Richelieu Rock – Some people um and ah about this saying may be and possibly but let’s cut this out and state categorically Richelieu Rock is the Best Dive Site in Thailand!
It is a rock that breaks the surface for about 12 hours a day, 18 kilometers from Surin Islands and about double that from the mainland and very close to the Burmese Border.
How was it found? – as with a lot of sites the fishermen knew about it long before divers did.
There are many stories as to how this site was named, some say it was named after Cardinal Richelieu as the northern side is covered in red soft corals making it look like a cardinals robe. Our favourite story is that it was named after a French catholic missionary who was in Thailand between the wars (obviously very successful as less that 1% of the population is Christian), his real reason for coming to Thailand was his love of snorkelling and fishing. Some of the locals told him about this good fishing spot, he came out in his boat, in the middle of the open ocean he suddenly hit something, jumping out to check the damage he was amazed at what he saw below. Many years later he was back in France and at a meeting of the French diving Federation he met a young man he thought would be interested – and that is why Jacques Cousteau came to Thailand and spent 3 weeks at Richelieu Rock. There are also stories that it was named after a Thai General. Whichever way it was the name was given to the site by Jacques Cousteau.
The dive site is a limestone horse shoe facing south which touches the sand at 30 metres on the outside and about 15 metres on the inside. Though this dive site is particularly famous for Whale Shark sightings that is but a tiny part of the story. Manta Rays, Guitar Sharks and Nurse Sharks are spotted here but almost every day you will she huge schoals of Pick Handleand Chevron Barracuda hovering around the ridge, Giant Morays hiding in the hard corals and Peacock Mantis Shrimp looking at you out of their holes but even this is just scratching the surface. The real beauty here is in the macro life which is just everywhere – Boxer Shrimp, Durban Dancing Shrimp (good for a manicure), Blue Line Cleaner Shrimps (teeth cleaning), Harlequin Shrimps (rare and beautiful), Tiger Tail Seahorse, Ornate Ghost Pipefish, Reef Top Pipefish, Bentstick Pipefish and Pineapple Fish. All this plus the standard reef fish – Trigger Fish, Parrot Fish, Butterfly Fish, Angel Fish, Moorish Idols, Snappers Fussiliers, Admirals, Tuna and Trevallies. On top of the reef the rocks are covered with Anemones which in turn are full of Anemone Fish – there are Clown Fish, Clarks Anemone Fish, Skunk Anemone Fish and Tomato Blotch Anemone Fish.
Simply put you cannot do this dive site justice in one dive, an absolute minimum of two dives is required here.
Scuba Diving in Similan Thailand – Koh Bon is an Island about one to one and half hours north east of the Similan Islands.
Koh Bon Pinnacle
The Pinnacle is a hundred or so metres of the North West Corner of the Island. Not dived by many boats as it is very much and advanced level dive. The top of the pinnacle is at about 18 metres sloping down steeply to 40 metres on the North and 35 metres on the south.
The pinnacle is covered is primarily yellow soft coral, though there is a certain amount of variegation happening. There is plenty of small reef life to watch here but you’re really here for the big stuff. Huge groups of Giant Trevallies circle the rock and you’re often joined by the resident pair of Napoleon Wrasse but the real trick is to hover close to the top of the pinnacle and wait – Manta Rays and Eagle Rays are regularly spotted here.
Koh Bon West Ridge
This site is a submerged ridge sloping down to about 35 metres going west from the northern end of Koh Bon Bay. The start point of the dive is decided by the current. Starting in the bay you go straight to a coral garden on the sloping wall (12 – 20 metres), many Mantis Shrimp can be found here also look out for nudibrachs on the wall. If you start on the north side you’re on a rubble slop(10 – 25 metres) with large coral bommies and massive hard coral beds at around 22metres. Look here for huge Lion Fish and Trigger Fish as well as big groups of Bat Fish.
