Racha Yai
         Koh Doc Mai
         Shark Point
         Phi Phi
         Racha Noi
         Anemone Reef
         King Cruiser

Koh Racha Yai

This large island is 1h 30mins south from Phuket. The island has a number of nice beaches the most popular being Bungalow bay, which has beach huts for rent & a restaurant in the high season.

There are a number of dive sites here, with the majority on the east coast. Bungalow Bay & Siam Bay, to the west & north are good bad weather dive sites.

Most of the sites are sloping reefs covered with mainly Staghorn coral. The average maximum depth to the edge of the reef is around 20m.

Marine life tends to be of the more common species like lionfish, triggerfish, giant moray, angelfish & trumpet fish etc. Although Racha Yai can always surprise with giant barracuda, turtles, stone fish & even slightly confused manta rays stopping by.

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Koh Racha Noi

This uninhabited island is the most southern island from Phuket. The journey takes about 2h 30mins depending on the weather. Dive sites can be found all around the island with the sites to the east considered easier than those to the south & west. In the southeast is Racha Noi's only beach.

The real attraction here is the seascape (huge boulders, with many swim throughs) & chance to see big fish like manta rays, tuna, barracuda, Jenkins stingray & porcupine fish. Corals are limited although there are some very nice areas of soft corals. As with many big fish dive sites a little luck is needed to spot them. Diving here with the expectation of seeing big fish can end up being a disappointing experience. However, the sites here are very nice & very different from other dive sites around Phuket.

Some of these sites can be difficult to dive, with depths down to 50m's, strong current & the open ocean.

Good dive experience is required for these dive sites.

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Koh Doc Mai

This site is about 1 hour East of Phuket & is a small island with a high cliff face. The island is split into two dive sites, the east side (wall dive) & west side (reef dive). A good dive site in poor weather or strong current as one side of the island will always be protected from the elements.

Not a dive site for coral, although there are some soft corals on the north point & hard corals on the west side.

The east side is a wall dive with two large caverns halfway along the wall. Maximum depth here is around 22m's & the east side is the most popular side for diving.

The west side consists of a wall dive to the north & south & a sloping reef in the midsection. The reef on this side reach's a depth of 15m's

This is a dive site for small things like nudi-branch, small white-eyed morays, glassfish, shrimp & sea horse’s.

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Anemone Reef

This is one of the most beautiful dive sites in Phuket; the site is not a large site being made up of a large pinnacle with some small rock outcrops. The site is a fantastic haven for macro marine life such as a large variety of nudi-branch, different species of shrimp, frogfish, ghost pipefish & lots of other species. This is a site where you have to dive the site to really experience what it has to offer. The only disadvantage with this site is that in a strong current you can be swept very quickly past the dive site.

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Shark Point

Shark point is perhaps the best dive site around Phuket. Shark point rises out of the water from surrounding depths of only about 18-20m's, rich with purple & pink soft corals. The name of the site comes from our common leopard shark, a docile creature that lies in the sand surrounding the pinnacle. The site consists of 3 pinnacles’, 2 of which are the most common ones to dive. Pinnacle 1 rises out of the water with a lighthouse on to warn boats with the other pinnacles submerged beneath the water.

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King Cruiser

The King Cruiser, a converted car ferry built in Japan & imported into Thailand, sunk on 4th May 1997, after striking Anemone Reef just east of Phuket. The catamaran-style boat is over 85m's long & came to rest at a perfect diving depth of 32m's. It already has attracted lots of marine life, including eels, crabs, schools of fish, is covered with soft & hard corals. The depths of the King Cruiser make for perfect Multi-Level air or nitrox dives.

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Phi Phi Islands

Koh Phi Phi is made up of Phi Phi Don (the main island), Phi Phi Lay (the national park), Koh Bida Nok & Koh Bida Nai (the small islands to the south are favourite dive location).

Koh Bida Nok is split into two main dive sites, the west & east sides. The east side starts with a wall in the north, but turns quickly into a shallow sloping sandy bottom. The west also start with a wall in the north, the remainder of this side is a sloping reef (to 25m's) with soft corals.

Koh Bida Noi is split into two sites, the west side is a wall (to 18m's) with a short sloping rock coming out the sand at 20m's. The east is slightly more interesting with a shallow sandy slope in the north, leading to a reef running out to a plateau at 25m's.

Things to see at these islands range from leopard sharks, black tip sharks, barracuda, ghost pipefish, octopus & nudi-branch.

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