The
waters of the Andaman Sea especially its upper part have
a good circulation and their underwater surroundings are
in a very pure and unspoilt condition. That's why the area
is the best and most valuable for diving in Thailand. Numerous
dive companies offering diving tour programmes, basic courses,
and modern equipment are located at seaside tourist attractions
and on islands with great diving opportunities like Phuket,
Phang-nga, Krabi, Ranong and Trang. Some of the dive sites
in the Andaman Sea are described below :
Similan Islands
ranking among
the most beautiful dive sites of the world, are composed
of nine islands containing a great variety of dive spots
with different characteristics, such as :
Fantasy Reef is composed of three submerged
rock formations where you can find yellow corallines and
soft corals, colourful angels, bat fish, whale sharks and
manta rays.
Christmas Point provides challenging swim-through
among the rocks and is home of Christmas tree worms.
Orchid Nursery Rocks with a lot of corallines
and artistic rock formations have a coral reef sloping down
into the deeper sea. Skull Rocks offer plenty of colourful
soft corals in different shapes like cups, brains, and tables.
The Lone Rock is a dive spot where only one big rock is
located with a dive scene ideal for taking photographs.
Tachai Island
provides a large group of rocks to the south of the island
where whale sharks and manta rays, barracudas, yellow backs,
fusiliers, and green damsels can be seen.
Surin
Islands is a marine national park. It has diverse
coral which attracts exotic species of marine life. Ideal
for divers and snorkellers to catch sight of the ghost pipe
fish and frog fish.
Richelieu Rocks
is considered a world-class dive site with the widest diversity
of marine life including whale sharks which are so tame as
to let visitors take photographs of them easily.
Mu Sang Rocks
can be reached from Phuket. The rocks are covered by soft
pink corals. They are known as Phuket Shark Point because
there are tame leopard sharks living there.
Koh Racha Yai &
Koh Racha Noi are twin islands. The larger Ko Racha
Yai offers colonies of hard corals and tropical marine life,
especially octopi, cuttlefish and false barracudas. Dive sites
of the smaller Ko Racha Noi feature larger fish and mammals.
Phi
Phi Islands consisting of Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi
Le islands have attracted divers from all over the world due
to their spectacular dive scenery featuring a wide assortment
of marine life, numerous walls caverns, caves, coral gardens,
and sloping reefs.
Hin Daeng
is one of the best dive spots of the lower part of the Andaman
Sea. It rises three metres out of water with barracudas and
needle fish around there. Divers may also encounter whale
sharks and manta rays. This is perhaps the only dive site
in Thailand where grey reef sharks are often sighted.
Hin Muang
features a series of six or more submerged pinnacles. It provides
the deepest drop-off in Thailand. Large pelagics including
barracuda, tuna, whale sharks, and large stingrays are sighted.
Ranong Islands
in the sea off Ranong Province offer favourite spots for snorkellers.
Divers can enjoy viewing the coral reefs around a boulder
called Hin Khan Na, only 15 minutes from the coast. Great
snorkeling opportunities also lie in the sea of Laem Son,
Phayam and Kam Islands. |