Either way you will head onto the ridge, careful not to go too deep as this will eat into your dive time. At around 22 metres there are two large areas of bare rock which is a good place to settle down to watch. Around the end of the ridge you’ll often see Blue Fin and Giant Trevallies, Pick Handle and Chevron Barracuda and if you’re lucky Manta Ray cruising along the ridge.
MV Giamani, owned and operated by Colona Liveaboards and a "Top Boat” in the Thailand Liveaboards Fleet. 10 Divers Only, First Class Service, Experienced Dive Guides, Excellent food and Accommodation in En-suite Cabins. NITROX available & Re-breather Divers (SCR & CCR) welcome.
MV Oktavia is a Thailand liveaboard where families are welcome to cruise, dive and simply enjoy the tropical and exotic island destinations. Swedish owned and operated MV Oktavia is a comfortable and affordable scuba diving boat. The diving staff and crew are friendly and helpful in making the cruise a most memorable one.
Deep Andaman Queen is a well known Thailand liveaboard to cruise the Andaman Sea. A 28.5-meters long and 7-meters wide, twin-engine steel hull motor boat, with the highest safety standards on board. Andaman Queen Accommodates 21 divers in air conditioned en-suite cabins. Nitrox is available.
The Junk or also called June Hong Chian Lee. Spend your Similan Islands liveaboard diving holiday, discovering the most fantastic dive sites around Similan & Surin Islands, Thailand. You will have a great time a on board this authentic Thailand Liveaboard which is a real sailing Junk with a long history.
Diving in Similan Islands – Breakfast Bend skirts the entire eastern side of Similan Island No. 9 (Koh Bangu) though the northern half of the dive site is often called Three Trees or Bat Fish Bend. This is another classic example of how the scuba dive sites were named in the early years of Similan Islands. It was first dived at breakfast time, it’s a bend around the side of the island, hey presto there’s the name.
The actual reef is made of of a sandy slope starting at about 10 metres of depth and going down to 25 metres covered in rocky outcrops and coral bommies. Large patches of Stag horn coral are broken up by patches of colourful soft coral – blue, yellow, pink and purple. At the southern end of the dive site, search the reef and look for Garden Eels and Stingrays on the sandy bottom.
At the northern end watch for the resident Turtles feeding on corals and sea grass. As well as the normal reef fish this site has schools of snapper, fussillier and the small Forster’s Barracuda
MV Giamani, owned and operated by Colona Liveaboards and a "Top Boat” in the Thailand Liveaboards Fleet. 10 Divers Only, First Class Service, Experienced Dive Guides, Excellent food and Accommodation in En-suite Cabins. NITROX available & Re-breather Divers (SCR & CCR) welcome.
MV Oktavia is a Thailand liveaboard where families are welcome to cruise, dive and simply enjoy the tropical and exotic island destinations. Swedish owned and operated MV Oktavia is a comfortable and affordable scuba diving boat. The diving staff and crew are friendly and helpful in making the cruise a most memorable one.
Deep Andaman Queen is a well known Thailand liveaboard to cruise the Andaman Sea. A 28.5-meters long and 7-meters wide, twin-engine steel hull motor boat, with the highest safety standards on board. Andaman Queen Accommodates 21 divers in air conditioned en-suite cabins. Nitrox is available.
The Junk or also called June Hong Chian Lee. Spend your Similan Islands liveaboard diving holiday, discovering the most fantastic dive sites around Similan & Surin Islands, Thailand. You will have a great time a on board this authentic Thailand Liveaboard which is a real sailing Junk with a long history.
This is one of the newer wrecks in Thailand having sunk in August of 2009 a few Kilometres off the coast of Thailand close to Thap Lamu/Khao Lak.
