{"id":921,"date":"2017-05-11T01:25:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T01:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/the-absolute-best-diving-in-thailand\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:24:03","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:24:03","slug":"the-absolute-best-diving-in-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/the-absolute-best-diving-in-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"The Absolute Best Diving in Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no big secret where the absolute best diving in Thailand is, it\u2019s just that most prefer the easy diving in the sheltered Gulf of Thailand or impromptu day trips out of Krabi<\/a>, Phuket<\/a> and Ko Phi Phi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A trip out to Mu Ko Similan National Park<\/strong> in the Andaman Sea is a slightly more serious adventure. One that requires at least a little forethought, not least because the park is closed during May to October when the south-west monsoon sweeps across the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

The Similan Islands National Park<\/a> is home to a collection of granite islands, boulders and pinnacles and its location 55 km offshore means that it\u2019s largely unaffected by water quality issues, marine plastic pollution and being a marine park – commercial fishing.<\/p>\n

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Boasting terrains facing the open Indian Ocean and the more sheltered coastal water, it provides a wide variety of habitats and hence a great diversity of marine life. You\u2019ll find all the usual reef suspects from surgeon fish to rabbitfish, Moorish idols to butterflies, all manner of wrasse and trigger fish, goatfish and snapper, and in numbers you won\u2019t see in many other places. Add to this mix, all the unusual<\/em> reef suspects, such as blennies, scorpionfish, Pixie Goatfish and pipefish including that Holy Grail of pipefish – the Ghost Pipefish – and you start to understand why it\u2019s acknowledged as the best diving in Thailand.<\/p>\n

\u2018Mu Koh\u2019 actually means \u2018group of islands\u2019 and the nine islands of the Similans go by numbers as well as their names hence Similan #7 is Koh Payu.<\/p>\n

Well managed as a marine park (there is a per dive\/per day fee), Similan #1, #2 & #3 are currently closed for re-habitation, but there are still over 20 dive sites amongst the other islands, and the three pinnacles that have been annexed into the Similan National Park: Hin Pusa or \u2018Elephant Head Rock\u2019<\/a>, Koh Bon<\/a> and Koh Tachai.<\/p>\n

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Though all composed of solid granite, the islands and pinnacles have unique characteristics and terrain, from ridges to bays, monolithic walls and slots, and many swim throughs \u2013 a veritable adventure playground for divers.<\/p>\n

Collectively they offer so much different terrain, I overheard a diver comment that \u201cthis place would be great fun even without the fish!\u201d. One coral stack in Koh Bon, encrusted on top with hard corals and adorned underneath with soft corals, is home to a pair of the biggest giant morays we\u2019ve ever seen in our lives \u2013 bodies thicker than your thigh. They dwarfed the tiny ringed pipefish hiding in the same overhang, while sea snakes zigzag along the sand nearby.<\/p>\n

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At Koh Tachai we watch a group of white collared butterflyfish hang in the lea of a giant gorgonian fan whilst cleaner wrasse work to their way methodically around the group. The nearby walls are littered with nudis and at any given moment you might see a turtle casually cruise right through your dive group.<\/p>\n

Koh Bangu has possibly the most dramatic terrain with slab-like boulders 15m high, hiding deep slots between them, and dim, narrow swim throughs below where you\u2019re guaranteed to surprise a whole bunch of big-eyed soldier and squirrelfish sitting out the day \u2013 waiting for darkness and their turn to hunt.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To dive the Similans, you should allow yourself at least a week. There are liveaboard dive boats departing from Phuket<\/a> and Khao Lak<\/a> with differing itineraries, some of which include the fabled Richelieu Rock \u2013 a-whole-nother dive adventure in itself!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no big secret where the absolute best diving in Thailand is, it\u2019s just that most prefer the easy diving in the sheltered Gulf of Thailand or impromptu day trips out of Krabi, Phuket and Ko Phi Phi. A trip out to Mu Ko Similan National Park in the Andaman Sea is a slightly more… Continue reading The Absolute Best Diving in Thailand<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17,6,14],"tags":[],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-asia","category-destination","category-interests","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Absolute Best Diving in Thailand - Expedia AU Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/the-absolute-best-diving-in-thailand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Absolute Best Diving in Thailand - Expedia AU Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s no big secret where the absolute best diving in Thailand is, it\u2019s just that most prefer the easy diving in the sheltered Gulf of Thailand or impromptu day trips out of Krabi, Phuket and Ko Phi Phi. 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