During our 6-7 day trips we hope to explore more and more sites in the Mergui Archipelago. At the moment we do have a preliminary schedule with the top dive sites in the area. This is a small guide to the sites and what you can expect to find there.
Shark Cave
This site is one of the more famous sites in the archipelago and has many different names, In through the out is a popular name which describes the topography a bit more.
There is a cave that goes through the whole island and with several different entries to it. In the cave it’s common to see different types of crustaceans like the Spiny Lobster. The long fin trevally and sometimes sharks patrol through it.
The sharks isn’t a threat to us as divers but we should always treat them with respect and since we’re in their cave we should always give them right of way.
During the first day of the trip we will do several dives around this island including a night dive on the reef at the northeast side which is a very good spot for the small critters such as sponge crabs, pipefish, seahorses and crustaceans.
Black Rock
This remote little island offer some of the most impressive large pelagic action we have in the region. One of the best chances you’ll have in encountering the majestic Manta Ray and if you’re really lucky the giant Whale Shark cruises by during the dive. Other pelagic action includes trevallys and huge barracudas that lurks in the depths.
The dive is mostly a wall dive and the current can be strong here with down current in some places. Depending on the direction of the current we’ll use the island as protection.
Rocky steps form under the surface and reaches the bottom at around 70m so watch your gauge, especially if you get lucky and have that super visibility!
North Twin
There are several spots to dive around this island, the highlights include a plateau to the south and a pinnacle to the north.
The ridge resembles Koh Bon with a lot of soft coral and sea fans and you can see many reef fish here including batfish, groupers and sometimes nurse sharks.
A reef on the west side of the island is a good spot for night diving where you can see lots of crustaceans and the flamboyant Spanish Dancers.
South Twin
South Twin also has several diving spots as the island is a kilometer long. Under the surface you’ll find large boulders creating swim throughs and overhangs, much like the boulder sites on the Similan Islands.
Ribbon Eels are among the more special inhabitants here so swim slowly if you want to spot these elusive little eels.
South Twin is also a good spot to do night dives.
Steward Island
A 200m long ridge running north to south is the main feature here. It breaks the surface so you will find shelter on both sides of it if the current is running strong that day.
There’s a huge arch cutting through the island on the surface and several smaller caves do the same below the surface.
You don’t need to go very deep on this site since the most interesting stuff is between 12-20m with an abundance of reef life, beautiful soft corals and sometimes white and blacktip sharks.
High Rock
This funny looking rock has a single tree growing on it. This is one of the best sites for macro diving since the visibility is sometimes poorer here and the smaller guys covers the rock.
Several different species of nudibranchs, scorpionfish, pipefish and seahorses hide among the rocks. So take it slowly and be bedazzled in natures weird design on the little critters.
Fan Forrest Pinnacle
As the name suggest the main feature of this site is a huge number of undamaged sea fans spread along the bottom, some of which are below 30m. So watch your deco time during the dive!
Coral fish like blue ringed angelfish, lionfish and coral groupers are common here but you might find bigger animals like leopard shark, white tip shark or the occasional pelagic like manta or eagle ray.
Western Rocky Point
This limestone island is more like a series of pinnacles rather than one single rock. It creates a lot of crevices for our fishy friends to hide and lurk which is perfect for stingrays and other bottom dwellers.
The terrain is dramatic and there’s and arch with a tunnel that goes through the whole island. It becomes completely dark in the middle so a good torch is needed.
Western Rocky Pinnacle:
There’s a pinnacle 20 km north of the island. It’s exposed to the ocean currents though so the tides has to be right to be able to dive here. Huge pristine sea fans grow here and the pinnacle get visits from large pelagic life.
Burma Banks
We will only reach the Burma Banks on our 7 day cruise and that is only if the weather permits us to. Burma banks is located roughly 140 km west of Kuawthuang and are totally exposed to the weather.
It consists of several sea mounts with the shallowest part being 12-14m. The surrounding water reaches a depth of 300m so this is as much of an ocean dive site as you get. The dive sites here can have strong currents but as a drift dive you might see some impressive pelagic action.
On the way back from Burma we will do dives along the way, in short the best dives we can offer in Thai-waters including :
Richelieu Rock (Thailand)
This is a top three favourite dive site of nearly every divemaster and dive instructor with experience of diving in Thailand. It’s commonly voted in on the Top 10 dives in the world!
This is the dive site where you can get to see anything from Sea Horses, Ghost Pipefish and Harlequin Shrimps to big fish like Manta Rays, Guitarrfish and Whale Shark.
The bigger fish we see more frequently in the early and in the late part of the winter season.
Richelieu rock is shaped like a horse shoe stretching from the surface down to about 40 meters. There can sometimes be a current and visibility is rarely better than 25 meters.
Koh Tachai (Thailand)
Koh Tachai is one of the most beautiful dive sites in the area. It has got a bit of everything. You will find huge rock formations with an astonishing landscape as well as a plateau with a beautiful coral garden. This is a dive site where we often had encounters with Manta Ray and different kind of shark.
The dive site has gotten a coral garden in the centre and Granite boulders scattered around. the most shallow point is at 12 meters, and on the outside of the boulders it is 35 to 40 meters deep except on the northern side, which is more shallow.
There can sometimes be a strong current at Koh Tachai, so this is not a dive site where we take beginners.
Koh Bon (Thailand)
Koh Bon Ridge is one of our best dive sites. Apart from us often seing Manta Ray here there is lots of other things to see. This is also the only dive site in the area that has offers a wall. On the wall alone there is plenty enough to see for two dives.
The dive starts directly at the shoreline and stretches down to well over 40 meters. At the deeper end we often see reefsharks.
Koh Bon Ridge is an under estimated dive site which is not dive very much by day trip boats. This is mostly because most divemasters don’t really know the dive site for when there is no Manta Ray around. In season for Manta Rays the dive site often get crowded.
This dive site can have a strong current.
Bonsung Wreck (Thailand)
This dive site is amazing. There is not very much of a wreck, but the amount of fish is unbelievable. There are schools and schools of fish.
The wreck is situated at about 20 meters of water on sandy bottom, about half an hour from the mainland. It is one of those dive sites where anything is possible. There are lots of Lionfish and Scorpion fish, as well as Ghost pipefish and Stonefish and Moray Eels. There are on occasion one or a few Leopard sharks hanging around and sometimes a Ray or two.
Visibility is never very good at Bonsung Wreck, around 10 meters is normal and anything above that is a lucky day. We’ve had dives with over 20m visibility but this is rare.
The Bonsung Wreck is a dive site that is on every experienced divemasters list of top three dive sites in the area.
