Racha Noi/Racha Yai

[racerx_]

Hoping to get back to phuket sometime this year. Last time, i dove shark point, king cruiser, and koh doc mai. Had a good time, and was wondering about other sites. I can't seem to find a consensus on racha noi / racha yai.. are these good sites/worth my time? looking to dive in early/mid june

also, are any sites nearer to phuket any good? like just right off the coast somewhere. I noticed some dive ops with smaller boats that would go around the coastline to some sites. Wasn't too impressed by my shore dive at karon beach though..

 

[stevenl]

Kata Beach shore is nicer than Karon Beach IMO, but: in May/June there are no real options for shorediving. Sure, somebody may offer a shoredive, but there won't be anything to see at all.

Racha Noi can be nice diving in May/June when we can dive on the Eastside again. At the moment the diving there is not very spectacular, but there is a better chance than at other sides for a manta ray.
Also at Racha Yai we can dive the Eastside again by then, offering better diving than the West side (Siam Bay and Bungalow Bay). Racha Noi though is nicer IMO plus far less divers, but further away, so normally done on 3 dives (2x Racha Noi, 1x Racha Yai).

But also that time of year Racha Noi is a bit hit and miss, with normally good visibility though.

At the moment I would not recommend it for experienced divers, except if they want to take a big gamble and hope for a manta ray, in May/June it is much nicer.

 

[Quero]

So nice to hear that you'll be coming back, Jeremy! Though it's a longer day, my recommendation would be Phi Phi for a daytrip over the Rachas. I think you would enjoy it more.

 

[racerx_]

hey.. yeah my parents want the family to go somewhere so they planned out a family holiday there. trying to sneak out one day to dive haha. how far is it to phi phi?

 

[Quero]

The boat ride to Phi Phi is a similar distance to Racha Noi, but the day may be half an hour or an hour longer since many trips down to Racha Noi do two dives at the closer Racha Yai and one at Racha Noi, but trips to Phi Phi tend to do two dives around Phi Phi and only one at the nearer Koh Doc Mai or Shark Point areas. You'll be out all day, regardless of whether you go to Phi Phi or Racha Noi.

 

[racerx_]

Got it.. probably be out all day no matter where I go, if I'm doing 3dives huh?

Does it work for the family to go to phi phi and chill on the beach/snorkel while I dive? Not sure what the usual is out there

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[stevenl]

No, Phi Phi is further away than Racha Noi. Normally trips to Racha Noi entail 2 dives Racha Noi and 1 on the way back at Racha Yai. Racha Noi is 2-2,5 hours away from the pier in Phuket.

Trips to Phi Phi normally entail 3 dives, 2 at Phi Phi and 1 either on the way out or on the way back in the Shark point area. The boat ride to Phi Phi takes about 2,5-3 hours.

On both trips snorkelers/non-divers are welcome, but there are no opportunities to go to the beach. If they want to go snorkeling though, Racha Noi would be much better suitable for that than Phi Phi, especially between May and October.

 

[Quero]

Got it.. probably be out all day no matter where I go, if I'm doing 3dives huh?

Does it work for the family to go to phi phi and chill on the beach/snorkel while I dive? Not sure what the usual is out there

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk

Well, not on most of the dive boats, but a speedboat trip there may be possible, depending on the time of year, sea conditions, booking numbers.... The speedboat trip is nice for families.