| Naithon diving offers the variety of dive sites in the Andaman sea. Naithon boasts crystal clear water typical in the Andaman Sea, spectacular reefs and rock formations, with a colorful variety of marine life. The thriving marine environment provides excellent diving opportunities for both beginners and the more advanced diver.
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.
The average water temperatures are 28C/ 86F
The best time to dive here is November to April. The monsoon season is from May to October and at this period the undertow can get pretty strong.
From Naithon Beach several dive sites are accessible on day trips and liveaboard diving is also available. Liveaboard cruises to the Similan and Surin National Parks in Thailand are the highlights of Phuket diving. The cruises start from 4 days in general but the schedules and itineraries will vary depending on the divers needs.
Some Naithon Dive sites are:
Shark Point is a marine sanctuary since 1992 is made up of three large rock pinnacles, the largest of which breaks the surface. Diving here is possible all year round and the coral and marine life is really diverse. Particular to shark point is the abundant purple and pink soft corals clinging to the rocks and the huge barrel sponges. The resident leopard sharks give this site it's name. You may also see bamboo sharks plus other marine creatures like lionfish, scorpionfish, just to mention a few...
An advantage of shark point is that i'ts composed of several pinnacles which means that there is always a part that stays sheltered from the current but beware, surface conditions could be rough.
King Cruiser is a passenger ferry that sunk in May 1997 after hitting Anemone Reef. No lives were lost in this accident and to date the wreck provides some good wreck diving around Phuket. Large schools of fish are to be seen around this wreck as well as scorpionfish, barracuda and the hawksbill turtle. biggest schools of trevally, mackerel and yellowtail barracuda here along with rabbitfish, surgeonfish, fusiliers and other schooling fish. Also present here enormous schools of trevally, yellowtail barracuda, mackerel, rabbitfish and fusiliers.
Anemone Reef, as the name suggests is alive with abundant Anemones which house Anemonefish and Clownfish. The eastern side has lemon sea fans and there are barrel sponges on the lower slopes. On the Anemone Reef lok out for spot fin lionfish, common lionfish, snappers, groupers and fusiliers. The cracks and crevices offer perfect conditions for smaller marine life like yellow tiger-tail seahorses. You will also encounter giant morays, undulated morays and white-eyed moray eels. Due to it's closeness to Shark point you might just spot leopard sharks. The rainy seasons running from May to October could make diving more of a challenge.
Meaning "Flower Island" Koh Dok Mai is a truly spectacular dive site with colourful flower-like coral covering the wall. Composed of a small limestone islet emerging vertically out of the sea there is a diversity of small marine life on the wall and is well known for it's yellow tail seahorses. The west side is a hard coral staghorn reef while the west side has a series of caverns and caves. Currents can be strong although the surface conditions stay calm. You'll find a large variety of invertebrates like lobster, oysters, squid crabs, white-eyed moray eels and zigzag clams. Larger fish life includes leopard sharks and grey reef sharks seen here from time to
time.
Phi Phi Islands is composed of two islands that offer a truly amazing scenery both above and below the water. Limestone cliffs rise dramatically out of the sea and drop back underwater providing the colourful soft coral walls that give Phi Phi Islands it's fame. There are caverns, swim throughs and many walls. In many places, the islands are fringed with shallow coral gardens, where hard and soft corals and sponges prosper harmoniously amongst the myriad marine life. Here's your best opportunity to come across green and hawksbill turtles munching on bubble corals, black and white banded sea snakes, squid, angelfish, crocodile long-toms, black-tip reef sharks and leopard (zebra) sharks.
Diving is possible all year but recommended time is from February to May.
Liveaboard runs all year here. Currents are gentle but surface conditions may be rather unstable. The visibility is between 15-20 metres (49 - 65 feet).
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