| 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 Island 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 Koh 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. |
