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 Diving & Snorkelling Phuket is the location of most of the main dive companies in Thailand. This is partly because of its reputation as a package tour destination and partly because it is convenient for a number of excellent dive sites in the Andaman Sea, such as Koh Racha, Shark Point, the Phi Phi islands, Similan and Surin Islands, and Richelieu Rock. The latter three are only accessible with a liveaboard cruise. Some sites are quite deep with strong currents, depending on the time of year, but there are plenty of locations suitable for all levels of divers. Phuket is also renowned as a location for diving with the very impressive whale sharks and manta rays, which can often be seen in spring time. There are hundreds of varieties of hard corals and hundreds of species of reef fish, not to mention tens of thousands of species of other reef creatures. The best snorkelling on Phuket you will probably find in the area of the Central Karon Village Resort, but there are a number of good spots just off the beaches. Although there is some great diving around Phuket, the best of it you will undoubtedly find on one of the liveaboard trips to the Similan and Surin Islands and Richelieu Rock, which are too far out for day trips. The Similan Islands This is the principal dive location in Thailand, located about 100km north east of Phuket. It is a Marine National Park comprising 9 uninhabited islands where underwater swim-thru's, caverns and canyons form a truly unique diving landscape. Due to the proximity of the edge of the continental shelf and the huge underwater rock formations, there is abundant marine life such as reef sharks, barracudas and rays, about 500 species of hard and soft corals and deep, clear waters. Surin Islands & Richelieu Rock The Surin Island National Park lies to the North of the Similans, close to the border of Burma. This is where you will find everything from walls, ridges, pinnacles and boulders, stunningly beautiful coral, especially soft coral and a good chance to see passing manta rays and whale sharks. Close encounters with these magnificent giants are not uncommon especially around Richelieu Rock, a submerged rock about 18 km east of Surin. |
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