Local Diving
The waters & reefs around Koh Phangan are much nicer than most people know: a fine, extensive range of hard corals with a good range of tropical & pelagic fish.
Pickhandle Barracuda & Saddleback Anemonefish Hard Coral Colours at Mae Haad Barred Rabbitfish Close-Up
 
Features of our local dives are a surprising variety of hard corals & a healthy cross section of reef & pelagic fish. The main structure of the reefs is hump coral (porites sp.), offering shelter to several different staghorn & table corals, plate & leaf corals, some extensive anemone corals, large brain corals (etc etc !) plus filter & soft corals on the deeper sites.
 
Black-Spot Tuskfish Staghorn Coral; Acropora formosa Ball of baby Catfish
Every dive should introduce you to a variety of damselfish, butterflyfish, groupers (some of a fair size!), rabbitfish, goatfish, wrasse & parrotfish, snapper & anemonefish. We often also find special creatures such as stingray, barracuda, carpet eel blenny (!), cuttlefish or hunting trevally, to name a few.
Carpet Eel Blenny (not an eel) Blue-Spotted Stingray Curious Cuttlefish
 
Local Sites we like to dive include:
  • Koh Ma: a steeply shelving island off the NW. corner of Koh Phangan with interesting scenery & hard coral, particularly nice soft & whip corals at depth. Schooling fish, bannerfish & big grouper, plus the hunters; especially the barracuda when there's a little current running. Max. depth ~24m.
  • Mae Haad, Haad Salat & Haad Yao Bays on the W. coast offer long relaxed coral reef dives with a really wide range of hard corals & a good variety of typical reef fish. Max depth ~14m. Laem Chua & Laem Tian offer more mixed dives: start on coral reef, but then drift around the shelving point to finish on the reef in the next bay. Max depth up to 18m.
  • Rock Point (Kong Yai) is a miniature Sail Rock, on the E. tip of Chaloklum Bay . Small walls, swim-throughs & scenery, plus lots of fish. A seasonal site due to varying visibility. Max depth to 20m.
  • Further local sites we visit include Ao Tong Lang, Koh Kong Kliang & Koh Tae Nok; variable visibility makes them more seasonal, but great when it's OK, & there are more...
 
Anemone Shrimp; P brevicarpalis Click on the map to enlarge. Sea Urchin gathering
Please note that all the photo's used on this page were actually taken here; check out our "Marine Life Directory" page if you want to see more.