Phuket Environment

Phuket General Information

The waters around Phuket contain some excellent underwater scenery and fringing coral reefs with the result that diving has become a major Phuket-based recreational industry.

This region's coral reefs are home to a huge variety of coral reef fish and hard corals. Add to this, an undetermined number of soft coral species plus tens of thousands of other marine organisms, including crustaceans, echinoderms, and worms, each with its own role in maintaining the coral reef ecosystem as a whole and you have a fascinating diving environment. (See our Diving section).

These waters include more than 850 species of pelagic fish (open-water as opposed to demersal, or those living near the bottom), many of them of commercial value. The Andaman Sea is on the migration routes of classic fighting fish such as the blue marlin. Other much-sought-after trophy fish are black marlin (relatively scarce), sailfish, barracuda and a variety of sharks, notably tigers and makos. (See our Fishing pages).