Similan Islands Dive Sites

The Similan Islands are a stunning group of nine Islands, north west of Phuket, famous for being one of the top dive destinations in the world and certainly the best in Asia. The diving here is simply amazing. You'll immerse yourself in thriving reefs, lush corals, impressive sea fans and an incredible variety of marine life including large pelagics such as manta rays and whale sharks.

The Similan Islands are characterised by gigantic boulders above and below the water line, creating awesome underwater scenery and exciting swim throughs for divers to explore. The water is crystal clear and the visibility fantastic. The Similans also boast exquisite sandy beaches and shallow coral reefs in the bays. A perfect place for snorkeling.

Spread among the nine islands there are over 20 distinct dive sites. One of the favourites, especially for photographers, is Fantasea Reef. Thousands of schooling fusiliers, banner fish and reef sharks make this an awesome site. Another wonderful site is Christmas Point. This is a good spot for manta rays, nurse sharks and barracudas. It has an impressive variety of hard and soft corals and a wonderful maze of swim throughs.

Shark Fin Reef has beautiful coral and sponge gardens. It is an excellent site to see reef sharks and huge Napoleon wrasse. Elephant Rock from the surface looks like an elephant head. Below the surface there are many impressive tunnels and swim throughs. You can find small white tip reef sharks in a rock crevice at the beginning of the dive and many colourful fish.

Boulder City is another favourite site in the Similans. Due to its exposed location it is possible to see almost anything here including whalesharks and manta rays. It is invariably an exceptional dive. Leopard sharks, spanish dancers and great barracudas have been seen here against a back drop of huge granite boulders.

Koh Bon and Koh Tachai

The beautiful Islands of Koh Bon and Koh Tachai are a part of the Surin National Marine Park. Due to their isolated location these islands offer excellent opportunities to see mantas and whale sharks.

Koh Tachai is a series of submerged pinnacles and boulders which form excellent swim throughs. A variety of sea fans, feather stars and anemones make this a stunning diving area. Huge Napoleon wrasse and yellow tail barracudas are often spotted amidst schools of bannerfish and fusiliers.

Koh Bon is an amazing dive spot, famous primarily for its visiting whale sharks, manta rays and sharks. There are thousands of schooling fish, octopus and cuttlefish. A myriad of corals, anemones and fascinating sea sponges make this an exceptional dive spot teeming with life.

Richelieu Rock

This beautiful Surin Marine National Park is situated north of Similan and only 7 kilometers from the Burmese border. It consists of five granite islands covered in lush forest with idyllic beaches and beautifully clear water.

The famous Richelieu Rock is one of the world's best locations for spotting whale sharks and is certainly one of Thailand's best dive sites. This submerged rock is surrounded by a series of underwater pinnacles covered in corals and sea fans, making this a spectacular wall dive.

Richelieu Rock is incredibly rich in marine life. Here you can see seahorses, shovel nose rays, moray eels, lion fish and schools of banner fish. Due to its open sea location you may also see pelagics such as tuna, barracudas and trevallies

Surin Islands Dive Sites

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 Islands chain are a series of jungle covered granite outcrops that are ringed with coral reefs to a depth of 25-30 meters. These islands were designated as a national park in 1981, and are famous for excellent diving and sport fishing.

The park office and visitor’s center is located on the southwest side of Ko Surin Neua at Ao Mae Yai, where boats find safe anchorage. Live aboard dive cruises to the Surin Islands usually include diving at the famous Richelieu Rock; a limestone pinnacle carpeted with a thick covering pink and purple corals. Richelieu is one of the only sites in the world where the Whale Shark are encountered on a regular basis. It is also part of most cruises to stop at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, both of which offer good opportunities to see Leopard Sharks and Manta Rays.