This Boat, the MV Sea Chart 1, was a Thai built and registered bulk carrier cargo ship which was transporting a load of 1200 Burmese Iron wood Teak logs from Burma to Vietnam. This wood is also known as illegal teak as there is a UNESCO ban on the harvesting and trading of this wood. The boat met unexpected rough weather as it skirted the coast of Thailand, started taking on water and sank. All the crew survived on inflatable life rafts and were rescued by the Thai Navy. The rumour is that the owner wanted to salvage the cargo but the Thai Navy claimed they had salvage rights and the two parties are now fighting it out in court.
For now, however, the cargo is intact and more and more companies are starting to dive this site. The boat lies on it’s starboard side in 40 metres of water on bare sand. The shallowest point on the wreck is the port side hull at between 22 and 24 metres. Being quite new the reis not much coral growth but the wreck is already teeming with life, on the wreck itself there are many Lion Fish, Puffer Fish and Bat Fish, the exposed hull is covered in Sea Urchins and schoals of Snapper, Fussilier, Trevally, Tuna and Barracuda are drifting around the wreck and a group of Rainbow Runners are often found hanging out close to the mooring line. There are opportunities for some simple penetration into the wheel house and cargo hold.
Boonsung Wreck
The Boonsung was a tin dredger barge operating along the coast of Thailand, She sank in 1984 through bad weather or bad maintenance and sank intact to the sea bed at 18 metres and there she sat until boxing day 2004 when the Tsunami rolled through and ripped her open.
This is very much a tail of two dives. Day dives and night dives are dramatically different on this site. During the day it’s fish soup, huge schoals of Snapper, Fussilier, Blue Fin Travally and Juvenile Barracuda completely fill the sight often making in quite hard to make out the wreck itself. Once the night sets in these fish drift away from the wreck making room for huge numbers of Lion Fish, Scorpion Fish and Porcupine Puffer Fish. You also get the opportunities to spot some of the macro life on the wreck itself, nudibranchs, Frog Fish, Decorator Crabs and Hermit Crabs. This wreck is also home to a number of Honeycomb Morays.
The Naiyak Wreck
This wreck close to Thap lamu and Naiyak Beach is also known by many other names such as “Premchai”, “Codreco” and “Thai Muang Wreck”.
This boat was a tin dredger which sank in august of 2001, she sank such that her hull isuppermost at an angle of about 60˚ in 21 metres of water, some debris fell off the deck and is scattered around the main hull. There is some coarl growth here but it is best known for hugenumbers of fish and an amazing variety of Nudibranchs.
Gulf of Thailand Diving Sites – Brief diving site information’s about the most dived dive sites in the Gulf of Thailand.
Sail Rock
This dive site is considered to be one of the best dive sites in the Gulf of Thailand, only challenged for the title by Chumphon Pinnacle.
Sail Rock a granite pinnacle which breaks the surface coming up from around 40 meters and is approximately half way between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.
As there are no other islands or pinnacles close by Sail Rock is a magnet for shoaling fish as well as a haven for reef fish and critters. As the dive site is exposed there can be strong currents here but the site is big enough to be able to hide from the worst of it.
A central feature of this dive is the vertical chimney starting at around 18 meters and opening to the light at about 6 meters below the surface. The chimney is usually full of glass fish and as you exit onto the top of the pinnacle you are presented with a carpet of Anemones and their residents.
The rock has many cracks, crevices and holes which are full of life such as White Eye and Yellow margin Moray Eels, Scorpion fish, Boxer Shrimp and Nudibranchs. Sail Rock is one of the main dive sites in Thailand for seeing Whale Sharks and sometimes other big sharks.
For the more experienced divers there is a second pinnacle about 50 meters from the main site and this tops out at about 15 meters deep. As this pinnacle is infrequently visited it’s coral are virtually unblemished and it’s critters more inquisitive.
Chumpon Pinnacle
Along with Sail Rock this is considered the best diving on the East Coast of Thailand.
