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A note from Dom ... Tempting Thailand For me personally, the Thai waters hold less of the "wow" factor than, for instance, Indonesia, the Philippines or the Solomons. Still, I enjoyed the extensive & vividly colored coral gardens, the intriguing topography & had some pretty terrific critter-time there. Plus, in the strong currents on the open-water side, we had good-sized schools of barracudas, jacks & trevally for excitement. .... read more
THAILAND & BURMA DIVING
SCUBA HIGHLIGHTS
Creating visual excitement for divers are PINNACLES, TUNNELS, fantastic SWIM-THROUGHS, walls and slopes. Add vividly colored CORAL GARDENS & coral bommies which attract schools of barracudas, giant trevally, NAPOLEON WRASSE, snappers, BLUE FIN TUNA, giant moray eels ... clown trigger fish, ANGELFISH, rabbit fish, cuttlefish ... plus some great CRITTERS: scorpion fish, frogfish, mantis shrimp, porcelain crabs, pipefish, cleaner shrimp, fire dart goby, popcorn shrimp. With all that appetizing prey, you get leopard SHARKS, blue spotted STINGRAYS, MANTA RAYS, even WHALE SHARKS in season.
HARD & SOFT CORALS IN BLAZING COLORS ... WITH PELAGICS TOSSED INTO THE MIX
In Thailand, the hot spots for divers are the Similan and Surin Islands off the west coast of the peninsula. They offer a geologic combination of granite and limestone. The huge granite boulders and weathered limestone both create tunnels and caves and swim-throughs galore.
There is access to pelagic action, great coral gardens and plenty of engaging critters.
Thailand is known for magnificent hard & soft corals lure exquisitely-colored fish into their gardens on the protected side of the islands. Then, in the strong currents on the open-water side, particularly at Richelieu Rock, the diving is vastly different.
These waters host a long list of big fish including barracudas, jacks, tuna and trevally and are graced by visits from migrating Whale Sharks and Manta Rays in the spring months.
The Burma Banks & the Mergui Archipelago also offer quite unusual underwater landscapes with exciting diving.
THE DIVING BY REGION
SIMILAN ISLANDSNine granite islands, covered in dense jungle & ringed by sandy bays, offer a sumptuous variety of diving for experienced divers in the strong currents of the eastern shores, and for all divers on the western sides. You'll find enormous granite boulders, descending down to 40 meters with swim-throughs, caves & tunnels. The serious adrenaline rush comes in the strong currents created by the waters meeting these massive rocks. This challenging but rewarding experience offers colorful reef fish, sharks & rays but also eels and a variety of critters, such as ghost pipefish, frogfish and ribbon eels. And, you'll find sponges and gorgonians that will take you breath away ... read more ...
BURMA BANKS & MERGUI ARCHIPELAGOThe islands themselves are pretty well uninhabited & untouristed. The four banks, Silvertip, Rainbow Reef, Roe and Big Banks, have raging currents which have cut ethereal oral underwater formations sporting incredibly large table corals. A large tunnel runs right through western rocky island, which houses sleeping nurse sharks and countless crayfish. in addition to the nurse sharks, you almost certain to see bull sharks, grey reef sharks, black tips and white tips. More of the same at Black Rock but adding to the wonder are scores of manta rays, marbled rays, Jenkins rays and the rare mangrove ray, schooling mobula rays and spotted eagle rays.... read more ...
ANDAMAN ISLANDSThese Islands cover an area of just over 8,000 square kilometers with 500 islands, islets and rocky outcrops (only 26 islands are currently inhabited). Many of the islands are surrounded by reefs which can be several hundred metres wide & separated from the shore by a lagoon of similar width. There are also steeply sloping reef walls & coral pinnacles or knolls. Divers can cruise around hills of black volcanic lava and find large pelagics: sharks, large schools of hammerheads, grey, white tip, nurse and leopard sharks, silvertips and oceanic white-tips are sometimes seen. ... read more ...
IMPORTANT NEW Similan Islands RequirementsThailand has set very specific requirements for divers visiting the Similan Islands. This is due to the effort to manage the impact of tourism on the islands and their wildlife. read more
Located on the Indochina peninsula, bordered by Malaysia, Burma, Laos & Cambodia, is charming Thailand. The Gulf of Thailand lies to the west & offers the best of Thailand's diving around the Similan Islands, a group of 9 rocky islands which offer divers fascinating diving terrain. India, a distant neighbor across the Andaman Sea, is often a starting point for trips into the northern & western parts of the Andaman Sea & to the Mergui Archipelago & Burma Banks.
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