Phuket Dive Sites
Thailand Diving Guide
The lower Andaman region - encompassing the islands off Burma, Phang Nga Province and Phuket - is justly regarded as one of the woeld's leading dive sites. Some of the best known sites such as Richelieu Rock, Koh Phi Phi and The Similans will be familiar to most scuba enthusiasts but there are many more dive destinations, most within a few hours of Phuket and many more are opening up in Burma's Mergui Archipeligo. Happy diving!
Phuket Daytrips Dive Sites
Located a short distance north of Shark Point, Anemone Reef is another densely packed ecosystem and many dive operators offer day trips that cover both sites. Obviously, Anemone Reef sports thousands of anemones and anemone fish, but it also hosts its share of leopard sharks as well as a huge population of spectacular lionfish. Read More...
The King Cruiser was a ferry boat that plied the route between Phi Phi and Phuket. Then one fine day with no wind, no waves and no inclement weather it inexplicably sunk and created a perfect wreck dive. Resting in about 32 metres of water, the wreck has attracted quite a bit of marine life since it went down in 1997 and is now a bustling artificial reef. Read More...
An island located one hour east of Phuket. A walldive where you can spot everything, however look especially for the sea horse hanging on to the gorgonias and the many species of moray eels peeking out from their cavities. Read More...
While technically located in Krabi waters, Phi Phi is easily reached from Phuket and its powder soft beaches and dramatic limestone cliffs make it a popular excursion for visitors to both provinces. The diving around Phi Phi is not as mind boggling as the Similans or Hin Daeng but it does offer a huge variety of dive experiences concentrated within a small area. Read More...
An inexpensive way to get your feet (and everything else) wet, Phuket's west coast offers some surprisingly interesting dives. Although nowhere on the scale of he offshore islands, there are some nice reefs located just off the tourist beaches, particularly Kata. Hire an inexpensive local longtail boat and see what you can see. Read More...
Racha Noi is the more isolated of the two islands and is a popular dive-site for more experienced divers, as the depths are generally greater and the currents frequently stronger than at its sister island to the North. You will encounter huge underwater boulders that offer a good chance to see manta rays and whale sharks. Read More...
Racha Yai's best diving is off its east coast which makes it especially attractive during Phuket's off-season in the summer. Although visibility varies, it can be as good as 25 meters or more. A typical dive is a gentle drift along a sloping rocky face that is sprinkled with hard coral forests of many, many varieties. Read More...
So named for the large numbers of docile leopard sharks that can be found around its base, shark point is a lovely dive site that absolutely teems with life. Fairly strong currents sweep the site's two pinnacles, providing ample food for the large populations of coral that cling to the rocks. Read More...
Easily one of the best dive sites in the world, these nine virtually uninhabited islands boast some of the most brilliant coral reefs to be found anywhere in the world. Lying approximately 100 km off of the coast of Phuket, the Similans are a very popular destination for liveaboard trips and can even be reached by speedboat for day trips. Read More...
Located about 20 km north of the Similan Islands, these two islands offer some variety on liveaboard trips to their more famous cousins. Koh Bon is the home of one of the few vertical walls in Thailand and is an excellent place to encounter manta rays. Koh Tachai, features one of the finest reefs in all of Thailand. Rays, nurse sharks and hawks bill turtles are some of the stars of this show. Read More...
The Surin Islands are famous for some spectacular isolated beaches, bays and coves. For divers, the real attraction is a little rock 18 km (11 miles) off the coast of Phuket. For some mysterious reason this rock draws whale sharks like cops to a donut factory. Read More...
Located just below the border with Burma on the northern end of the Thai coastline. There are five islands in all, but he two most popular are Koh Surin Neua (north island) and Koh Surin Tai (south island). The Surin Island chain are a series of jungle covered granite outcrops that are ringed with coral reefs to a depth of 25-30 meters. Read More...
Located a short distance north of Shark Point, Anemone Reef is another densely packed ecosystem and many dive operators offer day trips that cover both sites. Obviously, Anemone Reef sports thousands of anemones and anemone fish, but it also hosts its share of leopard sharks as well as a huge population of spectacular lionfish. Read More...
Hin Muang, (Purple Rock) is totally submerged and is located just a few hundred meters north of Hin Daeng. This unique dive site is so completely covered with lush purple soft corals that it actually seems to glow, and it attracts the most incredible amount of marine life you will find anywhere. Read More...
These flat topped underwater plateaus are one of the best places in Southeast Asia to have some serious shark encounters. The Banks are known primarily as a big animal hot spot and the mounts are frequented by large numbers of nurse sharks and sliver tips as well as the schooling fish that they prey on. The odd hammerhead or tiger shark will occasionally turn up as well. Read More...
The Mergui Archipelago, of which the Burma Banks are a part, has only become known to divers in recent years. After nearly 50 years of total isolation, the 800 islands of the archipelago have started being explored by intrepid divers looking for a new experience in Southeast Asian waters. Read More...
Still fairly unexplored, the Andaman Islands lie between Phuket and India in the Bay of Bengal. These islands have only been open to diving for a relatively short period of time after 50 years of near-total isolation. The islands lack a modern fishing fleet and foreign fishing licenses are granted very rarely, meaning that the islands are simply teeming with large fish and sharks. Read More...
