Koh Samui is one of those magical Thai islands that people from across the world travel to experience. One of its many appeal points is as a marine wonderland, with excellent scuba diving sites easily reached by day trips and multi-day tours. With an outstanding choice of locations, the area offers fantastic dives from beginner to advanced levels and professional divers.
Some expats living in Thailand earmark diving as a fantastic weekend activity. With kids from about the age of 10, it can become a wholesome, family-friendly affair. This guide provides insight into a selection of the top scuba spots around Samui.
Sail Rock is a renowned dive site with a large granite pinnacle jutting up about 15 meters. The unique underwater topography attracts an incredible variety of marine creatures, including barracuda, trevally, fusiliers, moray eels, butterfly fish, and maybe a visiting whale shark. The shallow coral gardens on the southern side are perfect for novice divers. More experienced divers can explore the deeper waters or the chimney, a 3-metre-wide vertical swim-through passage about 18 meters from the bottom to the top of the pinnacle. A thrilling experience.
Chumphon Pinnacle is another premier dive site, and at times challenging because of strong currents. The unique granite pinnacle ranges in depths of about 14 to 36 metres. Divers report seeing a fantastic array of fusiliers, snappers, barracuda, batfish, groupers, tuna, mackerel, and even whale sharks. The shallower section of the site features anemones with beautiful pink versions as a highlight. Chumphon Pinnacle is about 11 kilometres northwest of Koh Tao and part of the Chumphon Archipelago.
Green Rock features impressive coral formations, including hard and soft corals, which provide shelter and food for a wide variety of underwater creatures. Marine life includes schools of colourful fish, barracuda, trevally, snapper, reef sharks, moray eels, turtles, nudibranchs, and octopus. The large granite boulders are covered in multicoloured corals and sponges, with numerous swim-throughs and small caves to explore. Green Rock ranges from 5 to 30 meters in depth, making it suitable for divers of different experience levels.
White Rock is a series of underwater granite boulders with depths ranging from 5 to 20 meters, including swim-throughs, small caves, steep drop-offs and shallow areas to explore. Some more stimulating sea creatures include nudibranchs, seahorses, ghost pipefish, stingrays, butterfly fish, angelfish, and the territorial titan triggerfish. Impressive soft and hard coral formations are present, including staghorn coral. The site is suitable for different level divers; however, strong currents are sometimes present.
Southwest Pinnacles, located off the southwest coast of Koh Tao, consists of three underwater pinnacles that rise from a depth of around 30 meters to within a few meters of the surface. The pinnacles contain colourful anemones and corals, including sea fans and sponges. Remarkable marine life includes schools of barracuda, large groupers, snapper, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, nudibranchs, and ghost pipefish. Whale sharks and manta rays are also occasionally spotted at the site.
Koh Tao is easily accessible from Koh Samui by ferry and Chumphon. With many dive sites around the island, it’s a great spot to learn diving and is also popular with experienced divers. Plus, the island is a miniature tropical paradise with white sandy beaches and lush jungles. Several dive sites mentioned in this article are easily accessible from Koh Tao and nearby Shark Island.
Ang Thong National Marine Park comprises 42 limestone islands between Samui and Surat Thani on the mainland. The park is worth visiting regardless of the diving opportunities. It features breathtaking scenery, hiking to the infamous Blue Lagoon, kayaking, wildlife viewing, and more.
Within this Marine Park, Koh Wao and Koh Yippon offer diverse marine life and amazing corals, barrel sponges, anemones, and sea fans with swim-throughs, caves, tunnels and passageways. It is a divers’ delight. With varying depths, these sites are attractive for beginner to expert divers. Night diving is possible with nocturnal marine life such as lobster, shrimp, and octopus on show.
Suppose you love diving and are considering moving to Thailand. In that case, Samui makes an excellent choice with many hot spots on your doorstep. Samui is a popular Bangkok getaway, a one-hour flight to this idyllic island paradise with so many things to do. If you are considering buying property in Samui, plenty of outstanding and affordable homes are on offer. Just contact our Lazudi team to learn more.
