Where is the Best Scuba Diving in Thailand?

Hin Muang and Hin Daeng are feeding grounds for pelagic fish. They are fantastic dives, and worth the trip to Thailand. Hin Muang features large underwater pinnacles heading southwest. You'll be entranced by huge shoals of fish, beautiful anemone carpets, soft corals and gorgonions. Look out for the unusual bryazoan - clumps of white, straw-like things at around 8 metres. Sharks, tuna, enormous barracuda often visit and the deepest drop-off in Thailand is here. Don't go home without visiting Hin Muang or you'll have missed the best diving that Thailand has to offer.

"Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are deep dives with amazing color in the coral formations and anemones. Also a popular spot for whale sharks."
Natalie, 2017

"Lots of fish at this site, both large and small and some beautiful red soft corals. Great dive."
Peter, UK, 2013

Hin Daeng is close to Hin Muang and comprises walls, plateaus and rocks. You will might see leopard sharks, grey reef sharks, morays, barracuda, octopus, crayfish, shrimps. Nurse sharks are sometimes found in the south west cave (around 10 m) and whale sharks and manta rays also visit. The dive is fantastic not just for the big stuff you might see, but for its beautiful soft corals. Another unmissable, world-class dive site

"Again, lots of fish and this time, purple corals."
Peter, UK, 2013

Said to be a Japanese destroyer, this wreck is off the coast of Koh Kradan Island. Many fishing nets drape over the stern of the wreck. The visibility is often poor below the thermocline at around 15-20 m. It is difficult to make out detail of the wreck, but look at the life instead as you may see a seahorse! Check the ropes carefully for Hippocampus kuda. Also many soft corals, schooling fish, lionfish and giant morays.

Photo credit: Tim Sheerman-Chase (CC BY 2.0)

Hin Nok comprises a plateau with five pinnacles and lots of gullies It is north west of the Koh Kradan Wreck. You can swim right around the plateau in about an hour. A very interesting dive. Hin Nok is visited by turtles and is home to the very unusual Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus). This feathery fish is difficult to spot. Not only does it not look anything like a fish, to further confuse you it sometimes floats upside down in the water. Also look out for nudibranchs like Jorunna funebris, moray eels, whip corals, barracuda, moorish idols, butterfly and angel fish.

A shallow dive, nothing spectacular but several unusual fish to be seen. Look for the shrimpfish, Aeoliscus strigatus, which is long and thin and hangs vertically in the water the tail up. It propels itself with tiny, fan-shaped fins. A fascinating fish, generally in pairs or larger groups.

This dive features large gorgonions, nudibranchs, moray eels and a tremendous amount of small fish in the rocks. At first glance these fish look like anemones, they are so tightly packed together.

You'll see loads of 2 m leopard sharks here. Look out also for cuttle fish and seahorses. A series of rocky fingers project south of an outcrop - the gullies in between the fingers protecting you from the current.

A rocky outcrop featuring varied diving: walls, shallow reefs, boulders and swim-throughs. Look for leopard sharks on sand, cuttle fish, massive tube corals, gorgonians and lots of colours.

"I actually preferred the beach dive at Kata. Racha Yai was great vis. but there's not much coral there and it's a bit lunar. Still there are some interesting fish to see, and there's a couple of small wrecks and an old moped to play around with! "
Kay Turner, UK, 2016

"Coral gardens, boulders. Overall good easy dive"
Eugene Kovnatsky

"The visibility wasn't great but we saw the most incredible amount of different fish. There's a colony of I don't know how many stingrays. Rachel (of Oceanic Dive Center) wouldn't promise that we'd see them but she found them. There we so many fish at the artificial reef I didn't want to leave! It was a real surprise but everything Rachel had said we would see, we saw, and more! "
Kay Turner, UK, 2016

In 1997 the King Cruiser, a 3000 ton catamaran passenger ferry, hit Anemone Reef. Within an hour the ship sank with no loss of life. It rests in an upright position with the steering house 10 metres from the surface and the propellers at 30 metres.

