Diving
dive sites thailand

Widely considered one of Thailand's premier dive site, Chumphon Pinnacle is also one of the islands most challenging, with occasionally strong currents. Ranging from depths of 12m to 36m, the site is a group of massive rocks arranged in a rough oval and running north to south. Visibility is superb in season, and the site plays host to a wide variety of pelagics as well as reef fish. Great barracuda, king mackerel, grouper, and tuna throng to Chumphon year round, and in season whale shark sightings are common. As the site is a fair distance offshore, visitors from the open ocean are unpredictable and sailfish, oceanic whitetip sharks and bull sharks have been spotted.

Southwest Pinnacle, a series of rock formations ranging from 4m to 30m, is another of Samui's top ten. We are one of very few operators in Samui diving here. The tops of the pinnacles are covered with a carpet of anemones in brilliant greens, pinks and blues, with their cavalcade of pink anemone fish. Leopard sharks and whale sharks are occasional visitors to the site, which is home as well to large schools of snapper, yellowtail barracuda, and fusiliers. Giant grouper can be seen here as well, along with scribbled filefish and masked porcupinefish. The observant diver may spot scorpionfish and stonefish camouflaged on the rocks.

A single rock that protrudes from the water between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. The absence of other pinnacles nearby explains the extremely high concentration of marine life. The most noticeable feature of the dive is "the chimney", -a vertical tunnel in the rock that leads you from 18m to 8m, but the entire site (from the surface to 45m) is full of points of interest. The rock is riddled with small holes which makes a perfect habitat for white-eyed and yellowmargin moray eels, and the large anemones that cover it are filled with anemone fish and shrimp. Whalesharks can be seen in the winter months here as well, and keep an eye out for manta, reef sharks and other large pelagics. Octopus camouflage themselves so exactly to match the covering of the rock that you may miss them completely, but keep your eyes peeled - they are there. Visibility is usually very good and occasionally over 40m. Using speed boats to Sail Rock is particularly beneficial as we beat the crowds to the site and frequently get it to ourselves!

The Unicorn is a "real" wreck, meaning that it has not been purposely sunk, nor prepared for recreational diving. The wreck is intact, but also draped with fishing nets and other entanglements. This is why we do not take just any diver. You need to have at least decompression training to dive it safely, but you will get more out of your dive if decompression is accelerated with high percentage Nitrox or pure O2. This is always the Grande Finale of our popular TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures combination course, but also suitable for wreck courses as all warnings from the manual get a real and present meaning here. The max depth is 49 meters with an average depth of 45 meters. Penetration is possible, but not easy as the interior is filled with silt and passage ways are very narrow. This dive is done in conjunction with our Chumphon Pinnacle trips on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, but pre booking is necessary.

Anyone who read Alex Garlands "The Beach" will feel right at home as this is the portrayed group of islands featured in his novel. Remember all the swim-throughs, caves and tunnels? Well, they are all here! At Koh Yippon Lek you can even follow an underwater tunnel straight through the island. The condition of the corals is the best in the whole gulf and as the marine park is the spawning ground for many fish species you can at times find yourself totally surrounded by jacks, fusiliers and juvenile barracuda. The depth ranges from 20 to 5 m. Visibility is reduced in the monsoon season, but it's still worth paying Angthong a visit due to the breath taking abundance of marine life.

Possibly Koh Tao's most varied site, Shark Island is a small uninhabited island just to the southeast of Koh Tao. Sloping gently from the surface down to 24m, there is always something new to see here including some of the Gulf of Thailand's most stunning soft coral. White-eyed moral eels, bluespotted fantail rays, porcupine and pufferfish, and an enormous variety of reef fish is guaranteed in the beautiful shallow coral garden, while the fortunate may also see whale sharks, leopard sharks, reef sharks and other pelagics on the deeper side. Titan triggerfish add an element of excitement to each dive, and divers often spot turtles and sea snakes.

Samran Pinnacles is one of the more advanced dive sites in the area as the shallowest top of the three main pinnacles lies in 12 m. and the current is usually strong. Nevertheless, it is well worth a visit as the current also attracts large schools of jackfish, big-eyed trevally and huge barracudas! We occasionally do special rebreather trips here. The absense of exhaust bubble noise brings you up-close to whatever we find, and usually we find a lot!

Fascinating rock formations create small caves and switcher at Green Rock, which ranges in depth from 4m to 28m. Brightly coloured nudibranchs are omnipresent, as are morays, harlequin sweetlips and blueringed angelfish. Whitetip reef sharks can be seen from time to time, and at the deeper end of the site large grouper and schools of yellowtail, fusilier and silverfish can be seen. Look for "the minefield", where scores of yellowmargin and titan triggerfish have made their nests in sandy pits.

Say hello to Trevor! White Rock, consisting of two groups of rock separated by a narrow channel of sand (depths from 9m to 24m), is home to Koh Tao's single most notorious fish: Trevor the trigger. A titan triggerfish that has been the boss of the site for years, Trevor occasionally takes exception to divers disturbing his rest. But no need to spend the dive looking over your shoulder! Let our instructors and divemasters keep an eye out while you enjoy the sea snake, turtle, moray, bluespotted ray, butterflyfish or angelfish. Look closely in the staghorn coral for porcupine fish and hermitcrabs, and see if you can spot a well-camouflaged scorpionfish or two.

On the east side of Koh Tao lies Hin Wong, a large and very varied site ranging from depths of 10m to 32m. Although visibility here is unpredictable, Hin Wong is covered in lacy sea fans and curly wire coral, as well as filefish, snapper, coral grouper and other reef fish. The resident turtle is only shy if you get too close. Observe her from a distance and she'll eat placidly away. For the macro-minded, Hin Wong also has some beautiful invertebrates. Look especially for brightly coloured nudibranchs. Manta rays sometimes play with your bubbles at the surface, so don't forget to look up once in a while!

Do you remember when your instructor told you to look for the small things? Twins is the ideal place to take that advice. Two groups of rocks at depths from 10m to 18m, separated by a sand field full of points of interest. Your divemaster or instructor may show you the haunts of grouper, panda clownfish and stingrays, but if you take your time and look closely you might also see anemone shrimp, morays, flatworms and pipefish, as well as cleaner wrasse at their never-ending work. Check the crevices for baby angelfish, keep an eye on the water above for squid and crocodile longtom and look for the dancing fins of the juvenile sweetlips.