Koh Pu

Rating: ***
Depth: 6 to 19 meters
Boat Trip Time: 10 mins.

This Island is small, just opposite Kata Beach and it is very easy to dive around it. The depth varies and good coral and marine life is abundant amongst piles of rocks and boulders. Cracks, crevices and small caves amongst the piled up boulders are a natural habitat for fishes like Snappers, Sweetlips and Groupers. Good chances on occasional sightings of Jacks, Queenfish and Barracudas in schools. Commonly seen are some territorial reef sharks which usually keep their distance.

Karon Rock

Rating: ****
Depth: 9 to 20 meters
Boat Trip time: 15 mins.

This totally submerged dive dite is located just out of Kata Bay, in front of Karon Beach.
Big Granite boulders are spread out on a flat sand rubble bottom, with patches of hard coral, Sponges, Sea fans, Whip and Wire coral. Good variety of Reef fish. Schools of Snappers and smaller pelagic fishes are common in this area. Small Blue spotted mask rays, Turtles, Cuttlefish and several Scorpionfish as well as critters like the true Stonefish and Harlequin Ghost pipefish can be seen between these rocks.

Kata Noi

Rating: ****
Depth: 6 to 24 meters
Boat Trip Time: 15 mins.

Kata Noi is a nice little wall to dive along. This short drop off starts from the middle of Kata beach and goes all the way to the end of the bay. The shallow reef top sits at around 5 m and is nicely covered in sponges and a good diversity of hard coral. Reef life includes Butterfly-, Angelfish, Surgeonfish, Snappers and Triggerfish. Along the short drop off big coral blocks and overhangs offer a nice hide away for small Groupers and a range of Morays Eels. Around the cape, as depth increases big granite boulders covered with some soft coral are changing the landscape. Tunas and Jacks are often found here, hunting smaller reef fish.

Racha Yai Island

Rating: *** to ****
Depth: 5 to 30 meters
Boat Trip Time: 1 hr.

The clear and tranquil waters of Racha Yai are surrounded by fringing, rocky, primarily hard coral reefs, which taper off into a sand, sand rubble seabed. Its close proximity to Phuket, generally easy conditions and diversity of dive sites make it a favorite daytrip spot. Currents can be stiff at times but drift diving is the way to go here. Marine life is great and includes lots of moray eels, schools of small Barracudas, twin spot snappers and fusiliers, trumpet fish, juvenile boxfish and even critters like cockatoo waspish, frogfish, sea moth and pipefish can be found here. Titan Triggerfish take care about some entertainment too.

Racha Noi Island

Rating: *** to *****
Depth: 5 to 30+ meters
Boat Trip Time: 1 ½ to 2 hrs.

Racha Noi, compared to Racha Yai, is an uninhabited island. The waters are clear and deep with moderate to fairly strong currents. It is a good place to dive with larger fish such as Barracudas, Jacks, Manta Rays and Zebra Sharks. It offers beautiful underwater formations with fringing reefs, sand rubble, rocky seabed and granite boulders encrusted with sponges, hard and soft coral. Cracks, crevices and coral provide a great habitat for all different kinds of marine life, including schools of Sergeant majors, rainbow runners and Snappers. In shallow water Squid and Cuttlefish are frequently seen along with colourful Nudibranchs and Flatworms on the steep faces of the rocks. Once in a while...Whale Shark!

Shark point (Hin Musang)

Rating: *****
Depth: 5 to 28 meters
Boat Trip Time: 1 ½ hrs.

This is certainly one of the most popular and most diverse dive sites. This series of three pinnacles and several rocky outcrops, makes for amazing underwater photo opportunities. Here, one of the richest marine ecosystems in this whole area is on display, due to the incredible amount of Soft coral, sea whips, sea fans, barrel sponges, whip and wire coral. Next to a wide range of smaller critters like the Seahorse, Pipefish, Scorpion fish and Nudis, there is great schooling fish life too, including Snappers, Bigmouth Mackerels, Barracudas, Queen fish, Tunas and Oriental Bonitos. There is a good opportunity to scuba dive with Leopard sharks who frequent this reef.

Anemone Reef (Hin Jom Naam)

Rating: *****
Depth: 5 to 26 meters
Boat Trip Time: 1 ½ hrs.

A small underwater pinnacle, sitting on a fairly flat, sand rubble bottom, entirely covered in anemones, offering a perfect hideout for small porcelain crabs, commensal shrimps and countless anemone fish. The profusion of sea anemones and the nutrient rich water are a magnet to a constant parade of reef fish seeking food and shelter. Enormous schools of snappers, mackerels and jacks along with larger game fish like Tuna and even Wahoo, as well as the occasional Zebra Shark can be seen here. Currents can vary from middle to pretty strong. This is the reef that turned the King Cruiser into a great dive site:

King Cruiser

Rating: ****
Depth: 12 to 32 meters
Boat Trip Time: 1 ½ hrs.

On May 1997 this passenger ferry sunk, on its way to Phi Phi, hitting the Anemone Reef!

Now, this big wreck sits on a sandy bottom of 32 meters. The water conditions require a good level and a certain experience to dive on. Strong currents are not uncommon and the visibility can be much reduced too. Due to the wreck’s location, close to the neighboring sites Shark Point and Anemone Reef, it is teeming with life and had a very fast population growth in just a short time. Big pelagics, Turtles, Bamboo Sharks, Nudibranchs and loads of Scorpion fish can be seen here. The Wreck is an extremely popular dive.

Koh Dok Mai

Rating: ****
Boat Trip Time: 1 hr.
Depth: 5 to 28 meters

A single limestone outcrop is what in Thai is called “The Flower Island”, with sheer cliffs dropping down to the waterline and carrying on as a beautiful wall below the surface with small caves and lots of cracks and crevices to explore. The wall of this underwater cliff is encrusted with invertebrate marine life, incl. soft corals, sea fans, zigzag oysters and colonies of other bivalves, sponges and rich colored encrusting coralline. Unexpected encounters with big fish are not uncommon. Snappers, Fusiliers, Sweepers, Stingrays, Bamboo Sharks and Morays are some of the inhabitants of this site.

Ko Bida Nai and Ko Bida Nok

Rating: *****
Boat Trip Time: 2 ½ to 3 hrs.
Depth: 5 to 30 meters

These two rocky outcrops offer various dive sceneries, from walls over series of pinnacles to sloping, fringing reefs and reef patches, spread out over a sandy bottom covered in loose mushroom coral. Both these outcrops can be dived all around, making it a very interesting dive site.

Hawksbill turtles, banded sea snakes and Zebra Sharks are not an uncommon sight. Especially on the southern end of both these sites, schooling fish action is at its best due to stronger currents and nutrient rich water, featuring different species of Barracudas and Trevallies, big clouds of Snappers and Bonitos, Tunas, Rainbow Runners and Batfish. Critters like Ghost pipefish, Seahorses and Nudibranchs can be found with a bit of luck.

Maya Bay

Rating: ****
Boat Trip Time: 2 ½ to 3 hrs.
Depth: 5 to 20 meters

The wall and caves, rocky outcrops and reef patches on the northern end of the bay offer a very diverse underwater topography. Crevices and walls at this dive site are abundant with clusters of zigzag oysters and fan oysters. Feather stars in a multitude of colours, cling and grow on sea whips and sea fans and interesting commensals like tiny squat lobsters and Clingfish can be seen here. Towards the end of the day pelagic fish can bee observed hunting around and gobbling up everything that comes within their paths. Turtles and Zebra Sharks are a common sight and critter lovers won’t be disappointed either.

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