"Currents, not good vis. normally I'd be unhappy about things like that, but it just doesn't matter at this wreck dive. There are so many fish schooling around the wreck you won't know where to look. And it's covered in lovely soft corals, nudibranchs everywhere! Lovely. I can't wait to go back there. "
Kay Turner, UK, 2016

"A very beautiful dive with great shoals of colourful fish on the wreck."
Dean Evans, UK, August 2012

"Current is pretty strong, beginners could freak out, visibility was not great but good enough. Lots of urchins, so maintaining buoyancy was important."
Eugene Kovnatsky

"Wreck dive in Phuket off west coast. Better than King cruiser because visibility more clear"
Suriyan Soison, Bang Tao Scuba, 2013

A Similan classic: turquoise water, fantastic visibility and copious fish population. Look out for the banded sea-snakes, extremely poisonous but not aggressive. Stay calm if you see one and enjoy the experience. The dive is called Breakfast Bend as it is often the first dive of the trip, done immediately after breakfast. A very good dive with leopard sharks, powder blue surgeon fish, scorpion fish, barracuda, morays, emperor angelfish, trigger fish and shoals of glass fish.

Pre-eminent coral formations. Lots of small fish: rabbitfish, clownfish, lionfish, garden eels, boxfish and others. Excellent visibility.

"Fantastic drift dive. Huge variety of corals and marine life."
Gordon Ollivere, UK, September 2015

Giant boulders, sitting alone or piled up to make arches and tunnels. Currents can be strong. Lots of soft corals, hard corals and sea fans.

"3 rocks stick out at the surface, depth subject to training level, swimthroughs, excellent huge boulders, some holes to look through, excellent dive!"
Wolfgang

A fast drift dive on one side of the island, slackening off as you turn the corner. A good place for lobsters, ribbon eels, garden eels, hunting trevally, glass fish, morays and trigger fish.

The dive slopes down past large granite boulders. At 27 m there is a swim-through with a large sea-fan. Look out for the garden eels at 23 m.

You'll see blue-spotted stingrays, garden eels, bumphead parrot fish, moorish idols and schools of glassfish. Likelihood of vigorous currents. One side comprises a drop-off, the other a sloping reef. A swim-through at 16 m takes you from one side to the other.

A wall descends to a sandy patch covered with blue spotted stingrays. On to an eel garden then up among boulders. Look for leopard sharks and guitar fish.

A large (3 m) bow-mouthed guitar shark sometimes lurks here. There can be a strong current which means lots of fish including big trevally and glassfish schools.

" In the Similan islands: white tip sharks and good night dives"
Travers

" Rich marine life. Challenging but worth it "
Serena, 4 May 2018

"Beautiful, colourful diving. Saw seahorses, cuttlefish, muraenas. I remember I took so many beautiful photos. "
Celia, 26 March 2018

"Manta ray, coral and colorful fish. "
Adriaan Jelsma, 27 March 2017

"Pinnacle Reef dive. Extremely colourful reef with large schools of fish including Tuna, Jacks, Barracuda, down to Seahorses and Mantis Shrimps and the chance to see Whaleshark and Manta, unfortunately after I had been "
Jim Jones, 23 June 2014

"A horse shoe of rocky pinnacles, just breaks the surface at low tide. Famous for Whale shark sightings, but also great for big schools of pelagic fish such as jacks, barracuda and batfish. Mantas are also seen, and it is a superb spot for Macro photography, with such critters as ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp, frogfish, seahorses. Currents can be strong, but an experienced guide can keep you in the shelter. Depth maximum about 30 m. Needs several dives to see the whole area."
Jamie Monk

"Top site for whale sharks in the Andaman sea. Rocky outcrop that rises from the bottom 30 m to just over a meter out of the water in low tide."
Travers

Whale shark. Photo credit: Tim Nicholson

"Whale Sharks!"
Lizet, 2011

"My best dive so far, among all those rarities found there the only thing we lacked was the Whale Sharks. "
Calle Nilsson, Sweden, 2011

"Richelieu rock was pretty astounding and would be worth visiting multiple times as on a live-aboard.
Simon Dragland

"Superb Viz: 3 dives 3 Whale Shark Sightings... Descending for the first time was like entering a giant underwater cathedral.. amazing sites and a monumental array of marine life.. Excellent Diving all round
Sam Seed, UK

Dive 1 two mantas. Dive 2 whale sharks and mantas.
Robert Marshall, 2021

"We have just returned from 2 weeks diving in Koh Tao staying at Koh Nangyuan. The islands are spectacular and truly idyllic. Best dive was Chumphon Pinnacle but after doing 8 dives at various sites including Japanese gardens, Green Rock, The Twins and White Rock we left feeling disappointed. A lot of the dives are very similar but more importantly there were divers everywhere. At Chumphon Pinnacle one day there were over 40 divers and it was very easy to almost lose my buddy on several occasions. Perhentian Islands in Malaysia were much better with lots less people and better marine life, but both certainly do not beat anywhere on the Barrier Reef.
Paul

