificial reef
Construction Artificial Reef
Koh Samui & Koh Phangan · Thailand
Four man-made reef units on the floor of Chaloklum Bay
Sunken jeep and scrap at 10 to 12 m, colonised by reef fish
A broken wartime hull at 12 m that the reef fish have taken over