Thailand Diving

The Andaman Sea

With its warm clear waters crammed with colourful, tropical fish-life and corals, set around stunningly beautiful tropical islands, the Andaman Sea boasts some of the best diving around and offers the best diving in Thailand by far. Read on for details of the dive sites you can explore from our Thai resorts and Thailand liveaboards or daytrips.

A firm favourite with divers over the past decade or so, Thailand is blessed with gorgeous weather, fantastic beaches, and handy diving a few kilometres from a fun-packed shoreline. Phuket, Khao Lak, Phi Phi Islands and Ao Nang Beach - Krabi are the best resort areas for a Thailand diving holiday. Phuket is best placed to serve the whole region, and is popular with party-goers, whilst Khao Lak is ideally placed to focus on the northern Thai Andaman Sea. Ao Nang is set on the peaceful and spectacularly beautiful Krabi coastline across Phang Nga Bay, and Phi Phi's magic draws sunseekers and travellers for the beaches and a slice of island-life.

The biggest draw-card here though, is the professionally run dive outfits that have a fantastic range of value-for-money liveaboards cruising around world class dive sites in the Similans, Burma and Hin Daeng.

The picturesque Similan Islands are the most popular destination, with superb underwater scenery and excellent visibility in its aquamarine waters. Huge deep water boulder formations create daring swim-throughs as well as providing dramatic back-drops to its vibrant coral gardens and reef slopes. You can dive here by liveaboard or diving day tours.

The world famous Richelieu Rock is perhaps the Thailand's most famous site, and it rates as one of the best places in the world for diving with whale sharks. Koh Bon and Koh Tachai are great for manta rays and white tip reef shark encounters.

Hin Daeng - Hin Muang is your best chance to see grey reef sharks, patrolling the walls. Besides that, it's also the second home in the Andaman Sea for whale sharks and mantas. Dive Hin Daeng and you'll experience the excitement of diving Thailand's highest vertical wall. Nearby caves and caverns add to the thrill of adventure.

Koh Samui is the ideal base for exploring the dive sites on the Gulf of Thailand. The diving may not be quite as varied Phuket and the Similan Islands, but there are some very good dive sites around Samui and Koh Tao which can be combined with a stay at one of Samui's excellent resorts.

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The Diving Season

You can dive Thailand all year round. The best conditions exist from November to April, with whale sharks visiting from February to May, and manta rays all year round.

Late May to October brings monsoon winds and surface swells to the Andaman Sea, making some remote sites, such as Richelieu Rock and Hin Daeng, inaccessible and reducing visibility in general by about 30% at the open dive sites. October can also see heavy rains in the Andaman Sea.

The Phuket liveaboard season runs from early October to mid May, but there are a limited number of liveaboards to Similan Islands and Phi Phi Islands all year round.

For the Gulf of Thailand, the best months are May to August, when the Andaman Sea has it's low season.

Reef Basics

Great for: Small animals, underwater photography, diving value-for-money, advanced divers, beginner divers, snorkelling, non-diving activities
Not so Great for:
Depth: 5 - >40m
Visibility: 5 - 40m
Currents: Can be strong
Surface Conditions: Can be rough
Water Temperature: 26 - 31°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: >250
Access: Liveaboards, resorts and diving day tours
Recommended length of stay: 1 - 3 weeks

Dive Sites

For more detailed information on Thailand dive sites, click on the links below:

Andaman Sea

Northern Region

Central Region

Southern Region

Gulf of Thailand

Dive The World Recommendations: Similan Islands - Christmas Point and Elephant Head Rock, Koh Tachai, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang.

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For more on our other great diving destinations, visit our website:
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