top 10 dive sites in Thailand?

[clive francis]

what are your top 10 dive sites in Thailand?

if we get enough responses we can put a vote thread up to get the best over all.

 

[ssra30]

Hmmm, my vote would be:
1) Richeliue Rock
2) Hin Dang/Hin Maung
3) the Similans
4) Bida Nai/Nok
5) Koh 5 (south Andaman, not Similan No. 5)
6) ? Tarutao (kept hearing good things about it but never been there)
7) Chumporn area (Koh Ngam Yai/Noi, Hin Pae)
8) Koh Laan Pier/Koh Rin (Pattaya)
9) Hin Pleung (Rayong)
10) Chumporn Pinnacle/Sail Rock/ Southwest Pinnacle (probably should be higher if I get to see whalesharks more often and less divers there)

If we would count Burma (well, different country but pretty much the same area, LOB departing from Thailand) then Western Rocky, OK Rock/Shark Cave, Black Rock would be way at the top as well.

 

[frogfish]

I'll give it a go:
1 - Richelieu Rock
2 - Hin Muang
3 - Hin Deng
4- East of Eden
5 - Deep Six
6 - Elephant Head
7 - Chumporn Pinnacle
8 - Sail Rock

 

[Vie]

For day dives:

1 Richelieu Rock
2 Elephant Head Rock
3 Hin Muang
4 Hin Daeng
5 Ko Ha Yai, Krabi
6 Deep Six, Similan.
7 Chumporn Pinnacle
8 Phi Phi Lay
9 under the pier, Ko Laan, near Pattaya
10 “Hardeep” wreck, Satthahip or HTMS Kram, Ko Pai

For night dives:

1 Ko Bon
2 Hin Daeng
3 Aow Paggard, Surin Tai
4 Ko Yoong
5 Ko Saak—usually a very below average site but I have seen some very interesting small critters there that I have not seen elsewhere in Thailand.

 

[whitehead]

1. Koh Bida (at 10 m) I have only dove it once and it was the most beautiful dive I have ever had anywhere, period.
2. Condominium
3. Richeliu (fab site - too many people)
4. Elephant Head (rock and pinnacle)
5. BoonSung (sadly no more I hear??)
6. Breakfast bend
7. East of Eden
8. Koh Ha (yai)
9. Hin Daeng
10. Hin Alhambra (Rayong and only between Oct-Mar)

Agree with others that I would consider the Myanmar dive sites as "part of Thailand". In which case my top 10 would include at least 5 Burmese sites

 

[diversjobs]

I can't believe Chumpon in the top 10.

A dive site with 30 mts deep that it has a decent visibility only 5 month a year, that provides impossible waves sometimes for teaching a decent Advance Open Water Course and that sometimes has more than 200 divers in the water at the same time... it is simply not a TOP dive Site.

I know the bat fishes are nice and stuff... but... hey... it is not such a great deal...

 

[Nobby]

I agree. I happen to think that diving in Thailand is pretty average off the east coast at best. Having qualified OW in Koh Samui in '95 it was a wonderful place to dive. Nurse sharks, turtles and great biodiversity. I dived there for 5 weeks only a couple of months ago, this time based in Koh Tao....the alleged mecca of diving!? but was sadly disappointed I did see a whale shark though learned that it was fished that very same evening, not sure if it was true, very sad if it was. There is an unfortunate undercurrent (no pun intended) running in Koh Tao, no form of centralised governance and so people just literally do as they please. Fishing vessels often fish the shores and Koh Tao, once known as turtle island no longer has turtles, they all left when the beaches were occupied by capitalist regime. Boat captains don't listen to the instructors when decisions are made about which dive site should be visited and I even witnessed one or two being threatened with a sharp pointed instrument when insisting on going elswhere. Consequently dive sites are massively overcrowded, and with relatively little to see when you do dive there is really not worth it.

If you do dive Thailand then take heed in this warning: Always ascend on an SMB and continually look around and listen. Long tails (small transport boats with a long prop shaft) dart about all over and annoyingly close to dive sites, they take relatively little notice of a marker buoy and similarly SMBs, a guy was killed by a dive boat which hit him in the head on surfacing a while back.

Conversely, the Similans, on the West coast are a sublime contrast. Great visibility, lots to see and do (use EAN if you can). Why you might ask is this the case. It is simple....Similans is a national Park, and it is governed and monitored by the Thai authorities, so untouched by the predatory fishermen and long tails don't operate anywhere near!

Ths was not intended to put people of Thailand, far from it, the country is a lovely place and a haven of culture and diversity. Just be selective in where you choose to dive.

 

[diversjobs]

If you do dive Thailand then take heed in this warning: Always ascend on an SMB and continually look around and listen. Long tails (small transport boats with a long prop shaft) dart about all over and annoyingly close to dive sites, they take relatively little notice of a marker buoy and similarly SMBs, a guy was killed by a dive boat which hit him in the head on surfacing a while back.

Andrew I agree. When I was working there, one OW course lost a diver (I mean the DIVER DIED. ) how? a typical case: the boat did see the divers going up (didn't look for SMB of bubbles....)

A sad story. That's why I like to dive in Egypt ... no long tales boats...

Thailand is nice, but as an instructor when I mention Working in Thailand, people say... "ah... mm... well...... not real diving..." because at the end of the day, how difficult it is to keep track of your students when the max depth is 12 meters, in the worst case the touch the coral.... not like in Egypt where the DM has to be aware every single second of taking care of the depth of their divers...

See ya...

 

[Vie]

I can't believe Chumpon in the top 10.

I think Chumporn Pinnacle is in many people’s top 10 simply because it is the best place to see large groups of real sharks (i.e. not a bunch of whitetip reef sharks lying at the bottom) in Thailand. Chumporn Pinnacle can be very crowded but a good liveaboard will know when to take you there.

 

[diversjobs]

Yes. I did freediving, in the freediving school in Koh Tao www.apneatotal.com and they use to go to Champon at 6 am.

Really nice.

No divers usually means good diving.

I think Chumporn Pinnacle is in many people’s top 10 simply because it is the best place to see large groups of real sharks (i.e. not a bunch of whitetip reef sharks lying at the bottom) in Thailand. Chumporn Pinnacle can be very crowded but a good liveaboard will know when to take you there.