Diving in Ko Tao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ko Tao, Thailand is known for its numerous dive sites. Diving plays a significant role in the local economy.
| Name | Max. depth | Visibility | Average depth | Level | Features | Marine life |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Rock (Shark Island) | 28m | 5-30m | 15m | Open water + | Huge boulders and rock formations, stunning soft corals. drift diving for the experienced. | Resident turtle, great barracuda, titan triggerfish and clown triggerfish |
| Hin Wong Pinnacle | 40m | 15-20m | 17m | Open water + | Tabletop rock formation covered with a variety of hard and soft corals. | Hawksbill turtle, snapper, sweetlips, porcupine pufferfish, juvenile boxfish |
| Mango Bay | 16m | 5-20m | 10m | Beginner + | Only accessible by boat and a perfect dive site for first timers with a sandy bottom and shallow reef. Now also accessible by a recently build road through the jungle from Sairee beach | Small reef fish, puffer, moray eels |
| White rock | 20m | 10-30m | 12m | Open water + | A wide band of coral reef with an impressive diversity of hard and soft corals. | Wrasse, butterfly fish, angel fish, moray, clown fish and riggerfish. |
| Nang Yuan Pinnacle | 19m | 10-30m | 10m | Open water + | A large boulder with swim-through arches and to the west a large cave to explore. | Giant whiptail ray, moray, pipefish, crabs, titan triggerfish and reef shark. |
| Twins | 22m | 10-25m | 12m | Open water + | Three groups of granite rocks covered in corals and sponges, divided by sandy patches and a backdrop of colorful coral garden. | Blue spotted ray, juvenile blue-ringed angelfish, six-barred angelfish, clownfish, corpionfish and pink anemone. |
| Green rock | 28m | 10-30m | 16m | Open water+ | A maze of swim-throughs, canyons, caverns and caves created by giant boulders. | Yellow-margin and titan triggerfish, giant trevalies, cobias and stingrays, occasional reef shark sightings. |
| Japanese gardens | 14m | 10-15m | 10m | Beginner + | Hundreds of hard and soft coral formations creating the impression of an oriental garden. | Abundance of small coral fish and a variety of nudibranchs. |
| Chumphon pinnacle | 45m | 5-30m | 24m | Experienced diver | Four granite pinnacle carpeted with anemones. | Whale shark (seasonal), giant grouper, barracuda, bull shark, bat fish and tuna. |
| South west pinnacle | 33m | 10-30m | 20m | Advanced + | A collection of pinnacles with a unique topo-graphical arrangement, giant fan corals. | Whale shark (seasonal), giant grouper, barracuda, occasional leopard shark. |
| Sail rock | 45m | 15-35m | 30m | All level | Huge rock chimmey with an amazing vertical swim-through that ascends from 18m to 8m. Amongst the gulf of Thailand first diving sites | Large pelagics, king mackerel, kingfish, tuna, whale shark and manta. |

