The above water scenery will provide stunningly beautiful white sandy beaches with small forested areas. Dive some of the following sites; Boulder City, Sharkfin Reef, Anita’s Reef, and Three Trees.

Under the surface, you may see Leopard (zebra) shark, blue spotted stingrays, clown triggerfish, rabbit fish, scorpion fish, snappers, emperor fish, giant trevally and angelfish. The coral gardens, bommies, and boulder formations are wonderful to dive.

Elephant Head Rock, visible from the surface, is the biggest pinnacle in the Similans and has some fantastic swim-throughs. Whitetip reef sharks, batfish, trevally and barracuda can often be seen on the perimeter of the boulders. If you look closely in the cracks and in the rubble you can see smashing mantis shrimp, porcelain crab, moray eels and cleaner shrimp.

There are also sites dominated by huge granite boulders such as Deep Six, Christmas Point, and North Point where you can see white tip reef sharks, schooling giant trevally, and schools of neon fusiliers.

This is generally the most likely place to see manta rays on our Similans itinerary. You are also likely to see Napoleon wrasse, sweetlips, octopus, bluefin trevally, giant moray eels, great barracudas, fire dart goby, spiny lobster, and nudibranchs of many types. The dive sites vary from wall diving to gently sloping reefs and from submerged boulders to coral gardens.

Diving on the West Ridge can be an adrenaline-filled drift, with amazing views, while the North Reef is a gentler experience over a hard coral garden.

This island is famous for its pinnacle dive site, known by many as Twin Peaks, as well as more relaxed reef diving on the North Reef and South Reef. Normally, turtles, barracuda, pipefish, and nudibranchs can be found here. There is also a chance to see bigger species in this area like manta rays and whale sharks, especially from late January until April.

The topside scenery of Koh Surin, with evergreen forests, mangroves, and small beaches, surpasses even that of the picturesque Similan Islands.Underwater the reefs of Surin offer some of the greatest hard coral diversity in Thailand.

Across sites like Torinla Pinnacle, Hin Kong, and Turtle Ledges you are likely to see Napoleon wrasse, yellow-masked angelfish, bumphead parrotfish, tomato anemonefish and barramundi, as well as lots of turtles that still come ashore in this area to lay their eggs.

Due to the remoteness, not many liveaboard boats visit these islands and you will be able to enjoy the dive sites without sharing them with tourist hordes.

This limestone pinnacle was named after former Danish Naval Officer, Andreas Richelieu, who eventually became the only foreign born commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy to date, appointed by King Chulalongkorn. One of Richelieu’s tasks was to modernise the outdated Navy charts, and as he had become such an influential and important figure, this potentially hazardous-to-ships rock that poked out from sea at low tide, east of the Surin Islands, was eventually named after him.

Barely breaking the surface at low tide, this horseshoe-shaped outcropping slopes steeply to a sandy bottom at 18 to 35 meters (60-120 Ft). This site offers great diversity for such a small and isolated spot. It also offers excellent multi-level diving and, because it’s a high-profile reef, there are always sheltered areas to hide from the current.

The marine life is prolific and includes amongst, many other things; pharaoh cuttlefish, large octopuses, all 5 varieties of anemone fish of the Andaman Sea, a variety of moray eels, ornate ghost pipefish, smashing mantis shrimps, harlequin shrimps, tigertail seahorses, Spanish mackerel, frogfish, many schooling snappers and occasional sightings of manta rays and whale sharks.

This beautiful, pristine island near Langkawi Island and the Malaysian border harbours some amazing dive sites such as: Stonehenge & 8 Mile Rock. 

Stonehenge is a vibrant pinnacle densely covered in soft corals. Look out in the blue for Schools of barracudas, trevallies and yellow snappers. Smaller creatures include seahorse, varieties of shrimp, crab, nudibranchs. Find the masters of camouflage: stonefish or scorpionfish. As this site is very exposed, strong currents are common and can be expected. It also means that diving Stonehenge, as well as 8 Mile Rock below, depends on local weather conditions and that it is not always possible. 

8 Mile Rock is a world class submerged pinnacle located about 8 miles south of Koh Lipe. Many a large pelagic can be spotted cruising by: devil, manta and eagle rays are among the usual suspects. Other highlights include leopard sharks, giant barracudas and big groupers. When you are really lucky you may even see a whale shark on your dive! The pinnacle reaches up from the ocean floor at about 50m to 15m under the surface. It’s a soft coral paradise: purple, blue and red soft tree coral pop up everywhere. A great variety of reef species can be found here in great abundance and size.

Possibly some of the most underrated diving in the whole of Thailand, Moo Koh Haa (literally ‘five island group’) sits almost halfway between Hin Daeng and Phi Phi and is part of the Koh Lanta National Marine Park. There are actually several dive sites around Ko Haa but the highlights are Ko Haa Lagoon, Ko Haa Neua, and Ko Haa Yai. 

Around these amazing islands you can see pinnacles, walls, boulders, caverns, and swim-throughs. Ko Haa lagoon is ideal for night dives, courses, and snorkeling, while The Chimney and The Cathedral offer things that you cannot see on other Thailand liveaboard itineraries with caverns, swim-throughs and chambers all over the sites. Ko Haa has varied marine life too, with ornate ghost pipefish, morays eels, octopus, hawksbill turtles, sea horses, marble rays, and sometimes even leopard sharks.

These two sites are pinnacles (translating directly as Red Rock and Purple Rock) in the open ocean, reaching down to over 70m, and are best known for manta ray and whale shark encounters. Whether these are sighted or not, the sites also offer giant moray eels, pharaoh cuttlefish, schooling rainbow runners and snappers, barracudas, groupers, fusiliers, and bluefin trevally. On the pinnacles, there are fields of Magnificent Anemones, walls of Hemprics soft corals, and huge gorgonian sea fans. Almost perpetual good visibility and dramatic topography combined with huge fish numbers makes for excellent liveaboard diving.

The King Cruiser was a car ferry that used to travel between Phi Phi and Phuket. In 1997, ‘the cruiser’ hit Anemone Reef on her crossing and sank a short distance away. No lives were lost, but divers were left with a great wreck dive! While she is largely broken up now, she is covered in soft corals and hides some wonderful gems, as well as being home to several large schools of snappers. While currents can be strong and visibility sometimes challenging, this is a great site to dive as part of an Advanced Open Water course.

These pinnacles are part of the same reef system and are only a very short distance apart from each other. Both sites are covered with colourful soft corals and anemones with a variety of fish to suit all divers. From barracuda to seahorses and for the lucky ones of course, the iconic leopard shark!

Laying in Phang-Nga bay about 45km east of Phuket and 30km southwest of Krabi, two breathtaking limestone islands make up the greater part of Moo Koh Phi Phi; the largest island of Phi Phi Don being a few kilometres north of Phi Phi Lae. Limestone cliffs rise vertically into the sky, where the trees take over. There are many beaches, coves, and bays which make for dramatic scenery to enjoy during surface intervals. 

There are many, many dive sites around the Phi Phi island group, many consisting of wall dives, the limestone dropping to depth ranges between 10m and 25m. The walls can have gorgonian fans, soft corals and coral bushes and interesting rock formations and swim throughs. At the base of these walls there are often hard coral gardens to explore. You can expect a great amount of fish life, including lionfish, wrasse, Moorish idols, angelfish, rays, trevallies. Also keep an eye out for leopard sharks sleeping on the sandy bottoms or blacktip reef sharks cruising the reefs. Turtles can also quite commonly be seen here. Lastly, check the fans and bushes for tigertail seahorses and harlequin ghost pipefish.