Meetings with whale sharks. Swimming with manta rays. Hovering above seahorses, leopard sharks and carpets of coral.
Whether you’re a first-timer, a pro, or somewhere in between, diving into the waters surrounding Thailand’s largest island is your portal to an enchanting underwater world. Discover the best dive spots in Phuket.
Diving in Phuket
One of the top things to do in Phuket
Diving in Thailand is as ceremonious as ordering your first plate of noodles from a hazy street stall. Or padding barefoot through a temple. Or partying hard with dreadlocked dancers at a full moon party. The water’s clear and warm and gorgeous. And the seascapes are wild, beautiful, and strange. There are dozens of dive startups that’ll set you up with all the gear and training, and experienced crews have perfected the art of curating comfortable dive packages – whether you’re after a beginner’s dive staggering into the sea from the shore or an adventurous liveaboard trip, taking you to off-the-trail sites.
What to expect on your Phuket diving trip
Close encounters
Picture this: you’ve just flopped into the water from your dive boat, and you blink your eyes open, gathering your bearings as you hover in the cerulean blue. And then you see it. Sleek, mesmerising, and huge. A whale shark emerging from the depths, its shadow creeping along the carpets of coral beneath you. But whale sharks are only part of the story. Close encounters with manta rays, leopard sharks, moray eels and seahorses are all on the cards with a dive in Phuket, as well as hundreds of species of fish and vast ethereal gardens of coral. And we’ve done the hard work for you with this ultimate guide to diving in Phuket.
Looking for an easy intro with startling visions of coral and swirling cyclones of reef fish? Head to the island of Racha Yai. If you’re an experienced diver wanting to unplug for a few days, book a liveaboard trip around the insanely beautiful Similan Islands. Or for a portal to a strange and eerie site, drawing otherworldly wildlife, dive down to the King Cruiser Wreck – a former ferry that ran aground into a reef and sank to the depths.
Top eight dive sites in Phuket
Wondering where to cast your anchor? Strap on your dive gear and head into the depths at these top dive sites.
Similan Islands
Pinnacle of diving in Thailand
1.5-hour speedboat ride from Phuket
Scattered across the Andaman Sea, this enthralling marine park is the pinnacle of diving in Thailand. Staring at the colour of water alone will leave you spellbound, shifting in dazzling shades of blues and greens. Your best bet is to book a liveaboard, hopping from one outstanding dive site to the next, floating amongst kaleidoscopic reef fish and swirling schools of barracuda and snapper.
Surin Islands
Dreamy islands
1.5-hour speedboat ride from Phuket
Nudging the Thai/Myanmar border, this collection of five dreamy islands, smothered in rainforest and haloed with bone-white sand is talked about in diving circles with sheer awe. Again, a liveaboard will take you to parts of the archipelago that feel untouched, dropping you at sites where seahorses peer out of crevices and whale sharks appear from out of the shadows.
Racha Yai Island
Perfect for beginners
2 hours by boat from Phuket
Pitched 12km south of Phuket, Racha Yai is one of those easy breezy pinpricks drawing day trippers to wallow in its turquoise waters and dive offshore. Few people overnight here so it has that untouched sort of feel. And better still the diving is ideal for beginners, where you can hover above vast coral gardens and gaze at stingrays and shoals of barracuda.
Koh Dok Mai
Enchanting limestone island
1 hour by boat from Phuket
Dive below the surface surrounding this enchanting limestone island and edge yourself along the vertical wall dropping into the abyss. Bamboo sharks drift in and out of sight, seahorses and frogfish cling to crevices and occasionally whale sharks emerge close by. If you’re an advanced diver, there are cracks and caves to swim through for the ultimate thrill.
Anemone Reef
One for experienced divers
30km east of Phuket
True to its name, this site is carpeted with anemones, sweeping across the limestone pinnacle which makes it appear like one vast oscillating rock. Swim a little closer and you’ll spot clownfish, moray eels, lionfish and seahorses darting amid the soft corals. At times, the site is hampered by strong currents so it’s not one for the beginners, though it’s best to check with your dive team.
King Cruiser Wreck
Eerie wreck
30km east of Phuket
A little further from Anemone Reef is this 85-meter-long ferry wreck, now teeming with marine life. Once a car ferry, whittling passengers between Phi Phi and Phuket, it ran off course, hitting a reef and sank in 1997. Thankfully, there was no loss of life, and today experienced divers flip around this ageing vessel to gawp at the lionfish, bamboo sharks and leopard sharks drifting through its eerie atrium.
Shark Point Marine Sanctuary
Come for the sharks
30km east of Phuket
Stare at this site from above water and you’ll just see the pinnacle of a large monolith jutting out of the waves. Yet sink below the surface and three vast rocks plunge downwards, covered in coloured soft corals, sea fans and huge barrel sponges. And as the name suggests, leopard and bamboo sharks linger on coral ledges, lionfish float across the reef, and morays and pufferfish can all be spotted.
Koh Bon
Manta rays
2 hours by boat from Phuket
This small granite island looks like a giant rock that has been dropped into the sea. There are no beaches and no obvious places you can land. But cross to the western side and below the surface, a vast ridge hurtles into the water to a depth of 40 metres where divers come to stare at gathering squadrons of manta rays, fluttering like butterflies, above sweeps of colourful soft coral.
Top tips:
Dive with the proper training, certification, and a PADI-approved dive operator.
Always dress appropriately when visiting Thai temples on the island.
Refrain from drinking from taps and only drink bottled water.
Close encounters with whales sharks, manta rays, and swirling shoals of fish. Why wouldn’t you want to take the plunge and dive into Phuket’s incredibly clear seas? Take this as your sign to book that holiday to Phuket.
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