Krabi Scuba Diving Guide

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With 2 large shallow coral-covered plateaus on either side of it, Koh Si competes with Koh Yawasam for the award of best snorkelling site in Krabi. The southern end of the island is particularly picturesque and frequently has good visibility. Huge schools of snappers and the occasional large grouper make a breathtaking sight for scuba divers when the visibility is up, and otherwise you can always look for seahorses, nudibranchs and scorpionfishes which make their homes on the rocks here.

The northern end of the island has a relatively steep wall to a depth of 20m covered in tubeastrea corals, barrel sponges, and sea whips. There is also a cavern here that is worth investigating. Koh Si is also a good place to briefly spot the shy black-tip reef shark, now quite rare in most regions of Thailand, including Krabi. Diver sightings are common but brief as the shark commonly avoids contact with humans.

Koh Yawabon is famed for the longest swim-through in the area, but has a large no light zone and can be subject to strong currents. Because of this, divers are reminded that penetrating overhead environments requires specialised training and equipment. With the majority of Krabi diving boats going to other islands, this site is a good choice as it is often swarming with large schools of unconcerned fish. Lobsters and large groupers are commonly observed here as well the occasional stingray.

During the afternoon the western side of Koh Dor often plays host to a group of the normally shy black-tip reef sharks. While brief sightings of these sharks are possible on scuba, they are best observed by snorkelling in the lunch break. Koh Dor has a good mix of large porites species and diploastrea heliopora hard corals and soft corals, sea fans, sea whips and leather corals. Several large barrel sponges are also found around this site. It is the nearest site to Ao Nang, which makes it a popular spots with snorkellers too.

The large island of Koh Talu boasts 2 shallow swim-through tunnels that are suitable for most levels of divers and large barracuda often frequent the entrances. The main tunnel runs right through the island, and there is a smaller one at the northern en of the island. Mantis shrimps are sometimes found scuttling across the bottom as you move to deeper waters. The coral reef, made up of table, soft tree and mushroom corals, extends a long way south and it is even possible to swim from the western side of this island right across to the next site, G.K. Island. Seahorses and pipefish can be found in the south of the island. Elsewhere you will likely encounter lionfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish and pufferfish. The site has a maximum depth of 20m.

If you like soft corals and their attendant hosts of shrimps, crabs, and brittlestars, Krabi's G.K. Island will be paradise for you. Deceptively small on the surface, the underwater coral plateau to the south seems to go on forever. Sea whips and gorgonians abound and every rock is covered with a plethora of corals. Large schools of fusiliers move along the edges of the larger rock formations, while the occasional sea snake probes the cracks and crevices for its next meal.

Koh Yawasam, which is actually 2 small neighbouring islets, is blessed with large areas of shallow staghorn and table coral and flat areas of sand, but boasting deeper water with coral and sandy patches a short swim away, Yawasam could have been built with dive instruction in mind! The marine life here is as varied and numerous as any other Krabi dive site, including nudibranchs, angelfish and bamboo sharks. Koh Yawasam also is the easiest place to observe the red saddleback anemonefish, which are rare compared to the other anemonefishes found in our area.

Lying upright at a depth of around 25m, HTMS Ravi is a 36m long, 10m wide tank landing craft. Built in 1944, this boat was during the US Asian Pacific campaign in the Philippines in World War II. It was transferred to the Thai Navy in 1948. In April 2013 she was decommissioned and scuttled close to Koh Yawasam, Ao Nang, to create an artificial reef and give the divers of Krabi their very own wreck dive.