Phuket Scuba Diving

Racha Yai Island

Racha Yai is a granite island surrounded by fringing hard coral reef. It boasts several beautiful tropical beaches with protected shallow bays where the water is very often clear. This is the ideal year round destination to learn to scuba dive in Phuket or refresh your skills if you haven't been diving for a while. Divers of all levels of experience and snorkelers can visit Racha Yai as the diving is easy and gentle. Water depths range between 3-30 metres and the visibility is usually good although it varies as to the season.

On the north end of the island are 2 beautiful little bays famous for their deep clear water and colourful coral formations. Both of them gradually drop to a depth of 12 metres onto a sandy seabed, providing ample opportunities for both snorkeling and Phuket scuba diving.

Racha Yai's best diving is off the east coast where the current allows a gentle drift dive along a sloping rocky face that is covered with spectacular hard coral forests of many varieties. The nutrient rich water attracts large schools of tropical fish which makes it especially attractive during Phuket's off-season in the summer.

Especially prominent are stag horn corals of blue and tan. Local residents on the coral gardens are octopus and cuttlefish, titan triggerfish, giant pufferfish and moray eels. Be wary of the titan triggerfish during spawning season - the male guards its nest and the area in a circle above it with vigilance. He will charge at you if you cross his territory and even nip at your fins!

There are often large schools of false barracudas, twin-spot snapper, dog-eyed pufferfish and parrotfish hovering over the reef. Trumpetfish hunt among the corals for food and cornetfish are everywhere. There are a few anemones scattered throughout the hard corals along with their resident western clownfish.

In the sandy area at the edge of the reef look out for blue-spotted stingrays half-buried in the sand with just their eyes protruding out. You can also spot garden eels in this area too their bodies sticking out from their holes and swaying in the current. Look out also for bent-stick pipefish as well as a very big, strange-looking reef stonefish on the sand at the edge of the reef.

At the north end of Siam Bay you'll find one of Phuket's newer dive sites and it may be the only place in the world where you can dive with elephants! In 2006 various structures and statues commissioned by the Thai government were sunk on to the sandy bottom to make up an artificial reef after the destruction of the 2004 tsunami. The 'reef' averages a depth of around 18 metres making it suitable for all levels of divers including PADI open water students. The visibility is usually good and the unusual structures make this a popular underwater photography site.

The structures resemble something out of an amusement park and include 2 big elephant statues, a large oyster shell and a Thai sala or 'pavilion'. There is also a temple gate guarded by a huge mythical sentry known as Yak in Thai. He is believed to protect the gate from evil spirits. The statues are spread out about 7 metres apart making it easy to swim from one to the other. It's also considered good luck in Thai to swim under an elephant - great buoyancy practice too! Check out the elephant's ear as a white-eyed moray eel has claimed this space as his home.

On the southwest coast of the island, 2 Phuket dive boats have been deliberately sunk in recent years to benefit both the local marine life and the diving industry. The first is a small wooden dive boat, the MS Andaman Eagle which was sunk in 2008. The 5m wide, 15m long wreck lies on its side at a depth of 27m. It has deteriorated considerably over the last few years and cannot be penetrated but attracts lots of reef fish such as Moorish idols and damsel fish.

The second, the Harruby was a liveaboard dive boat sunk in late 2009, its steel hull stripped off for environmental and safety reasons. At 26m long and 5m wide it lies perfectly upright at a depth of 26m with the top reaching up to 15m. Not much grows on the wreck yet but it attracts large amounts of reef fish. You can dive right inside the wreck where lots of batfish serenely hang out not at all bothered by the presence of divers. Look out for schools of yellowtail barracuda cruising past and there is also a large sting ray here.

Nearby there are several concrete cubes which have been deliberately placed here to attract marine life. They are covered in coral and feather stars and attract different pufferfish such as the yellow boxfish can seal-faced puffers. Lionfish can also be seen here as well as sand lizard fish.

One of the most popular Phuket scuba diving day trip destinations, Racha Yai also has accommodation in both of the gorgeous small bays on the northern side of the island. Muslim farmers and a few fishermen have lived on the island for years now, harvesting coconuts and fishing the waters surrounding the islands.

Racha Yai Reef Basics: Fringing coral island with drop-offs
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 12 - 30m
Currents: Easy
Surface conditions: Calm
Water temperature: 27 - 30°C
Experience level: Beginner
Number of dive sites: 8
Diving season: All year round
Distance: ~22 km south of Phuket (1¼ hours)
Access: Phuket scuba diving daytrips

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