This pinnacle does not break the surface but starts 12 meters deep going down to about 30 meters and is surrounded by a number of smaller rocks. The base of the pinnacle is coated with anemones and their resident “Nemo’s” (Western Clownfish) and other anemone fish. As you descend you may see some large groupers hiding in cracks and crevices or hanging around the main pinnacle. The Pinnacle is a haven for reef fish and macro life, look out for Moray Eels, File Fish, Masked Porcupine Puffer Fish, Lion Fish, Scorpion Fish and even Stone Fish, also Banded Boxer Shrimp, Crabs and Wart Slugs.
Don’t forget to look out into the blue for large Barracuda, Trevallies, Jacks and Mackeral as well as the majestic Whale Shark.
Koh Tao Dive Site
Hin Wong
In the North Eastern corner of Koh Tao Island you find Hin Wong Bay. This bay offers an ideal location for a relaxing shallow dive and is home for our MV Giamani when located in Koh Tao.
With a maximum depth of 18 meters this dive site is a mixture of boulders and hard coral beds alive with multicolored wrasse, Parrot Fish and if you are very lucky you may see the ridiculous camouflage of the Clown Trigger Fish. The perfect place to complete the days diving with a sunset or night dive.
The Sattakut Wreck
Just off the west coast of Koh Tao in about 30 meters of water is the wreck of the HTMS Sattakut which was sunk as an artificial reef in June 2011. Due to weather conditions the sinking didn’t go as planned so in August 2011 a salvage team moved her to her current location.
The boat which was built in 1944 as part of the US Pacific Fleet was an Infantry Landing Craft (LCI(M)-739) and saw action in some of the major battles of World War II. In 1947 she was sold to the Royal Thai Navy where she was in service until 2007. She was then cleaned and prepared for the artificial reef project.
The Hull of the boat is on the sand at 30 meters with the mast head reaching up to 18 meters below the surface, with her 2 guns still in place this 48 meters long, 7 meters wide vessel makes for a very interesting advanced level dive.
In the time since it’s sinking it has attracted many shoaling pelagic fish such as Snappers, Fusiliers, Barracuda and Trevally as well as Large Whiprays and Grey Reef Sharks. Like many wreck is also a home to macro life – flatworms and nudibranchs and little blennies hiding in their holes with just their eyes poking out.
White Rock
A relatively shallow dive site, depth ranging from 5 to 20 meters, White Rock consists of two large boulders surrounded by smaller stones and hard coral beds interspersed with patches of sand where you have a chance to see blue spotted stingrays.
Keep your eyes open for Banded Sea Snakes, the resident Hawksbill Turtle and that menace of the reef the Titan Trigger Fish. The Hard Coral beds are vibrant with life such as Angel and Butterfly Fish as well as home to small White Eyed Moray Eels.
Japanese Gardens
The picturesque bay made by the three small islands of Koh Nang Yuan houses this simple but beautiful dive site. With a maximum depth of 18 meters and an average depth of around 10 meters you can spend a long dive drifting over the densely packed hard corals looking out for the shoals of Banner fish and Jacks as well as the hiding Cat Fish, Box fish and Seal Faced Puffer Fish. Also keep an eye out for the peculiar movements of Juvenile Harlequin Sweet lips.
Mango Bay
An ideal night dive spot, this giant sheltered shallow bay is lined with large hard coral heads whilst the center of the bay is sand with large patches of Staghorn Coral. Whilst the hard corals attract many reef fish such as Parrot Fish, Butterfly fish and Wrasse the center of the bay can bring some surprises such as Hermit Crabs, Cuttlefish and if you’re very lucky Seahorses. With a maximum depth of 15 meters this makes the perfect wind down dive.
Shark Island
Just South East of Koh Tao is the small uninhabited Shark Island. Due to it’s location it is prone to strong currents, though this can make the diving harder it also makes it more rewarding as these currents promote coral growth.
On the east of the island are large boulder formations littered with Sea Fans and Whip Corals, on the southern side of the island at about 14 meters is a fabulous soft coral garden. Moray Eels, Puffer Fish and Blue Spot Rays and common sightings here as well as an abundance of Reef Fish. Look out in to the blue and you could be lucky various sharks and other deep water fish are often seen here including the largest fish in the sea – The Whale shark.
