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Surin islands dive sites
Ko Chi
Fringe reef off the western side. Depths from 10 - 22m. Average depth 18m. Visibilty 12 - 24m. A variety of hard corals carpet the sea floor. Turtles (hawksbill, oliver ridley, green, and occasional leatherback) are common. Also there is a chance of large pelagics, dog-faced tuna, barracuda.
The north end of the island has
piles of granite boulders and caves hiding angelfish and reef sharks.
Hin Rap
North West side. Depths from 12 - 24m. Average depth 15m. Visibility 8 - 24m. Feautures scattered boulders, archways and small caverns.
Ko Surin Nua
Tranquil Bay near Park HQ off the south/southwestern tip of the island. Depths from 5 - 22m. Average depth 10m. Visibility 9- 18m. Usually a night dive, when the reef really comes alive.
Also try the west edge of the Southeast point of the island, again at dusk or at night. Good snorkeling.
Ko Pachumba
Submerged pinnacle. Average depth 18m upto maximum of 22m.
Hin Kong
Several granite outcrops with swimthroughs. Average depth of 10m upto a maximum of 20m.
Ko Surin Tai
Turtle Ridge is a long sloping reef on the east side of the southern half of the island. Depths from 5 - 20m. Average depth 8m. Visibility 9 - 18m. As the name suggests Hawksbill turtles are common here. Quite a wide range of fish including batfish, Andaman foxface, and yellowmask angelfish. Many species of hard coral. Currents usually minimal.
Also try Breaker Reef and Marshall reef. Along the southern coast of Ko Surin Tai. Depths 12 - 24m. Average depth 18m. Visibility 9 - 24m. Marine life includes colourful sea fans, moray eels, anemones, hard corals, lion fish, and whitetip & blacktip reef sharks. There is an extensive collection of ledges and boulders.
Ko Torinla
In the north east corner there is a sloping hard coral reef running parallel to shoreline. This is a good multi-level dive and a great snorkeling site.
Depths to 20m. Features an excellent variety of hard corals, fans, whip corals, bumphead parrotfish, fusiliers, batfish, and hawksbill turtles plus occasional stingrays, and leopard and whitetip reef sharks.
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Ko Tachai
Ko Tachai, 35 km south of Mu Ko Surin, is considered to be one of the finest dive sites in Thailand. It has a series of submerged pinnacles and boulders, which form excellent swim throughs. It provides three multi level reefs, and depth is between 12m to 25m on average.
In particular the excellent dive site known as Twin Peaks consists of two rocky pinnacles connected by an underwater reef running perpendicular to the southern end of the island.
The waters are teeming with all kinds of tropical fish, blue yellow and turquoise soft and hard corals, barrel sponges, sea fans, and anemones. It is renowned for larger sea creatures such as the Manta Ray
, leopard sharks, nurse sharks, giant barracuda and hawksbill turtles. Whale sharks make an appearance. Yellow tail barracudas are often seen amidst schooling fish such as bannerfish and fusiliers.
There is also a truly stunning Robinson Crusoe type beach on the northern side; however note that the associated shallow reef bordering the area has been damaged by anchors over the years and is no longer a quality dive site.
Twin Peaks (Southern Ridge)
This is the best dive site and is on the southern tip of the island. There is an extensive submerged ridge, running perpendicular to the island. The ridge features a dome structure at its southern end and a small pinnacle to the north.
Depths from 16 - 36m. Average depth 22m. Visibility 18 - 24m.
Ko Bon
Further south still (25 km) lies the almost deserted Ko Bon which is only some 20km north of the most northerly Similan island (Ko Ba-Ngu or island # 9). It is usually regarded as being part of the overall outer Surin archipelago, whilst at the same time is often loosely grouped with the Similans, although it differs geologically from the latter.
There are no beaches here but this is another truly excellent dive site and is again noted for large pelagic. There are frequent sightings of leopard sharks and stingrays in the deeper depths; it is also one of the better places to see mantas, especially towards the end of the season.
Huge sponges are to be found at 35m. Ko Bon is also well known for its 30m vertical (true) wall dive with a subsequent step down ridge to 40m, on the southwestern point of the island.
Night dives too are stunning at Ko Bon.
In addition, there is a blowhole
in the island which provides spectacular sites on windy days with high swell, as water is pushed through the hole into a mist of air bubbles.
Main site on the west ridge
Situated on the westerly / south westerly side of the island, the site features the underwater extension of the west ridge, which drops quite sharply to 40m.
Depths from 12 - 40m. Average depth 22m. Visibility 18 - 25m.
Submerged pinnacle
This site is off the north-west of the island. The rock pinnacle extends from a depth of 16m down to 40m.
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