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 In 2008, the local community of Koh Tao took the first, but very large, steps towards making marine conservation a priority for our island. Along with the Save Koh Tao Group, seventeen local dive schools and a number of local businesses donated and raised almost 1 million Baht to build a Biorock™ alternative dive site on the island. Becoming the largest Biorock in the Gulf of Thailand, and the world’s first Biorock SCUBA diver training area. This new site utilizes low voltage electrical energy to stimulate coral growth and will provide an interesting and attractive training area for new SCUBA divers before they go out to the natural reefs.
In late September of 2008, about 100 volunteers from the local dive shops and community came down every day to construct the large Biorock structure, which consists of four massive steel domes connected together to form a site that covers almost 1,000 square meters of sandy bottom. In only a short time, fish and corals will settle here and create a thriving new ecosystem, and because it is a Biorock site, the area will be better prepared to survive changing environmental conditions caused by rising sea temperatures. The project was a great success, and had the added benefit of pulling together and educating the local community. This project is only the beginning of the new ideological state on Koh Tao where business goals and environmental stewardship go hand in hand, protecting our resources and livelihoods well into the future. Be sure to check out the movie made by Liquid Media (free of charge) about the Hin Fai Biorock Construction. Each week there is a lecture and dive at the biorock site. Participants get to learn about the technology and how it works before practicing research and maintenance on the 
project. If you would like to attend contact
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(Free for Professional divers from schools that helped to fund the biorock or are involved in the EMP)
Download the Hin Fai Map .pdf Put together by DMTs at New Heaven Dive School
Hin Fai UpdatesMay 2010: Currently we are experiencing mass coral bleaching around our island, with up to 95% bleaching in some areas. Luckily, things have been going better at the Hin Fai Site. I think the graphs and pictures says it all. (also available as pdf by clicking here) 
_____________________________________________________________________ February 10th, 2009: THE MOORING BUOY IS IN PLACE!!! Thanks to volunteers from Crystal, New Heaven, and New Way for gtting down the mooring buoy at Hin FAi. To reach the site swim due east of the mooring anchor (~30 meters) ____________________________________________________________________ February 3rd, 2009: Great Viz, no waves/current. Lots of sediment on the structures left over from last months water conditions. More corals appearing on the biorock. No dead corals on the structures, indicating a high level of success through the high turbidity/low light period in December and January. ______________________________________________________________________ December 15th, 2008: Very few waves, no current, 4-5 meter viz. Structure still holding up well and accumulating minerals at the expected pace. a few corals on the structure, growing well and growing over the steel frame. Cyclone fencing pieces are all hooked in, but accreting slightly slower. One large porcupine puffer fish has moved in on the west side of the site. ______________________________________________________________________ November 30th, 2008: 2-4 meter waves, visibility less than 1 meter. Structure holding up well to conditions, no damage or problems. Current still running at optimum level, and minerals are accreting uniformly from top to bottom of structure, as much as 5 mm thick in some areas. Corals are beginning to take hold, sea fans getting very large. ______________________________________________________________________ Nov. 21st, 2008: The structure is accumulated minerals at the expected rate and power source is working well. Still waiting for the OK from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources for coral restoration transplanting. Still no Mooring line at the site, so please don't dive there unless you can be dropped off without anchoring. 
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For the last 3 years, members of the local community have been testing the applicability of Bio Rock technology on Koh Tao through a small pilot project built by the Koh Tao Dive Operators Club and Bio Rock Thailand. In that time, we have observed dramatic improvements in coral health and biodiversity, and fish abundance in the area on and around the Bio Rock. With the success of the pilot project, Save Koh Tao and the local community of Dive Schools and businesses have decided to construct a larger Bio Rock that will act to improve the health of our reefs and reduce the damages caused by SCUBA diving on natural areas.