South West Pinnacle
About 12 km southwest of Koh Tao this exposed dive site consists of one large pinnacle, sitting on the sandy bottom at about 26 meters and rising to about 6 meters below the surface, surrounded by 5 pinnacles rising to around 15 meters which in turn are surrounded by smaller rocks and boulders.
The base of the pinnacles are alive with many colorful bush corals which themselves could be sheltering Yellow Box Fish, Scorpion Fish and Blue Spotted Rays. The tops of the pinnacle are blanketed with anemones home to Spine Cheek Anemone Fish. As you descend look for Moray Eels, Pipefish, Porcupine Fish, Banded Boxer Shrimp and Octopus hiding in the rock. Really take your time as this is a great macro site.
Hin Muang Dive Site Information – Hin Muang is situated seventy miles south east of Phuket and is many local Divemaster’s and instructors favorite dive site. On its day, it is quite simply unbeatable, breath taking in fact. The south side is a vertical drop off, impressively deep and the east side is more gradual slope.
Max depth: 70m
Level of difficulty: Open water upwards.
Visibility: 20 – 30m
Current: Weak to strong.
An absolute must dive.
The first pinnacle lies approximately 8 meters from the surface and drops down to 70 meters. Many divers have seen their first Manta Ray and or Whale Shark here, as these magnificent creatures are attracted by the deep drop-offs and plankton rich waters.
There is an abundance of soft corals, reds and particularly purples and this is where Hin Muang gets it name: Purple Rock in English, a beautiful site to see. The main feature, being the two large pinnacles you will find yourself diving in a figure of 8 as you admire the wonders around.
Again, this is a large dive site, over 200 meters in length and it’s very deep too, easy to go deeper than you planned for, so monitoring air and depth frequently is recommended.
Hin Muang is a completely submerged ridge, it is connected to Hin Deang, but it would take a foolhardy diver who would attempt this 500 meter swim, at over 70 meters depth, without a fully operational nuclear submarine.
Again, here as on its sister site, there is loads of predatory action here, huge Rainbow Runners hunting beside Giant Trevally. The attacks on the small bait fish can be relentless. Other fish life in the area: Schools of Squid, Large Red Octopus scampering across the reefs, Black Fin Barracuda and Yellow Tail barracuda too.
The amount of macro life here will have the photographer drooling, Pipefish, Blennies, Gobies all hiding among the small cracks and crevices of the rock. Searching around the huge Gorgonian Sea fans will also yield a fantastic wealth of macro life.
The only downside to this site is there is never enough time to see it all, so at least two dives are needed here. As the minimum depth is 8 meters, it is quite a deep site to tackle and the currents can be strong creating excellent drift diving.
Hin Daeng Diving Paradise – A few hundred meters south of Hin Muang, you will find Hin Deang. Hin Deang is a pinnacle of limestone that breaks the surface by just a meter or two, depending on tides of course.
Max depth: 60m
Level of difficulty: Open water upwards.
Visibility: 20 40 meters
Current: None – strong.
Season: October to June
An absolute must dive!
This dive site rivals its neighbor, in fact there really is no separating either site, apart from the landscape differing slightly, both sites teem with life and both make for amazing diving.
On one side there is an almost vertical wall with Gorgonian Sea Fans and soft red corals, as you swim mid water with the bottom sloping off into the deep, keep your eyes peeled for large pelagic fish that cruise these waters very frequently.
Another special feature here is the huge boulders that form swim throughs. There is also a valley that splits from part of the main island; it’s worth exploring this area too. The shallow side is around 15 meters, and then on the other side, it drops down quite deep.
Here you can find Red Tooth Trigger Fish and also Clown Trigger Fish favoring this area too. There is a mooring line which divers use to descend and ascend and usually there to greet them are the resident Bat Fish. These fascinating fish are very curios and seem to come very close to see especially if the diver rubs their fingers together.