"A lot of different dive sites and all of them are splendid! Japanese Gradens with the most beautiful coral, Twin Peaks with all the fish, etc...
"Mikael

"We have just returned from a week's diving in Koh Tao (the place famous for Trevor the Trigger fish , which we didn't see and also regular whale shark spottings, which we didn't see either!) but the diving out there was amazing with plenty to look at, great visibility and I can highly recommend Carabao Dive Shop. If you are going out there pop in and do your diving with them as there is quite a lot of competition out there with dive shops and some ...no names ....just have loads of people packed onto the boats. "
David Main

I went to Thailand diving for the first time. I did my courses in Koh Tao and enjoyed it so much I went on to do my Advanced. I dived with Blue Planet. I found them very helpful and had a really good instructor who helped me get some magnificent photos. I went on a trip to the Similan islands with them and had the best time of my life. So am going back in november again to move on to my rescue course and hopefully move on all the way. I would give advice to any body that has not dived there before to give it a try as the underwater sea life there was overwhelming with large beautiful sea fern, large manta rays up to 4m and lots of trumpet fish which are my personal favorite, I could go on about it all day. Also humpback whales where surface all over it was great. Thanx blue planet for introducing me to the new world."
Ross Dimmock

"I went to Ko Tao, where I started to do my Open Water. The visibility was good, however there were so many people and very little to see. I went snorkelling in Redang (off the coast of Malaysia) and saw more fish/ sharks/ eels, etc. The only thing the island had to offer was cheaper rates on dive certification. I also dove around Ko Phi Phi... now that was amazing! I saw a leopard shark, lion fish, giant moray, butter fly fish, blue ring, and many more! I would recommend the diving off Phi Phi over Ko Tao any day!"
Michelle

"Ko Tao was disappointing by contrast with Koh Phi Phi and Richelieu rock. It was overcrowded with weak visibility and was frankly a bit boring although relatively cheap."
Simon Dragland

USS Lagarto • Sail Rock • Chumphon Pinnacles • Twin Peaks • HTMS Sattakut • Shark Island • Hin Wong Bay

Four underwater pinnacles. The top of the shallowest is at 16 m and the bottom at 34 m. The pinnacles attract many pelagic fish: barracuda, trevally and even sometimes whale sharks. There may be heavy-duty currents

"A bit more far out..like twenty minutes by boat. But boy it was worth it - saw some really huge groupers! "
Peter, 9 February 2017

" Advanced divers with larger pelagic fish and occasional Whale Sharks"
John Baker, Samui Dive Tribe, 2016

" I learned to dive on Koh Tao with Seashell Divers. It was amazing, the highlight being the Chumphon Pinnacle. Vibrant coral reaching from the sea bed 30 m below the surface, with the sun glinting off shoals of fish all around. I've now dived on Koh Phi Phi and Cozumel (Mexico), and I have yet to see such varied life in one place. Especially amazing for new divers. Koh Tao is a beautiful and cheap place to do dive courses. I can't wait to go back--still haven't seen my whale shark! "
Brad Bonnell, 2012

"Two pinnacles. Lots of marine life. Has a buoyancy park and coral conservation project too."
David Dulson, 2012

"Rocky bay and coral garden. A series of small swim-throughs. Lots of giant clams and fusilier fish."
David Dulson, 2012

"Nice wreck which was sunken on purpose - easy to dive also for beginners "
Peter, 9 February 2017

"Shallow but good and relaxing for the last dive "
Peter, 9 February 2017

Quite often vis not great - but does not have the 'dive factory' feel as Koh Tao . HMS Khood is always worth a dive, sitting plumb at 27 m. Some nice barracuda, tuna and perhaps a turtle, but all in all not disappointing. Several comments have been made about the increasing amount of rubbish in the sea, both from Pattaya and Koh Larn. Many dive operators are a touch on the expensive side (compared with the rest of Asia) but after all it is Pattaya.
Marshall, 2011

After living in Pattaya area for 4 months and diving every few days, that is the last place I would ever go. Too often there were dead fish on the wrecks from fisherman using blasting caps to fish, along with various substances - including the not so infrequent condom floating in the water. Again, this was all offsite - not simply at the Pattaya or Jomtien shoreline. Convenient from Bangkok ...YES. Worth getting in the water...NO.
Robert