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Local dive sites of Phuket
All the divesites below are within 1hr 30 mins of port, please contact us should you have further questions abour any divesites within Thai waters, and we will send you a reliable, honest report.
The island of Phuket is perfectly positioned to explore some of the best dive sites on the planet. And with the right dive guide we ensure you get the very best from all of your dives. We limit the size of groups to just four divers per guide, however to get the very best you can hire your very own private guide.
Due to the quality and motivation of the Crew and Dive staff, the food and the fully insured transfers - Our preffered Day Trip Boat is the MV Choksomporn, below is her schedule and costs, however should this not fit with your plans, we can arrange for you to join any of the major dive opperators here in Phuket. But we strongly reccomend that you take advantage of our Private guide service.
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MV Choksomporn: Schedule and prices
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| DAY |
DESTINATION |
NO DIVES |
COST |
| MONDAY |
KING CRUSIER, SHARKPOINT, KOH DOC MAI |
3 |
3500bht |
| TUESDAY |
RACHA YAI |
2 |
2900bht |
| WEDNESDAY |
PHI PHI |
2 |
3200bht |
| THURSDAY |
RACHA NOI |
2 |
3200bht |
| FRIDAY |
KING CRUSIER, SHARKPOINT, KOH DOC MAI |
3 |
3500bht |
| SATURDAY |
RACHA YAI |
2 |
2900bht |
| SUNDAY |
RACHA NOI |
2 |
3200bht |
Book more than one day and get free equipment rental, book more than two days and get 5% off, book more than three days and get 10% off
For dive site details click here
For boat details click here |
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These are just a few of Phukets local day trip dive sites....................
Koh Dok Mai Reef Basics: Small islet and wall diving Depth: 5 - 30m Visibility: 5 - 20m Currents: Usually strong Surface Conditions: CalmWater Temperature: 27 -30°C Experience Level: Intermediate Number of dive sites: 2
Diving Season: All year round. Distance: ~15 km east of Phuket (1 hour)
Hin Jom, meaning submerged rock, derives its English name from the profusion of lime green and sky blue magnificent anemone's that cover this pinnacle. Anemonefish and clownfish use the anemone's for protection and provide this Phuket dive site with all the colours you could wish for.
A dive at Anemone Reef usually starts with a descent to the bottom of the pinnacle. You can then slowly circle your way up the reef until you reach your safety stop level at the end of your dive. Sometimes the currents make it difficult to circumnavigate the reef in which case your guide will lead you on a zigzag route up one side of the pinnacle to avoid heavy finning against the current. Which ever way Anemone Reef is dived, it's a spectacular diving spot.
On the eastern slope of the pinnacle you can find large examples of lemon sea fans. Barrel sponges dot the lower slopes, and you can often find big, well-fed bearded scorpionfish resting inside their open barrel rims. These creatures are masters of camouflage and adopt crazy patchwork markings of white and pale pink, to match the granite rocks of Anemone Reef. Common lionfish and spotfin lionfish are always in attendance, either floating freely or hiding around the barrel sponges to avoid the currents.
Large schools of fish are everywhere on Anemone Reef, including various families of snapper, grouper and fusiliers. Splendid soldierfish congregate together in the many cracks and crevices which are also a haven for smaller critters such as the yellow tiger-tail seahorses. These guys are normally found around the lower reaches of the pinnacle and you need a good eye or a skilled dive guide to spot them.
Look under the coral heads for Oriental sweetlips. Adult harlequin sweetlips can also be seen, and if you are lucky, the beautiful juvenile harlequin sweetlips performing its distinctive dance. Red-tail butterflyfish and schooling bannerfish are common at Phuket dive sites, as are Moorish idols, trumpet fish, cornetfish and parrotfish.
You will see plenty of giant morays, undulated morays and white-eyed moray eels too, and with a little searching you should also be able to spot honeycomb, yellow-edged and spot-faced moray eels.
At the end of the dive pay close attention in and around the anemones. You can find tomato, skunk, pink and Clark's anemonefish, to name but a few. And yes, the now famous western clownfish is everywhere, so you will find Nemo! Anemonefish are not the anemone's only residents though. Porcelain crabs can be seen on the outer edges of carpet anemones, shrimps hide in the middle of the anemones and damselfish such as the three spot dascyllus are ever present. The top of the rock at six metres is an ideal spot to finish off that roll of film; in fact many photographers choose to spend their whole dive here as the shallow depth provides great lighting conditions.
As Anemone Reef lies very close to Phuket Shark Point Marine Sanctuary, you are just as likely to see leopard sharks here as you are there, and there's also a pair of hawksbill turtles that make frequent appearances. They seem to share their time between Anemone Reef and the King Cruiser Wreck. Conditions can be adverse, especially in rainy season during the months from May to October, which makes diving Phuket at this site suitable for intermediate level divers on
Koh Dok Mai Reef Basics: Small islet and wall diving Depth: 5 - 30m Visibility: 5 - 20m Currents: Usually strong Surface Conditions: CalmWater Temperature: 27 -30°C Experience Level: Intermediate Number of dive sites: 2
Diving Season: All year round. Distance: ~15 km east of Phuket (1 hour)
The name means Flower Island in Thai and this diving site must be named for its underwater beauty because above the water there are no flowers, only a few trees and bushes. As soon as you descend however, the colourful flower-like coral covering the wall makes the name understandable.
