How is scuba diving in Phuket?
Curious about diving in Phuket? Here we address mostly those who haven’t yet experienced this fantastic activity but have been somehow considering the idea of diving. Only two kinds of people come to Phuket: those who scuba dive and those who haven’t yet. And yes, you definitely should try! It’s easier than it seems, and there are many amazing dive sites around Phuket. The water is often so clear it feels like flying above coral and fish. Most people get addicted!
Why Diving in Phuket?
Phuket diving: Like other activities such as sea kayaking or canoeing, Phuket is a jump-off point to world-class diving in the surrounding regions. Phuket supplies the infrastructure needed for yacht and diving operations. The dive sites around Phuket are usually considered to be in the world’s top ten list of destinations.
Most Popular Diving Day Trip Sites near Phuket
Phuket has some excellent local dive sites, the closest about 20 kilometres from our main port of Chalong Bay.
- To the east lie Koh Dok Mai, Shark Point and Anemone Reef,
- Further east, Phi Phi Islands.
- To the south, we have two diver-friendly islands, Racha Yai and Racha Noi. These islands lie in deeper water, usually giving you better visibility, but the eastern dive sites offer more bio-diversity.
We don’t have a lot of options, so if you’re here for day trips, you’ll probably go both east and south but on different days.
Quick Jump to Diving Pages
Day Trip Diving Options
Day trips are usually made on larger boats that are slow-moving but stable and safe, so day trips take pretty much all day. You’ll leave in the early morning and return in the late afternoon. Day trip operators pick you up from your hotel and return you to your hotel as part of the package. If you’re planning a trip to Phi Phi Islands from Phuket, the day is quite a bit longer as it takes at least three hours to reach Phi Phi from Chalong.
Ferries are faster, but they do not cater to scuba divers. If you want to join a day trip during your stay in Phuket, it’s best to book a hotel in the southern part of the island, so the drive to the pier is shorter.
Beach and Longtail Diving in Phuket
There are several popular local dives off the West Coast of Phuket from November until May each year, and they are a fun alternative if you’re busy with family and want to get wet one morning. The northern and southern end of Kata Beach has good coral and fish life. Le Meridien Phuket at Karon Noi Beach has a beautiful house reef. Patong has some reefs easily reached by longtail boats but offers no beach diving.
Kamala Beach has some good local sites reached by longtail boats, and up near the airport at Nai Yang, there are a few good sites also serviced by longtail boats. Doing two dives in the morning to any of these spots is easy. Just ask your local dive shop near your hotel for details.
What is Liveaboard Diving?
Liveaboard Diving around Phuket
90% of experienced divers who plan a diving holiday to Phuket are interested only in jumping on a live-aboard dive boat. A liveaboard is like a small cruise ship that offers accommodation on board the vessel for small groups of people, usually between 10 and 24 divers. Though dozens of these boats operate from Phuket, they may leave from ports further north, requiring some road travel to reach. Liveaboard dive vessels are self-sufficient, allowing multiple days at sea. The average trip length is four or five days, but some ships that venture further will offer up to 10 days onboard.
Prices are based on both the destination and the boat’s amenities. The more comfort you expect, the higher the rate and likewise, the further you go, the higher the price, as it will take more time and fuel to reach these areas.
But if you do the math and add up all the charges associated with diving in Phuket, a liveaboard is the best value as it includes accommodation, all meals, most drinks and four or more dives per day. It also requires less travel time as while the boat is moving, you’re sleeping or otherwise relaxing, and when you’re ready to begin a dive, you’re right over the dive site.
If you are interested in learning more about Thailand Liveaboard Diving, we recommend Siam Dive n Sail.
Why a Liveaboard?
Besides the cost of diving from a liveaboard, the main reason is that you can reach dive sites further away in comfort. Boats travel northwest to the Similan Islands National Park, a group of nine islands, then onto Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, famous for manta cleaning stations. Then we continue onto the Surin Archipelago, including the best dive site in Thailand, Richelieu Rock, about 30 kilometres south of the Myanmar border.
Some boats will continue north and, with permission, cross the border into the Mergui Archipelago, geologically the same archipelago as the Thai islands but politically part of Burma or Myanmar. (Both names are interchangeable; one is not correcter than the other.) Here, we find a wonderland of hundreds and hundreds of islands. Many think these islands opened only recently, but Phuket diving operators have been diving here since about 1990. In 1997, the whole archipelago opened up to us. It has been thoroughly explored, and the best sites have been found, though we see new locations from time to time. It’s more expensive to get here because of entry, port fees and fuel consumption, but the rewards are worth it as there are no crowds and the sheer number of dive sites makes it so we can’t possibly see them all in one trip.
If you are interested in learning more about Thailand Liveaboard Diving, we recommend Siam Dive n Sail.
Diving Courses in Phuket
If you’ve never tried scuba diving, Phuket is a great place to learn to dive. We have some of the best instructors you’ll find anywhere in the world, and one of them will speak your language. We have perfect conditions from November until April each year, but even during the green season, we have easily accessible teaching dive sites just a short boat ride away.
Learning to dive in Phuket is easier than you think. It’s one of the most accessible sports to learn as you were born with the ability to breathe; all we do is teach you to use simple equipment that allows you to breathe underwater for an extended period, usually about one hour. It is not claustrophobic, and though you need to know how to swim, your swimming skills do not have to be extraordinary.
There are two ways to learn diving in Phuket.
- You can do a ‘try it dive’ or, in the PADI lingo, a Discover Scuba Dive. This is done with a trained instructor, usually in a pool but often in a safe part of the ocean, which has pool-like conditions. This experience allows you to see if you like it but doesn’t let you dive further except with a professional guiding you.
- The best way to learn is to take the full diving course. This course gives you more confidence and makes you feel safer as we teach you to be self-sufficient underwater. The course usually takes around four days and includes theory, pool practice and four dives in the ocean. Diving changes your life for the better. Try it and see.
Click here if you are interested in learning more about Dive Courses in Phuket.
Best Dive Centers in Phuket
These dive centres offer an amazing range of dive courses, day trips to the many dive sites around Phuket, liveaboard cruises and speciality diving. This list is not sponsored and is in no particular order to help you plan your trip as it is usually preferable to book diving courses and liveaboards in advance.
More about Diving in Phuket
