If you’re into scuba diving, Thailand is an amazing place to visit. Full of incredible sites, it’s a top destination for seeing everything from sharks and colourful coral to darting reef fish – so much so that it’s often hard to work out just where you should go! Below, you’ll find a handy list of some of the top Thai dive sites.
- Thailand divingpnendick
Generally speaking, these are located in the Andaman Sea, with a few in the Gulf of Thailand – both areas famous for their awesome underwater worlds!
Shark Point
Also known as Hin Musang (which translates to Shark Rock), Shark Point is one of the best-known diving sites near the ever-popular island of Phuket. An interesting quirk of this site is that it really doesn’t look like much as you approach it (if you didn’t already know about it, you’d likely presume it was just a rocky outcrop and wouldn’t give it a second thought), but underneath it’s a real treasure trove.
Why? It’s got a fantastic multicoloured reef that really does have to be seen to be believed, for a start. And, as you probably guessed from its name, it’s also a brilliant place to spot various kinds of shark (particularly leopard shark), as well as sea fans and soft coral.
Koh Mai Thoni
Also close to Phuket, Koh Mai Thoni is a really pretty little island that’s famous for the colourful corals that surround it. It’s a gorgeous place for a dive – especially since the waters here give impressive visibility – with the added bonus that the beaches are beautiful and the whole place has a real ambience of relaxation.
Coral Island
Coral Island is also known as Koh He, and you’ll find it south-west of Cape Panwa. A particularly good place to come if your travel dates fall during the rainy season, this destination is known for being barely affected by monsoons, so it’s an attractive place to visit at pretty much any time of year. As you’ll have guessed from its name, its key attraction is its wonderful coral reefs.
Khao Lak
You might be familiar with Khao Lak as one of the destinations devastated by the tsunami in 2004. Yes, it was badly hit, but today it is flourishing once more and still remains a brilliant base for diving trips over to the Surin and Similan islands. It’s worth bearing in mind that these are a good few hours’ boat ride from Khao Lak, so book a boat tour that’ll let you stay onboard overnight if you can.
Ko Bida Nok
Located around an hour from the dazzling Koh Phi Phi, Ko Bida Nok offers a decent dollop of diving variety. From tube corals and cuttlefish to leopard sharks and shallow reefs, you can see a little bit of everything here.
Hin Mouang
This is a really stunning dive site and, if you’re a serious diving enthusiast, one you really shouldn’t miss if you’re travelling to Thailand. Absolutely colossal shoals of fish can be spotted here, as well as anemone carpets and underwater pinnacles. Now, this site is located pretty far out in the Andaman Sea, so you should plan well ahead if you want to visit. You can reach it from places like Phuket and Koh Phi Phi, but Koh Ngai is the closest.