Koh Dok Mai is a small limestone islet rising vertically out of the sea. The site is mainly a wall dive down to thirty metres, with a hard coral staghorn reef sloping to the west. On the east side of the island are a series of caverns and caves which are great for practising penetration techniques, and maybe search and recovery!
Koh Dok Mai is a favourite dive site for Phuket's diving pros because of the diversity of small stuff on the wall and it's famed for the resident yellow tiger-tail seahorses. Try spotting them hidden amongst the lacy gorgonian sea fans. They are in there somewhere ... honest! Whilst your dive guide is looking for them for you, he'll also be looking for ornate ghost pipefish and harlequin ghostpipefish. There's also a huge variety of invertebrates here, such as lobster, crabs, zigzag clams, pencil urchins, oysters, squid, and white-eyed moray eels. This is one of the top macro sites for scuba diving Phuket so if you're a photographer a macro lens is the best option here.
Bigger fish such as leopard sharks and grey reef sharks are occasionally seen here and Indonesian bamboo sharks are becoming a more common sight beneath coral heads following a recent breeding program by the Phuket Marine Biological Research Centre. Octopuses are also common on the walls and if you look up you can normally see crocodile long-toms swimming close to the surface.
If you ever come across a dive buddy who claims in their log book to have seen a yellow submarine at Koh Dok Mai, then it's not necessarily likely that they took too many hallucinogenic drugs in the 1960's. One Phuket tour operator here did take non-diving tourists down on submarine tours around the island to goggle at the marine life. Thankfully, they don't play the accompanying music to the passengers.
This beautiful palm covered island is dotted with small sandy beaches, and surrounded by fringing hard coral reef. Racha Yai is a granite island which means the water is always clear and the many shallow protected bays all around the island make it an ideal trip at any time of the year. Racha Yai is the perfect place to learn scuba diving in Phuket, for snorkellers, and for divers who haven't been in the water for a while.
Local residents in the coral gardens and staghorn reef include titan triggerfish, moray eels, cuttlefish, octopus and giant pufferfish. Titan triggerfish are quite mean looking fish, with their beady, swivelling eyes. In nesting season their moods change to match their looks. The male stands guard of its nest on the sand, and woe-be-tide you if you cross into its territory - the zone in a full circle directly above the nest. The titan triggerfish will charge at you continuously until you swim out of its territory once again. Thankfully, the fish seems more attracted to colourful fins rather than divers themselves, which reduces your risk of any personal injury when you're diving Phuket.
You can also see trumpetfish, nose down in the reef hunting for food. Cornetfish are ever present as are large schools of twin-spot snapper, dog-eyed pufferfish and parrotfish. Some anemones can be found scattered amongst the hard corals with western clownfish in residence. It's worth spending some time in the sandy area at the edge of the reef to look for blue-spotted stingrays that, when not moving, bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes protruding out. Garden eels are also in this area.
A few years ago one of the first liveaboard dive boats was sunk at Racha Yai on Homerun Reef. It's now home to some batfish and a huge sting ray. Often, large schools of yellowtail barracuda slowly glide by. One of the most popular destinations for Phuket scuba diving day trips.
Sunken car ferry Depth: 12 - 32m Visibility: 5 - 20m Currents: Can be strong Surface Conditions: Can be rough Water Temperature: 27-30°C Experience Level: Intermediate Number of dive sites:2
Diving Season: All year round Distance:~27 km east of Phuket (1¾ hours),
The King Cruiser was originally a car and passenger ferry in Kobe, Japan before being purchased by a Thai company to be used as a passenger ferry between Phi Phi Islands and Phuket. In May 1997 the ferry struck Anemone Reef and sank nearby. There were over 500 people on board when she went down but no lives were lost and now the wreck remains as an underwater attraction in the Phuket dive industry.
The King Cruiser wreck is 85 metres long by 25 metres wide, and has four decks with large passages and window holes. The wreck is resting in an upright position on 32 metres, with the captain's cabin the shallowest area at 12 metres. This depth, together with the frequent strong currents and low season rough seas, makes the diving here unsuitable for beginners.
The Kingcruiser was a steel boat and the large cargo hold used to be considered safe for penetration. However, in August 2003 the floor of the stern top deck collapsed through onto the main deck and more recently both the midsection and the bow areas have deteriorated significantly, so penetration is no longer safe. As you dive around the wreck you will be aware of the constant sound of creaking joints, lending a sense of impending doom. Let's hope the wreck will survive and remain a source of enjoyment when scuba diving in Phuket for some years to come yet.
