Scandinavian Scuuba Doo DIVE SITES

King Cruiser Wreck

This 85 meter long and 25 meter wide car ferry sunk 4th May 1997, between Phuket and PhiPhi Island. The King Cruiser is a twin hull boat that rests on flat sand at app. 31 meters depth and stretches up to app. 14 meters below the surface. The King Cruiser has started to collapse during the last 3 years, but is still an excellent dive site with a rich variety of marine life that includes Stone Fish, Scorpion Fish, Barracudas and Schooling Big Eye Travelly. Sometimes you don't see the wreck while descending due to all the schooling fish around it.

Phuket Shark Point

This dive site offers the best corral in the Phuket area and consists of several pinnacles stretching from the so called Light House pinnacle, the only pinnacle breaking the surface, and straight south. Good chances of seeing Leopard Sharks, Sea Horses, Turtles and a couple of times each season the illusive Whale Shark. This is a truly exiting dive site due to, the variation of marine life and colorful coral, a must for the underwater photographer.

Anemone Reef

This "loaf of bread" shaped submersed reef that starts at app. 5 meters below the surface, this is the reef that King Cruiser hit just before it sunk. The reef is covered in anemones with a stunning marine life surrounding it. In the middle of the reef you can see the crack done by King Cruiser hitting it. This reef offers many different species of Moray Eels; often you can find different species sharing the same hole, schools of Snappers and Fusiliers, Lion Fish and a lot of surprises.

Koh Dok Mai (Flower Island in Thai)

This volcanic island rises about 30-40 meters above the surface and below it offers one of the best wall dives in the area. Along this wall you find Sea Horses, Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish and Bamboo Sharks in the cracks and crevasses, Flat Worms, Cowries and Nudi Branches in different shapes and wonderful colors. You can spend dive after dive at this dive site and still finding something new each time.

Koh Racha Yai (Big King Island in Thai)

This Island about 1 hour and 30 minutes by boat from Phuket Island offers several different dive site, Lucy's Reef, Bungalow Bay, Stag Horn Reef and Home Run are just a few examples. Excellent dive sites with 25 meters visibility a normal day and a great variety of marine life. This last season we saw Mantas, Leopard Sharks and Turtles, Pipe Fish, Frog Fish, Garden Eels and a great variety of colorful tropical fish.

Koh Racha Noi (Small King Island in Thai)

30 minutes past Racha Yai you arrive to a 2 kilometer long and very narrow island that is uninhabited. Several dive sites along the way, but South Pinnacle is normally where you start your diving. Excellent dive site to see Manta Rays and other big pelagic marine life coming in to feed or get cleaned up; out here the normal visibility is very good, 25 - 30 meters. Sloping granite rocks and pinnacles dropping down to 60-70 meters on the outside, this is why we see more pelagics out here than anywhere this close to Phuket.

Koh Bida Nok

The outer of the 2 Bida Islands offer a great variety of beautiful coral, both hard and soft and big Gorgonian Sea Fans. Also the best chance of seeing Leopard Sharks and Black Tips Reef Sharks in the area. Sea Turtles are commonly seen and since our guide knows there way around the reef, they will show you both Sea Horses and Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish. Each season Whale Sharks are seen here several times per year. On one side of the island you have sloping reefs and on the other side you have a wall dive. A really nice drop off on Finger Reef, at 4 meters you glide over the edge and slowly descend down to 20 meters, while descending, there it's a big chance that you see Leopard Sharks either resting in the sand or cruising by below you.

Koh Bida Nai

The inner of the 2 Bida Islands just 50 meters North of Bida Nok you find another amazing dive site that offers the same marine life. From here you reach Fantasy Reef located between the two Islands and stretching from 18 meters down to 28 meters, above this reef you can find true action with Barracudas and Travelly shooting in and feeding on glass fish and other small pray. Schooling Bat Fish and Blue Spotted Sting Rays are a few other attractions here. Hawks Bills Sea Turtles and Leopard Sharks are spotted on most dives around Fantasy Reef, and if you are lucky you can see the family of Black Tip Reef Sharks patrolling between Bida Nok and Bida Nai, sometimes up to 10 individuals. Also resting under rocks in quite a few places you find baby Nurse Sharks. Once out here, I have experienced 4 different species of sharks in the same dive.

Hin Bida: (a.k.a. Shark Point PhiPhi)

This arrow shaped submersed reef only shows a small tip above surface at low tide, but under water it stretches out and it is difficult to cover it all in one dive. Pristine soft coral, Leopard Sharks, Cuttlefish, different species of clown fish and again the occasional whale shark visits the reef; on a few dives I have been accompanied by Spotted Eagle Rays on this dive site.

Hin Daeng & Hin Muang (Red Rock & Purple Rock in Thai)

About 90 kilometers south of Phuket you find these 2 world class dive sites just 400 meters from each other. This is together with Koh Bon at the Similan Islands the safest place to see Manta Rays, big ones and many at the same time. On one dive a couple of years ago, we counted 12 different individuals on a single dive, the biggest about 7 meters wing span. Every year frequent Whale Sharks is seen here and hanging around for up to a week. This is truly the place where you can see everything and anything, visibility up to 40 meters. My favorite dive sites in Thailand by far.

