Chalong diving is mainly done outside the bay. The Chalong area is home to many tour operators and with it's large bay with pier it is the main departure point for diving trips from Phuket.
The pier is a perfect place to charter diving or snorkelling trips to nearby islands. liveaboard boats also depart from here to the Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Richelieu Rock, Phi Phi Islands and other distant destinations.
Always dive according to your level of training. Check with your dive center for safety, additional information and level required for each dive site before entering the water.
Some dive sites from Chalong Bay are:
Shark point also known as Hin Musang, is part of a marine park and is made up of a limestone pinnacle. This pinnacle is covered in beautiful orange and yellow sea fans as well as lots of soft corals. Lots of tropical fish and crustaceans are seen here as well as the leopard shark on the sandy bottom. The dives are often drift as the current can be strong sometimes.
Koh Dok Mai offers superb drift dives on a wall that goes down to about 30 metres (98 feet). The unusual rock formations above and below the water are totally covered with a big variety of coral and the marine life is abundant.
The western side is a steep reef. White tip and black tip reef sharks have reportedly been sighted here.
The eastern side of the island is great for wall dives and you will have the chance to explore some caves and caverns. Encounters with large moray eels, black-and-white banded sea snakes and stonefish are likely and not to forget the occasional sightings of leopard sharks. This area is known to be rich in invertebrates.
The surface conditions could be rough at times and the visibility
generally ranges between 10 and 25 metres (33-82 feet)
Racha Yai and Racha Noi are two sister islands that guarantee some good diving throughout the year. Racha Yai is topped by two beautiful bays that slowly drop to the seabed.
There are a lot of nutrients in the clear calm waters and this attracts plenty of tropical fish. The currents are gentle and drift dives done on the eastern side. The wreckof the Andaman Explorer lies off the northeastern tip.
Racha Noi a little to the south of her sister island is a little deeper and the currents stronger.
Here you will find underwater boulders and a good opportunity to sight spotted stingrays, reef sharks and manta rays. Coral Island also known as Koh Hae, is characterised by a garden of hard corals and a rocky sea bed. There are gardens of brain, boulder and table corals growing sporadically. The marine life here includes butterfly fish, wrasses, groupers and parrot fish just to name a few.
The underwater currents can be strong.
King Cruiser Wreck was an 85 metre (279 feet) long car ferry that hit Anemone reef in 1997.
It now forms an artificial reef and is home to big schoolsof barracuda and huge lionfish.
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