Phuket Thailand lies in the Andaman ocean just off the west coast of Thailand. Here we have a large collection of islands streching right up into Burma. These include the similan islands, Phi Phi, Surin islands and of course the largest of the phuket islands phuket itself.
Just a short boat ride off shore, there are some stunning underwater places to explore in phuket thailand. It is the main gateway to the underwater sights that rank up there with the best in the world and depending how much time you want to spend underwater, there are several ways to explore the best of Thailand islands.
Scuba Diving Phuket.
With as little as one day up your sleeve, you can enjoy three different sites – a huge wall dive, a wreck, and a reef – and still be back for happy hour. Several boats leave daily from Chalong Bay, and take in three dive sites with the furthest just a couple of hours cruising. It is cruising as the dive boats here are large and very comfortable. Thailand diving is all about great diving and doing it in comfort and style.They have chefs on board, sun decks, three or more showers plus more deck showers to rinse off after the dive. Power points to charge cameras, shaded eating areas and large saloon.
The closest is Koh Dok Mai or Flower Island provides a home to many sea creatures.which is also the most characteristic of the region, being a limestone pinnacle that rises steeply from the ocean floor. Underwater it presents as a wall with vertical gutters and crevices and even some caves, home to all sorts of cryptic crevice dwellers. This is normally the last dive of the day when diving phuket as its done on the way back to Phuket.
The King Criuser wreck is the only real wreck when scuba diving in phuket. This is always the first dive of the day, the wreck King Cruiser is on a sunken car transporter ferry, which is so big you won’t get to see all of it on the one dive. The ferry sank in 1997 after hitting Anemone Reef. The boat is sitting with the top around 17 meters and the bottom at 32m. The wreck is approx 90m long, 30m wide and 15 high. There are a couple more wrecks around that were all places there for the Phuket diving trips but King cruiser is the only real wreck.
And the reef, called Anemone Reef, for good reason guarantees you some of the cutest Clown fish around. This is also a good location for Tigertail Seahorses which live on the huge sea fans. There are also a good chance to see Leopard Sharks here too around the base of the reef. this is a great place to go if you have just one day to dive Thailand.
Over the course of the day you could see anything from seahorses to scorpion fish, barracuda to banded coral shrimp, stone fish, sea snakes, many nudibranchs, Ghost pipe fish, painted spiney lobsters, frog fish, Blue spotted sting rays and if lucky the largest fish in the ocean The Whale Shark. this is why this is one of the best of the phuket tours.
These day boats have all the dive gear you need on board. As well as showers, they provide and serve you a cooked breakfast, large hot buffet lunch and afternoon tea, plus tea, coffee, drinking water. other soft drinks are available at a very small cost as is ice cold beer for the way back. So all you really need for the day diving in Thailand is your dive card, sunscreen and swimmers.
If you have three days spare for diving in phuket you will be able to cover the three main day trip locations from Phuket.
Koh Phi Phi. Scuba diving Thailand is very varied but Phi Phi has got to be one of the most well known. The terrain here is also limestone pinnacles made famous by the movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The range of diving is immense, from easy snorkelling in Lana Bay on the north-western tip of Koh Phi Phi, to Bida Nok, which offers a most dramatic marine topography: caves, swim throughs, drop-offs and overhangs.
Keep an eye out for white-collared butterfly fish as well as the many Black tip reef sharks (totally harmless) and Hawks Bill Turtles.
All around Phi Phi Ley are steep walls and coral bommies with an amazing number and diversity of nudibranchs, as well as the usual colourful reef fish like butterflyfish, coralfish and parrotfish.
Phi Phi can also be done during low season (May - Sept) on an overnight live a board which includes a great night dive.
MORE THAN THREE DAYS,
If you have three days or more available, you’d be crazy not to book a similan liveaboard trip and head out to the similan islands and Surin National Parks – about 1.5 hours from Phuket by speed boat or 3 hours cruising on the dive boat.(which is usually done while you sleep). Here you will be spoilt with some of the best diving in the region and the world if you include Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.
The similan island diving is so diverse. Here are massive granite boulders, stacked up long ago by some giant god of the sea, to create a playground for fish and divers alike. Mixed in with white sandy bays and shallow reefs teeming with life. Throw in a turtle breeding ground for good measure. Diving in this area you may be lucky enough to see manta rays cruising through, but you’ll certainly find turtles, and some of the biggest giant morays I have ever seen. Mix in the powder-blue surgeons, white collar butterflies and black tail angels and you’re in for a visual feast.
The pinnacle when diving in the similans, literally, will be Richelieu Rock, a rock so famous it even has its own website. A large, horseshoe-shaped rock, completely submerged, Richelieu is home to everything from the smallest ghost pipefish to hordes of batfish, schools of swirling snapper, giant cuttlefish and of course the giant Oceanic Manta ray and Whale Shark. This really is the best of the similan islands diving trips and is rated as one of the top ten locations in the world.
Even three dives on the rock won’t be enough: you’ll be planning your next trip on the way home. This is without a doubt the best diving in Thailand.
For more information on diving in Thailand visit http://www.thailand-divers.com/ and check out a similan islands liveabaord trip. You will not regret it.
The live a boards have several great options from a one night trip to 10 days or more. The choice is yours. The trips can depart everyday from 15th October till mid May so you can fit the trip to your holiday and not your holiday to fit the trip. The 5 day 4 night trips will get you a full round trip. There is a choice of boats from to be honest very nice boats and accomadation low cost trips to total luxuary. 5* chefs, state rooms and private charter super yachts. When in phuket scuba diving is a must. You will not find a better place for your first ever experience or if its your 10,000th dive. phuket thailand has stunning sights both above and below the water.
There are many other Phuket day trips to look at too that are not just for diving. Places like James Bond island up in the Phang Nga national park or the phi Phi bamboo . Then there is more to do than just a phuket snorkel tour. There are great phuket game fishing trips too. The warm oceans provides an abundance of tuna, Dorado and other game fish like black marlin and sail fish making game fishing phuket a real great place to fish.
All these tours are so easy. Just pop into a phuket dive shop and they can advise you on all manor of phuket day trips and tours. From the PADI open water course Phuket or discover scuba diving phuket to elephant trekking , rafting, safari tours and ATV tours. Its all under one roof. Then better still for each tour all you need to do is wait in your Phuket hotel lobby and wait to be collected each morning. Then you have a great day out and then each evening you are returned to your guest house Phuket in time for dinner. All the Phuket guest house and Patong beach hotels are all in nice quiet areas and just a few mins from town center and the beach. this gives a great relaxing location and base to make the most of your time in phuket Thailand.