On 32 metres at the stern you can see the twin propellers with lionfish swimming around them and there is normally a nurse shark sleeping in the angle between the sea bed and the open cargo ramp. The toilet area at the rear of the main deck is home to the largest lionfish of any of the local sites. The wreck is home to literally thousands of scorpionfish which are perfectly camouflaged with the rusting steel and barnacles so, if you have to hold on to something, look closely before you touch. Towards the bow, near the wheel house there are two frequent visitors to the wreck who seem to delight in intimidating divers as they hang on the line for their safety stop. One is an enormous great barracuda and the other is a large and friendly hawksbill turtle, who will nibble your hoses given the chance.
There are huge schools of fish all over the wreck. In fact it's as if the more broken up the wreck becomes, the more fish it attracts. It seems odd that with beautiful homes like Anemone Reef and Shark Point so close by, these fish choose to take sanctuary in a rusting lump of metal, but they do and you'll find the biggest schools of trevally, mackerel and yellowtail barracuda here along with rabbitfish, surgeonfish, fusiliers and other schooling fish.
Racha Noi Reef Basics: Fringing coral island with drop-offs Depth: 5 - 40m Visibility: 15 - 40m Currents: Can be strong Surface Conditions: Calm, but can be rough at North and South Point Water Temperature: 27 - 30°C Experience Level: South Point - Advanced divers only, all other sites - intermediate Number of dive sites: 8 Diving Season: All year round Distance: ~32 km south of Phuket (2 hours)
This beautiful uninhabited island is surrounded by hard coral reef, with huge granite boulders descending to depth at the north and south points. With Similan-like formations, the best visibility of all local sites, and the greatest chance of seeing manta rays and whales, this Phuket scuba diving site is probably the best outside the Similan Islands and Hin Daeng, and is Dive The World Thailand's local favourite.
Racha Noi South Point is great diving for experienced divers. The dive starts with a free descent to 18 metres where you'll find yourself on a large rock formation surrounded by deep water. The fish here are larger and schools of tuna and jacks sweep past. Mantas are really quite common here too. You can also be fairly certain to find some blue-spotted stingrays resting near the reef. The depth and presence of strong currents and surface swells make South Point inadvisable for beginners. For this reason, this particular Racha Noi site is more regularly visited on Phuket liveaboards than on day trips.
However, on the east coast lies Banana Bay, one of the best spots for learning to dive in Phuket. A perfect small white sand beach, lends the shallow waters here a cool aquamarine light, and when the sun is shining, the scene is pure paradise. The visibility here normally exceeds twenty metres, and the protected waters host many small bommies and staghorn reefs to leisurely explore.
In the small bay at the northern point of Racha Noi are some of the healthiest coral formations in Thailand. Diving along in the shallows, you'll find large patches of delicate green sheet corals, porites and formosa bottle-brush corals. Red octopus are plentiful and make for engaging encounters. Moving north, out along the eastern edge of the bay, large boulders take over the scenery. Once out of the bay confines at the extreme north point, currents often come into play, and here you're likely to see large groups of slowly circling chevron barracuda.
With numerous off-shore pinnacles and many other diving sites to discover, Racha Noi is an exciting Phuket diving destination for both day-trippers and liveaboard charters.
Shark Point Reef Basics: Pinnacles with soft and hard corals Depth: 5 - 22m Visibility: 5 - 20m Currents: Moderate Surface Conditions: Can be rough Water Temperature: 27 - 30°C Experience Level: Intermediate Number of dive sites: 3 Diving Season: All year rou
Hin Musang was given official marine sanctuary status in 1992. It's made up of three large rock pinnacles, the largest of which breaks the surface. These rocks abound with life. The sheer density and diversity of coral and fish life makes diving here a wonderful, sensual experience. Phuket Shark Point's most colourful feature is the profusion of the purple and pink soft corals that cling to the rocks, and its huge barrel sponges.
Hin Musang derives its name from the leopard sharks that are resident there, making it one of the more popular spots for in scuba diving in Phuket. These docile creatures grow to approximately two and a half metres, are nocturnal, and sleep on the sandy bottom at the edge of the reef during the day. Shark Point's your best chance to get up close and personal, and maybe take a photo or two of these sharks.
Bamboo sharks can also be found hiding under coral ledges but there's a lot more to see here than just sharks. Lionfish and scorpionfish are all over the reef, the latter being incredibly well camouflaged against the coral. There are many different types of pufferfish including the cute little yellow boxfish. Moorish idols and the very similar looking bannerfish can be seen on every dive. Blue-ringed angelfish and emperor angelfish are also common.
One metre long potato groupers are quite shy, making photographing them a challenge but there are plenty of other, more willing subjects to snap away at. Schools of fusiliers are dotted around the reef and in places the reef is completely carpeted by glassfish which are constantly being dispersed by raiding trevallies. Moray eels are in abundance and banded sea snakes are often seen in the shallower areas. A small rock outcrop, just off the south west corner on the main rock at eighteen metres depth is home to a yellow seahorse and while you're hunting for him you'll probably also see free swimming white-eyed morays, banded boxer shrimps and hinge-beak shrimps.
As Shark Point is made up of more than one pinnacle there is always somewhere on the reef to shelter from any currents, so you can dive here any time of the month. |