This group of 9 Islands is a National Marine Park with world class diving, it was also the favorite area, in the world, of my big hero "Jacques Cousteau". Just outside the Similan Islands National Marine Park you find Koh Bon 13 kilometers North East of the northern tip of Island no. 9 and Koh Tachai another 12 kilometers North of Koh Bon.

To describe the dive sites and what you can find is almost impossible since it is so big and the variety of marine life is enormous.

Many of you will recognize names like:
Hide Away, Elephant Head Rock, Boulder City, Shark Fin Reef, East of Eden, Bat Fish Bend, Anita's Reef, Three Trees, the Wrong Place and many, many more. I will do my best do describe a few of the most popular dive sites.

Hide-a-Way: Between Island no. 5 and 6.

Here you find a sloping white sandy bottom with patches of acropora coral and two impressive coral pinnacles, you can easily spend a dive at each pinnacle, the colors and diversity of soft and hard coral is amazing. The bigger of these two pinnacles is covered wit sea fans and soft coral. In the white sand between these islands of coral you can see large fields of Garden Eels. If you dive it from north to south you will finish of your dive in an area with large table corals. Normally it offers very good visibility and a truly good dive site to start of with on your Similan Trip.

Boulder City: East of Island No. 2

This exiting dive site is in open water, the most shallow parts of this otherwise fairly deep dive site is at 12-14 meters. You do best in descending on a mooring line since the current can be strong. Once down the dive site is truly spectacular with enormous granite boulders and big sea fans to swim in between. Here you can see Hump Head Parrot fish + 1 meter in length. This dive site together with Shark Fin Reef is where I've had a few encounters with really big Green Turtles see Photo Gallery.

East of Eden: Island No. 7.

I don't know where to start and I could go on forever, describing this dive site is as hard as it is beautiful. If we start in the shallow part to the East, we descend to about 5 meters and already we can see what this dive site has to offer. We glide over the edge and see the reef sloping down in almost terrace like steps with hard and soft coral in a never ending mix. Swimming west-wards along this coral slopes that a few times are interrupted with white sand you have a chance of seeing, and here comes a list of some of the things I've seen here; Frog Fish, Napoleon Wrasse, Hump Head Parrot Fish, Guitar Shark, Eagle Rays, Manta, White Tips, Long Nose Hawk Fish, Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish, Various Types of Sea Turtles, White Tip and Black Tip Reef Sharks and a lot more. Then you finish of the dive at The Majestic Coral Bolder that start at app 25 meters and stretches up to 8 meters depth, it's called a Roll of Film Pinnacle as well, but that's not enough, the colors you see here is unforgettable. I could go on ....

Elephant Head Rock (Hin Pusar): Island No. 8.

Large Granite Boulders creates enormous canyons and looking out in to the blue you just see how this dive site disappears in to darker and darker water, it is deep outside this reef. Descending on the southern side of the rock you find a coral garden that takes you out to a sandy bottom, if you are here in the very early morning you have a great chance of seeing sharks, mostly White Tip Reef Sharks cruising by.

After a few interesting and narrow passages and canyons you end up on the north side of this dive site, along the way you have probably seen Oriental Sweet Lips, Unicorn Fish, Giant Travellys, and large schools of Fusiliers.

Koh Bon Island

12-13 kilometers north east of Similan Island you come to Manta Heaven, during the time period from end October thru March you have a great chance to see Mantas, Mantas, Mantas and some sharks. After jumping in whether you do it on the north or south side, you head for the West Ridge this is where the Big Guys hang out, do I need say more. If you are a bit more experienced you might jump at Koh Bon Pinnacle you go straight down to app 24 meters, it's a good chance you can see Leopard Sharks out here and Mantas. It seems that the Mantas cruise between the West Ridge and the Pinnacle. Last season on a few occasions divers saw both Mantas and Whale Sharks on the same dive, how about that.

If you are curious of what you can see have a look in the Photo Gallery, below the pictures you will find what specie and where the picture is taken. Sharks, Barracudas, Bat Fish, Frog Fish, Sea Horses, Whale Sharks, Harlequin Shrimps, Sea Snakes, Morays, Mantas, White and Black Tip Reef Sharks, different Rays, Pristine coral and about 726 other species, (the list would be to long) are found here, something for every one.

Koh Tachai

This island is located on your way from Koh Bon to Richelieu Rock. The most popular dive site on this island is Tachai Plateau. Famous for big schools of Giant Travellys, Giant Barracudas, and Jacks. Here you frequently encounter Mantas and it's one of the best dive sites to meet what everyone dreams of: the Whale Sharks.

Richelieu Rock

This submerged Horse Shoe shaped pinnacle only shows a little bit of it self at low tide. World Famous and renown for the frequent encounters with the magnificent Whale Shark it also offer a stunning marine life around it, once again you can basically see what ever is offered in the Andaman Sea on this dive site.