Phuket Island Thailand-Your Complete Scuba Diving Guide

Phuket Thailand Scuba Diving

Phuket is the base for some of the best diving in the world, and part of the attraction is the incredible varietyof dives the visitor can experience on one cruise. The Similan Islands alone offer everything from huge numbers and varieties of fish and other marine life to an unusual bottom topography with lots of caves and swim throughs, everything from huge seafans and extravagant coral gardens to gloriously unspoiled white sand beaches. Everyone from the snorkeller to the seasoned scuba diver will find plenty of beautiful sights here.

To view photos of the vast undersea life, visit our underwater photos page

To view a map of the dive sites in the area around Phuket have a look at our dive site map.

Phuket is the main base for sports diving in the Andaman Sea. Aside from the many day trips avaiable, visiting divers can explore the coral reefs of this remarkable region on comfortable live-aboard dive cruises.

The prices are very reasonable compared to other popular dive destinations worldwide.Normally, the price for a day-trip or a liveaboard cruise includes the rental of all equipment included.  A complete set of equipment includes tanks, back pack, weights, mask, fins, snorkel, buoyancy compensator (with direct system/power inflator), regulators with submersible pressure gauge, octopus or alternate air source, weight belt, diving knife, diving watch or some sort of underwater timer, depth gauge, compass, gloves and a jump suit, coverall or thin wetsuit (chiefly for protection against coral cuts and sunburn). A diver should take along his diving certification,  log book, personal spare parts and tool kit.

Depending on your budget, the season and sea conditions, and the amount of time you have, you can choose from destinations such as these:

The Similans

These nine islands lie about 85km northwest of Phuket.The Similans enjoy a reputation as one of the very best diving destinations in the world, with a rich diversity of fish species inhabiting coral reefs which extend from snorkelling territory all the way down to 40m and beyond. Visibility is often more than 30 metres.

Surin Islands: Consisting of six islands are even more scenic than the Similans, but the diving is not as good as that found in the Similans except, perhaps, for Richelieu Rock, a pinnacle not far off the Surins. There are National Park bungalows and a camping ground on one of the islands; otherwise visitors sleep on the liveaboards.

Phi Phi Islands

These two islands,Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Le, which lie 30km south of Phuket, are among the most beautiful in Thailand. Phi Phi Don has many bungalows and several diveshops, while Phi Phi Le, is not inhabitated. (It is a protected area because of the bird's nest collecting industry.) Despite deterioration of the reefs in recent years, there is still interesting snorkelling and diving, with lots of fish. It is also possible to find quite good visibility during the "off season", and the run from Phuket is short enough to make diving day trips when the weather is fine (though January-March is best).

Koh Racha: Only about 1 1/2 hours by boat (20km) from Patong Beach, on Phuket, these two islands offer good diving even in the low season. As yet undeveloped,Raya Yai and Raya Noi are among the most charming of the islands close to Phuket.

Shark Point. This fine site is another daytrip from Phuket. One of this marine wildlife sanctuary's main features are the gentle leopard sharks which frequent the reef. Bring an underwater camera. (Several local dive shops have these for hire.)

Burma Banks: Several submerged banks lie an overnight cruise away from Koh Similan, rising from around 430m in open ocean to about 20m beneath the surface. The banks have a rich diversity of coral, much of it is in pristine condition. The especially abundant marine life includes both reef and open-water species, including lots of sharks.

Mergui Archipelago: Just recently has the government of Burma opened up these unspoiled and magnificent islands.  Due to the vast size of the area, you will encounter everything that is described above, just generally in greater abundance and diversity as these water still receive few visitors.

INSTRUCTION

It is a good idea to shop around for instruction, since both prices and the quality of training vary. Most dive shops will e-mail descriptions of what they have available, including detailed prices of equipment rentals, sales, dive courses,excursions, and "extras". (For example, some advertise substantial discounts on new equipment for those doing certification courses.)

Both PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) courses are widely available. Most shops offer one or the other, but a few have personnel who are qualified to teach both. In addition to the basic open-water courses, you  take so-specialty courses such as Night Diving, Rescue Diving,and Underwater Photography. You can qualify all the way up to Instructor level locally, with at least three shops offering PADI 5-Star IDC (Instructor Development Courses).

For first-time divers, some shops feature free introductory lessons in the hotel pool or inexpensive one-day "resort courses" (usually a pool dive followed by two more in the sea).

Below you will find information about each operator based in Phuket so you can make the most of your dive holiday while in Phuket Thailand and the surrounding areas. 

We recommend Scuba Cat Diving for Similan Liveaboards as they have been around the longest, feature the best liveaboard cruises to the Similan Islands, Surin Islands and Richelieu Rock,Thailand. They are also a PADI 5 star IDC center, as well as they are also Thailand's only Go-Eco Operator.

To get an idea of the types and number of dive shops available, drop on over to our recommended page for some 5 star dive centers.

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