Thailand

Khao Lak is just north of the island of Phuket in South West Thailand, and it is the perfect gateway to the Similan Islands, a world-famous dive destination. Khao Lak is essentially an area along the coastline that includes many villages.

The dive sites around the Similan islands are full of life and color, usually rather shallow dives with lots of macro, turtles, and smaller rays. Koh Bon has a large cleaning station and is famous for the chance of seeing Manta Rays (the biggest kind, OCEANIC MANTAS, with a wing span of up to 29ft). Koh Tachai is another island on our route with a pinnacle dive site, great coral growth, and an incredible underwater landscape. Here we’ll have a chance to see big pelagics as well.

The Surin Islands offer unspoiled diving close to the border with Myanmar. Hardly anyone dives in Surin, because it’s far away from the Similans. Richelieu Rock was discovered and loved as a recreational dive site by Jacques Cousteau. It is very colorful, has tons of fish, usually a huge group of Jacks right under the surface, as well as plenty of macro with seahorses, frogfish, and maybe the very big guys…. You only know how amazing it is if you’ve had the opportunity to see it…