Thailand is a country that is full of adventures. It is a country where there are lots and lots of exciting adventures and activities. Of course, there are plenty of water sports in Thailand to engage in. Among those water sports, scuba diving is incredibly famous. We hope to discuss scuba diving and the best diving spots in Thailand through this article.
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Scuba diving in Thailand | What is the best time of the year?
As Thailand is located in a tropical climate, diving can be done at any time of year. Sharks arrive from February to May, so the greatest times are between November and April. Scuba diving would not get any better with bath-like temperatures of 28-31 degrees. The optimum time to visit dive spots in the Andaman Sea is between October and April. You have the Giant Manta Rays, which arrive in March or April in the Similan Islands. There are severe rainfalls throughout the months of May, which is why many marine reserves are closed until mid-October. Dive sites near the Gulf of Thailand are much more recommended during those periods.
What are the types of Diving in Thailand?
Wreck Diving
If you like wreck diving, Pattaya, Thailand’s “wreck diving capital,” is a good spot to visit. The HTMS Kut, HTMS Khram, and HTMS Mataphon, all decommissioned US Navy ships that were surrendered to the Thai Navy, are among the five wrecks in Pattaya.
Reef diving
The reefs of Thailand here are plentiful and well-preserved, making it a popular diving destination for divers from all over the world. Although Thailand is known for its huge fish and pelagics, there are a few sites where macro diving is possible.
Safety
Before you dive underwater, be sure you have diving insurance. However, Thailand is safe for scuba diving in general. You need to have your divemasters guide you, anyway.
The Best Diving Spots
You would surely be excited to know the best diving spots in Thailand. Let us get to know them.
The Similan Islands
You can scuba dive in the Similan National Marine Park. The pristine waters, diverse corals and fish, leopard sharks, turtles, and difficult maze-like swim-throughs and currents all can give you a tremendous experience for sure. There are roughly 20 distinct dive sites to choose from in the vicinity, all of which are home to a diverse array of marine life. Due to its complicated maze-like rocks formed of swim-throughs, channels, and gorges reaching depths of over 40m, Elephant Head (Hin Pusar) is considered one of the top diving sites in the area. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience that’s out of this planet! Christmas Point and Fantasea Reef are two more prominent sights in the vicinity.
Koh Dok Mai
This site is in between Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. There are several types of moray eels, big soft corals, sea horses, and leopard sharks that frequent the area. Koh Dok Mai has a fantastic wall, hidden caves, and limestone rock faces. This is a place to go if you want to enjoy a fabulous experience. But you need to keep a watch out when diving since you can overlook an eel poking out of the yellow tube corals.
Chumphon Pinnacle
If you want to go diving in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Tao is perhaps the greatest place to go and it is where this diving site is located. No dive on Koh Tao is complete without seeing the Chumphon pinnacle, which is popular among those who do PADI certification lessons. The whole top half of the pinnacle is covered in anemone, which attracts a variety of fish, white moral eels, crabs, and shrimp.
Sail Rock
This is located North of Koh Samui and in between Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Tao. Yellow fusiliers, trevally, giant morays, large groupers, batfish, and, if you are lucky, whale sharks can all be seen in large schools. This is an incredible diving place, so we can recommend this place to you.
HTMS Sattakut Wreck
This is a site where there is a Royal Thai Navy cruiser underwater right off the coast of Hampi Wee, a diving location south of Nang Yuan Island and next to Koh Tao. The HTMS Sattakut is one of Thailand’s most famous wrecks, having sunk near Koh Tao on June 18, 2011. Barracudas, groupers, schools of Fusiliers, blennies, and moray eels also can be seen here. For those of you who have not done any type of wreck dive, this is a good point to start and is definitely something that is out of the ordinary.
Phuket
You can go reef, night, drift, and deep diving in Phuket’s underwater realm, where you can see barrel sponges, sea whips, gorgonians, groupers, jacks, and barracudas. You can also experience a wonderful wreck diving experience. And you can plan and explore a stone elephant-based artificial construction, which is a prominent symbol in Thailand.
Conclusion
We are sure that you could know a lot about scuba diving in Thailand through this article. You can go scuba diving and enjoy Thailand!
