Similan and Surin
Island divesites
Areas that we dive around the Similans
and Surin
Anita’s Reef
We always start the trip with a dive on Anita’s reef. The reef is not
only for Anita but for everybody else who can dive here! We start here
because it is an easy dive site filled with corals consisting of all
different amazing colours. The funny clown trigger fish is often spotted
here and at the bottom, which has a maximum depth of 30 meters, you
can see many blue spotted stingrays hidden in the sand. Anita?s reef,
is for sure, one of the best on the Similan Islands.
Elephant Head
Breathtaking huge boulders, as big as 30 metres in diameter, daring
swim-throughs, caverns, gullies and tunnels - this is an exciting dive
site. Here you will come across small reef sharks, turtles and even
the occasional manta ray, which can glide majestically through the
water as you look up from the bottom.
Koh
Bon
20 km north of the island, you will come across this dive site which
features one of the only vertical walls in the Kingdom. The southwestern
point consists of a fantastic 33 metre vertical wall and a step-down
ridge that goes down to 45 metres! You will see many leopard sharks
sleeping at the bottom of the seabed. Towards the end of the season,
this is also a good place to see manta rays. You will also come across
beautiful shades of purple - these are the powder-blue surgeon fishes.
Koh Tachai
This place is extremely good for multi-level diving, as this site consists
of 3 separate reefs at different depths. Whale shark and manta ray
sightings are common, but even so there are always huge schools of
batfishes and cleanerfishes to name a few.
Fantasea
Reef
The southwest section of this site features enormous triangular boulders
plunging to a depth of 25 metres. The walls and sides of these boulders
are covered in radiant soft corals. You may be able to spot some majestic
manta rays, and perhaps the beautiful black and white striped sea snake!
Here you will also come across many beautiful bannerfish and pelagic
fishes as they move fast but effortlessly through the aqua plane.
Turtle Edge
This is a dive that you can start on both sides as it depends on the
currents. You will encounter boulder formations in the deeper end and
hard corals in the shallow end. As the name suggests, Turtle Edge is
an excellent site to spot not one turtle, but four! Humphead parrotfish
are frequently seen and if you are lucky, an eagle ray will past by.
Turtle Edge is a must to see on the Surin Islands. With a maximum depth
of 25 meters, one-hour dives are the norm because the reefs are also
spectacular at 10 metres.
Swift
Passage
Here you will see schools of at least five different species of sweetlips,
marbled stingray out in the deep and the best soft corals you have
seen. In the shallows, you can come across white tips, and as the name
of the dive site suggests, you can experience strong currents. Most
of the time, we do drift dives, and depth ranges to around 22 meters.
This dive is one of the highlights in the Surin Islands.
Richelieu Rocks
Rated as one of the most outstanding dive sites in the world - not
only due to frequent sightings of whale sharks and manta rays, but
also to large schools of fish such as barracuda, jackfish, snapper
and many others. This is a small submerged rock situated 18 km east
of the Surin Islands - at low tides, the famous rocks can be visible.
Richelieu Rocks is a natural magnet for all fish life seeking protection
from predators and this is also a good place to see the seahorses,
if you look closely!
East
of Eden
This dive site has steep slopes, consisting mostly of hard coral laminates.
This is one of the few dive sites where you can catch glimpse of the
bow-mouth guitarfish! Even so, there are many shoals of snappers, fusiliers,
and even turtles as you see them gliding around you.
Boulder City
As the name explains, this is a boulder dive. Gorgonian sea fans are
scattered throughout, and there can a lot of currents. Expect to see
many leopard sharks on this dive, sleeping at the bottom. This is one
of the sites where we can see a lot of sceneries from Finding Nemo,
especially the pallete surgeon fish. This is also one of the best places
on the Similan Islands to see manta rays. Visibility can reach a stunning
30 meters and as depths can reach up to 40 metres, the more experienced
divers can make deeper dives.
Shark
Fin Reef
This site is a few hundred meters long and at low tide, you are able
to see the rocks sticking out of the water - Shark Fin Reef is a site
with many different kinds of sealife, ranging from turtles to boxfishes,
big schools of trevallies to dozens of leopard sharks. This is a dive
site that is loved by everybody. Swim throughs are filled with beautiful
soft corals. This is a good site to practice your buoyancy and multi-level
diving. For every depth, there are always delights to fill your eyes.
The maximum depth is 35 meters and visibility always go beyond 30 metres.