Venturing further around the reef, it is quite visible how quickly it drops of into depth of blue; regular depth surveillance is recommended. The large pelagic fish are a common sighting in this particular part and this great spot to observe them, as they swoop in and gobble up any plankton that is in the area.
The whole rock is covered in absolutely stunning red soft corals, hence its name Hin Deang (Red Rock). The area attracts very small glass fish and bait fish, this attracts the more active Jacks and Trevally’s that come here to hunt and to terrorize the smaller fish.
If it’s possible, find a nice quite area, buoyancy permitting, and observe the show. It is fantastic. Better than any wildlife TV program. There is a huge school of Pickhandle Barracuda, also lone-wolf Great Barracuda’s, as they go lurking and quietly follow the diver, curious as to what the bubble blower is doing.
There is a huge variety of Moray Eels down there, including Honeycomb and Zebra morays, which are rarely seen elsewhere. Snake Eels have also been seen scuttling around the bottom. In fact the variety of macro life at Hin Daeng is unique to the area. Several species can only be found here.
The Harlequin box shrimp are not always easy to see, it takes a shrewd diver to realize that any four legged starfish may have been recent victims to these little critters.
Koh Haa Islands Group – The Thai name for this site is from the name of the island group Koh Haa (literally five islands) and this is the largest (Yai – big or large). The English names comes from the two huge open caves which make up the main part of this site.
Koh Haa Yai (The Cathedral)
You’ll begin this dive on the sloping island wall up current from the caves and spend a bit of time on the hard corals here before going onto the rock plateau in front of the caves at about 14 meters. There area couple of swim throughs here just in front of the caves. Of the two large caves the eastern one is the deepest going about 15 meters in, at the back of this cave is the entrance to a narrow cave system – this should be left to properly trained and equipped cave divers!
The western of the cave is much smaller only going around 4 meters into the island, however both caves are about 10 meters wide and reaching up to the surface at low tide. There is a hole at about five meters joining the two caves. To the west of these caves is a third cave with a much lower roof and a soft sandy floor which is easily stirred up.
Koh Haa Nua (The Chimney)
This is the most northern of this group of islands, hence the Thai name. The chimney is the prime focus of this dive, it goes from a cleft in the base of the island at 14 meters almost vertically up to 5 meters where it opens as a hole in the hard coral reef, the chimney branches at 8 meters and leads into a cave with two other openings to the see. Before you come to the chimney you’ll spend some time on the sloping hard coral reef which is covered in anemones – most with clown fish (these have been placed here as part of a university project). In front of the chimney entrance is a large rock with a swim through. On the sand south of this rock is a lush soft coral garden, some of these corals are over a meter tall.
Diving Phi Phi Islands – Palong Wall, aka Coral Garden is found on the North West side of Phi Phi Leh and the name literally speaks for its self. The soft corals here are very impressive. Along the wall of this relatively shallow dive site are some of the most beautiful colours of coral that can be seen in all of Thailand.
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Max depth: 18 meters
Level of difficulty: Open water upwards.
Visibility: 15 Meters
Current: none to strong
Recommended Season: All year round is possible
Recommended Phi Phi Dive site!
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The corals are an attraction for many small and exotic creatures, the Tiger Tail Seahorse and Ornate Ghost Pipefish can be found hiding, with a little time and patience of course.
Everyone can enjoy the tremendous array of colours and beauty of this stunning dive site, it is not deep and the maximum depth at high tide is 18 meters. There are some small sandy areas at the start of the dive, although this is a little deeper than 8 meters.
Many Dive masters and instructors favour this dive site and is a very popular second dive site after Bida Nok or Bida Nai have been dived in the morning. Lunch in Maya Bay and then a relaxing hour in the late morning sun or maybe a gentle snorkel before heading into this is a great dive site.
