Shore Diving Kata Beach/Reef - Varied Marine Life

[JonnieB]

There is an amazing variety of marine life literally meters offshore from Kata Beach...the hard coral garden and sandy bottom in Kata Bay hold a myriad of marine life from schools of barracuda to moray eels to deadly stonefish to cute seahorses and everything in-between. In this thread I'll post about what there is to see and some pictures of them so members can get to know this easily accessible local divesite.

 

[JonnieB]

Little Crocodile Fish in the sand at Kata Bay...how many do you see

 

[jscan1]

I just did this dive two weeks ago, and it was a great dive, lots to see!

 

[JonnieB]

Thought I'd update with a few more pics...all taken on shores dives from Kata Beach along the fringing reef or the sandy bottom (depths two to fifteen meters):



Seahorse

Stonefish (one of two resident on the reef)


Demon Stinger (Indian Walker) One of two that are resident on the sandy bottom just off the beach.


Mimic Octopus Lembeh Shembah we have them right here at Kata...seen 5 times this year in the sandy areas off the reef at 7-10 meters.


Snake Eel Resident in the sand off the reef at 6 meters.


(I'm not taking credit for the photos...they were all taken by members of our locals dive club based in Kata [though I did guide all the dives where the pics were taken].)

 

[JonnieB]

Another example of the richness of the marine life to be found diving Kata Bay (the reef, artifical cube reefs, Ko Poo, and Mystery Cubes (Karon Bay next door) you can find up to nine species of moray eels, with four species almost guaranteed to be seen on any dive:

Giant Moray (guaranteed)
White Eyed Moray (Greyface) (guaranteed)
Honeycomb Moray (guaranteed)
Fimbriated Moray (guaranteed)
Yellow Margin Moray
High Fin Moray
Zebra Moray
Peppered Moray
Snowflake Moray (Clouded) [seen once]

The first four I see on almost every dive (6-8 dives a week in season), while the latter five have been seen multiple times but are a special treat and not guaranteed.

 

[Moonfruit]

This is super info! I’ve just taken up diving and am moving to Phuket shortly when my house build is complete. I was expecting to have to take day trips out on crowded boats to dive in Phuket.

I need to come meet your local club for a beer or three.

 

[JonnieB]

This is super info! I’ve just taken up diving and am moving to Phuket shortly when my house build is complete. I was expecting to have to take day trips out on crowded boats to dive in Phuket.

I need to come meet your local club for a beer or three.

You're more than welcome. The boats are for tourists...the shore dive is for locals (and in the know tourists)

Also check out my detailed Kata Beach dive reports posted in this forum.

 

[JonnieB]

Cutie Cuttlefish on the reef


Meet Mr. Mantis

 

[JonnieB]

More finds during Kata Beach shore dives...


Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculatus)


Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus histrix)


Cockatoo Waspfish (Ablabys taenianotus)

 

[JonnieB]

Spearing Mantis Shrimp


Bleenie