Diving Khao Lak – Day Trip Diving offers the best of the best dive sites Thailand has to offer. Khao Lak is the gateway to the Similan Islands. There are over 20 different dive and snorkeling sites to choose from, not including the legendary Richelieu Rock, Koh Tachai and the glorious Surin Island group.
Also easily accessible from Khao Lak are the fantastic dive sites of Phuket, during the low season (May/October) the Similan Islands are closed to the public due to high seas and strong winds, which can come in from the Indian Ocean Wet Monsoon at any moment, making diving in the seas off Khao Lak occasionally a little risky.
Fear not, because Phuket dive sites are accessible all year round and with some fantastic sites, like those on Phi Phi Island, Racha Yai, Racha Noi and of course King Cruiser, Shark Point, and Anemone Reef and the macro’s dream dive site of Koh Doc Mai.
Similan Islands Liveaboards
A Thailand Liveaboard trip is the best way to dive the Similans including the diving hot spots Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.
- Liveaboard Season: November to April.
- Liveaboard Class range from low budget to High End.
- Duration: from 2 days / 1 night to 6 days / 6 nights
Scuba Diving Khao Lak Day Tours
Staying in Khao Lak area and like to dive the best dive sites that Similan & Surin Islands has to offer?
- Daily Trips from Khao Lak – November to April.
- Max 16 Diving Guest!
- Fast & comfortable Diving Catamaran!
There are also a couple of sites close to Khao Lak, there are a couple of wreck dives that are well worth the trip out, quite close to the beach.
The Boonsung Wreck and the Thai Muang Wreck both are old tin mining dredgers from the Tin mining era, it was the tin mining generation which made the area of Phuket and Khao Lak wealthy, well until the tin dried up and then tourism was introduced, but that is another story.
Both are only 20 metres deep and are both teeming with life, over the years they have become nurseries for the reef fish of the area, and are also fantastic if you would like to try your hand at wreck diving. Both of these sites are accessible to open water divers and more experienced divers alike.
If you are feeling more adventurous then the Phuket dive sites will really get the old juices flowing. There has been more Whale Shark and Manta Ray Sightings this year around Phuket than the last few years combined.
Racha Yai offers some great shallow reef diving which is suitable for all levels, the visibility is usually 20 metres plus, a little further out is its little sister island of Racha Noi, the diving here can be a little more advanced than Racha Yai, Racha Noi offers the very best chance to catch a glimpse of the large pelagic fishes which troll these pristine waters of the Andaman Coast.
Koh Doc Mai is only an hour boat ride from Chalong, and with its couple of exciting caverns to explore and macro life to find, this is one of the best dive sites for camera lovers. Ornate Ghost Pipefish are spotted here regular, along with Jens Pipefish and the smaller less common Pipefish. Another highlight of Koh Doc Mai are the Tiger Tail Seahorses.
The even more famous dive sites of Phuket included the King Cruiser Wreck dive, which sank in 1997, and has become home to an amazing array of fish from Leopard sharks to Sea Turtles, to huge Barracuda to tiny Glass Fish, it’s the best wreck dive in the area.
Anemone Reef is the Reason why the King Cruiser sits down at below 30 metres, as it was this little beautiful dive site that the King Cruiser hit way back when. Anemone reef is a must dive, and when the conditions are right there is no more beautiful dive site in the Phang Nga bay
Phuket Shark Point is another excellent dive and very close to the other two sites, offering a very good chance to see local Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Moray Eels, Sea Horses and even Nemo.
Further on in the distance you will also spot the Phi Phi Island group, well you have come so far from home, you must see the famous Islands, and the diving is great too, Black Tip Reef Sharks Patrol these waters, alongside hunting Trevallies and Tuna.
All of these dive sites are accessible from Khao Lak throughout the year. The trip down to Phuket takes little over an hour, and most of the dive sites are reachable in less than two hours, it’s a full day out and what a day out. Khao Lak diving in the low season continues, the Similans may be closed for a few months, you can trust Phuket to come up with the goods.
