Phuket Scuba Diving - Explore the Life Underneath the Water

Thailand is well-known for its cuisine, culture, and shopping opportunities, but it is also popular for its lush rainforests, tropical beaches, and superb scuba diving. There are many diving opportunities on the east in the Gulf of Thailand, and on the west in the Andaman Sea. These places are known for deep drop-offs, open ocean seamounts, and opportunities to explore walls, caverns, wrecks, pinnacles, and tunnels. Scuba diving in Phuket is one of the experiences that you should consider when you get there.

Most divers get started in their underwater adventures in Phuket, which is a great jumping off point for reaching the best dive sites in Andaman Sea. From Phuket, you can easily reach those dive sites on a day trip or on a liveaboard. Phuket is ideal for all kinds of diving activities, and there are plenty of opportunities to learn, explore, and enjoy various dive tours.

Racha Noi and Racha Yai are within easy reach of Phuket and they are known for their beautiful underwater wildlife, which consists of whale sharks and mantas, chevron barracudas, blue spotted lagoon rays, and schools of jacks and tunas. If you want to dive in Tarutao or around the Hin Muang or Hin Daeng group, consider taking a liveaboard.

If you are feeling adventurous, then you should definitely see the cluster of Anemone Reef, King Cruiser Wreck, and Shark Point. There are companies that can arrange dive day trips at Anemone Reef where you can see how the sea fans and soft corals cover it. The area is home to the pufferfish, short-tailed and ghost pipefish, and tigertail seahorses, too.

Shark Point has three pinnacles where you can enjoy several minutes of watching the leopard shark as a golden trevally sifts through its gills. Shark point is located 27km from Phuket. Each pinnacle is around 15 to 20 meters from another, with striking pink and purple soft corals, beds of table coral, huge sea fans, and staghorn coral. The average depth is about 15 meters, and the maximum is 30 meters.

Around 200km (120 miles) north of Phuket, you can find the horseshoe-like formation called 'Richelieu Rock' in the Andaman Sea. It is one of the most famous dive sites in Thailand where you can find large animals like barracuda tornadoes and whale sharks. Diving in Richelieu Rock can be your chance to spot shovelnose rays, cuttlefish, pipefish, and seahorses. With Scuba diving you get the golden opportunity to explore the underwater life. Underwater photographers will enjoy capturing the unique and breathtaking sceneries either in macro or wide angle.

About the author:

This article is written by Christopher Pace, the Platinum PADI Course Director at All4Diving. All4Diving is a leading academy in diving industry in Thailand. It is one of the most awarded PADI centers in the world for its excellence in the domain of professional and recreational diving education.

This article is written by Christopher Pace, the Platinum Padi Course Director at All4Diving. All4Diving is a leading academy in diving industry in Thailand.