Marita’s Reef is on the south west side of the island, with beautiful coral head bomby’s to explore. Further south from Marita’s is a small wooden fishing boat ready to explore, which has been down for a few years now, so it has some good marine life build up on it, but be wary of currents in this area as they can be rather strong at times.
Racha Noi is a very Popular dive spot for Technical Divers doing TEC Courses and wishing to get deep Continue Reading…
Also it is fantastic for doing the PADI Open Water and Advanced Courses here too… Continue Reading…
The site is formed from granite rock boulders it is situated on the west side of the Racha Noi about halfway down. The dive usually begins in the bay, there are hard coral formations with a rocky bottom, and if you look closely you may spot Peacock Mantis Shrimp or two, also Cuttlefish camouflaging themselves against the bottom.
Exiting the bay, where the depth is around 12m then suddenly there is a change in the bottom’s topography, with large boulder formations appearing and with a much steeper drop off, staggering in fact.
Only 20 metres away from the island’s wall, there is a large pinnacle starting about 23m, and hold quite a few swim throughs which have been formed by the granite boulders resting on each other. Look on the sand for Blue Spotted Stingrays, Puffer Fish, and Gobies.
Also along the reef there are Giant Puffer fish, Speckled Fusiliers, an enormous amount of Moray Eels and an envious amount of Nudibranch’s and Flatworms for those into macro photos can be found. Remember always check out into the blue you never know who might be passing, if you catch my drift.
Racha Noi dive Sites
North Point, The northern tip of the island offers an opportunity for great diving along a large submerged pinnacle and it is more than possible to see larger marine life like Reef Sharks and Marbled Stingrays there.
Racha Noi is a very Popular dive spot for Technical Divers doing TEC Courses and wishing to get deep… Continue Reading…
Also it is fantastic for doing the PADI Open Water and Advanced Courses here too… Continue Reading…
North point is not dived so much these days, but it is a beautiful site, and you should ask the Tour Leader to take you there. It is an area again where the larger fish can be seen, especially if the water is running south to north, and then you may be in for a treat.
The reef starts quite shallow, but soon drops of down to 40 metres plus and it is easy to find 60 70 metres depth here too, it is another place where the Technical Divers like to practice their skills.
Marine life here is frantic with Trevallies hunting in the currents, bombing into the well placed and easily battered glass fish, poor suckers, they really should find another place to hide. Lurking out in the distant are Giant Barracuda, watch out for the Titan Triggerfish they just love divers. Again remember to keep your eyes peeled for the big boys as they swim by.
All in all Racha Noi is a fantastic dive area and the snorkelling is equally as good so if you have a spare day and want to get out to the far flung outposts of Phuket, then I recommend a trip to Racha Noi it is untouched, uncivilised and dramatic; a pure natural beauty.
Racha Noi dive Sites