After entering the water the diver drops down to a steady 12 meters, the visibility is clearly one of the best in the area, and there is usually very little current here. Keeping the wall on the right hand side, the diver can swim out towards some verge boulders where Giant Moray Eels and Blue Spotted Stingrays can be spotted.
Just recently a Moray was spotted in a scuffle with a Coral banded Sea Snake, the image was captured on video, showing the poor Sea Snake make a high tail out of there and with a flea in its ear.
After the large boulders have been explored, a smooth turn back into the wall and some stunning scenery will be observed. Little swim through covered in reds pinks and purple soft corals all surrounded by little glass fish, trying to keep out of the reach of the ravenous clutches of the small Trevally and Silver Mackerel.
There is also a large amount of Angel fish here, with breeding pairs of Blue ringed and Emperors flourishing on this site. Juveniles, make for great photos with their beautiful swirling colourations.
Marine fish: Great Barracuda, Blue Fin Trevallies Blue Ringed Angel Fish which swim around in pairs and the usual reef fishes, Scorpion Fish, Yellow Snapper, Ghost Pipe Fish, Hawksbill Turtles and many large Groupers.
Other marine life here includes; Leopard sharks, Black Tip Reef Sharks, Yellow tail Barracuda, Jacks, Tuna, Mackerel feeding on the masses of glass fish, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Seahorses, Ghost Pipe Fish, and hiding on the sand blue spotted stingrays.
Diving Koh Phi Phi Islands – Koh Bida Nai is Koh Bida Nok’s Sister Island and they lay about 150 meters apart from each other with Bida Nai being to the north. To choose which the best dive site from these two is not easy and has to go down to any particular day. One day it’s Bida Nok the next its Nai taking the honours, both these sites will take your breath away.
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Max depth: 30 meters
Level of difficulty: Open water upwards.
Visibility: 15 Meters
Current: none to strong
Recommended Season: All year round is possible
Highly recommended when Diving Phi Phi!
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Bida Nai has a small bay where the boat drops divers, and as they descend there are two directions to turn. If south is chosen, then a quick swim over the sandy bottom and you will arrive at Fantasy Reef. No doubt, before even arriving here, you will have spotted several leopard Sharks, Trevally’s and Stingrays.
Fantasy reef, starts at around 18 meters and drops to about 27 meters, the visibility can sometimes drop to about 10 meters depending on the conditions. There are some huge boulders making up this lively little reef, in between each bolder there are huge Sea Fans and Whip Corals harbouring all sorts of little macro critters.
Above the reef circling is the resident school of Yellow Tail Barracuda. Best to keep your eyes on this lot, they are never still and when they spot something tasty to eat, watch them move, in the blink of an eye.
Coming back towards the main part of the Island you will find some very lovely little swim throughs. It is normal here to get lost in the amount of fish that this site teems with. As you get closer to the shallows again, Black Tips can be seen darting around, don’t blink or they will be gone too.
If you choose to do the other side, the north side of the island, then even more adventure awaits the diver. This side offers some spectacular wall and shallow cavern diving. Leopards Sharks have been observed mating in this area, best to give them a little respectful distance.
Head further round, and you will find some large submerged boulders teeming with life. As you venture further round you will find fantastic wall diving and then reef starts to slope off as you reach the back of the Island.
There are some of the biggest barrel sponges, and possibly hiding out in these purple sponges are Scorpion Fish, so it wise to be careful where one puts ones’ hands.
Other marine life here includes; Leopard sharks, Black Tip Reef Sharks, Yellow Tail Barracuda, Jacks, Tuna, Mackerel feeding on the masses of glass fish, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Seahorses, Ghost Pipe Fish, and hiding on the sand blue spotted stingrays.
Special features: great wall diving with many boulders to explore and swim-throughs to test your buoyancy.
Quick tip on the east side you will find many stag horn coral follow outward where you will find three large boulders with a Variety of reef fish and great chance to see Leopard sharks.
Diving Koh Phi Phi Islands – More recommended Dive Sites
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