10 Best Places To Scuba Dive In Thailand

Scuba divers love to dive in new dive sites around the world and one thing that Thailand does not lack is dive sites. The sites in Thailand offer stunning underwater coral reefs, shipwrecks, and diverse reefs. These sites are perfect for both experienced and beginner scuba divers. As well as the chance to see marine life such as sea turtles. Where to dive in Thailand?

Diving in Thailand gives you the opportunity to see turtles, see manta rays, even certain types of sharks, and more. The dive sites in Thailand offer some great scuba dive sites that are from Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand to Phuket Island on the Straits of Malacca on the coast of Thailand.

In this post, we will go through the best places to scuba dive in Thailand. Let’s get started!

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Best Places To Scuba Dive In Thailand

We select them based on the combination of marvelous diving points, access to professional diving services, and notably, the availability of diving shops.

However, there are hundreds of dive sites around Thailand. Keep in mind that our list is not based on quality. Probably number four on the list is your preferred place to dive.

Here is the list of the best places to scuba dive in Thailand, they are in no particular order.

Diving In Koh Lanta

The dive points are spread all over Koh Lanta. You can go to Hin Daeng as well as Hin Muang to see hundreds of stunning corals and fish.

If you are lucky enough, you might even have the added bonus of seeing whale sharks, leopard sharks, and countless sea species.

Recommended destinations: Hin Muang, Koh Haa, and Hin Daeng.

Learn To Dive On Phi Phi Islands

If you are a beginner diver, this is a good place to visit. When you arrive, you will be surrounded by diving centers. You can learn and practice how to dive, you can also see the beauty of reef fish, various corals, and reef sharks.

No need to worry about currents or visibility. This is perfect for beginners. If you want to try something different, you can try to dive around and into the caves.

Recommended destinations: Phi Phi Shark Point, Palong Wall, and Maya Wall.

Visit Koh Lipe

It is located in Tarutao National Park and has more than 20 unoccupied islands, completed with reefs containing numerous fish.

Other than those, you may see manta rays pass through between the whale shark but you need to go to a deeper area. The upper side also presents gorgeous coral and myriad fish varieties.

Read more about things to do in Koh Lipe here.

Recommended destinations: Stonehenge, Eight Miles Rock, and Koh Pung.

Learn To Dive On Koh Tao

The star of the show is the turtles. Its name meaning gives you a perfect clue, “Koh Tao” means “Island of Turtle”.

Koh Tao is one of the cheapest places to get your PADI. It has good sites to learn diving. The water is perfect for visibility and it has bays.

Just learn the basics of diving, you will be able to explore the reefs and frequent whale sharks swimming around you.

Read more about things to do in Koh Tao here.

Recommended destinations: Koh Nang Yuan, Chumphon Pinnacle, and Southwest Pinnacle.

Explore Khao Lak

When we mention Khao Lak, its attractions are hiking and exploring the national park but you can go diving there. In particular, there is Surin and Similan.

Located near Phuket, they belong to the Marine National Park.

They provide perfect sight and tremendous coral reef pictures. However, if you are a little braver and experienced, you may try more challenging dives.

You will be rewarded with a great scene like the bump-head parrotfish, turtles, and white-tip sharks.

Read more about things to do in Khao Lak here.

Recommended destinations: Elephant Head Rock, Christmas Point, and Richelieu Rock.

Dive In Koh Samui

Koh Samui is near Ang Thong Marine National Park, which makes it a worthwhile place to visit. Undeniably, you can count on the view on the surface.

There are coral forests which basically miraculous. You can see marine like the lionfish, barracuda, cuttlefish, and angelfish. If you want to practice and improve your scuba diving level? You can do it on Koh Samui.

Read more about things to do in Koh Samui here.

Recommended destinations: Koh Yippon, Sail Rock, and Dragon Island.

Try Diving In Phuket

It is one of the most legendary destinations in Thailand. It is a paradise of dive sites. Phuket provides a staged level for various scuba diver skill ranks.

The location is also strategic to jump to the nearest attractive islands, like Similans, Phi Phi, and Racha Islands. Artificial reefs were constructed by placing two large statues of elephants and a vast oyster shell.

Recommended destinations: Shark Point, Siam Bay Statues, and Racha No.

Visit Pattaya

Unfortunately, if you expect Pattaya to have the same offerings things as the other dive sites, they do not. The visibility is unclear and it has a limited amount of sea life. Luckily you may see dolphins and several resident turtles.

Hence, while the others rely mostly on their underwater destinations, Pattaya is a home for shipwrecks. Pattaya has more than three shipwrecks.

They include three ex-Royal Thai Navy troop transports sunk as artificial reefs and a genuine war wreck from 1945.

Recommended destinations: HTMS Khram, Koh Rin, and Hardeep Wreck.

Go Diving In Koh Chang

The leading point of Koh Chang Marine National Park is the dazzling reefs which are found easily in the shallow areas. Good news for newbie divers, as they can enjoy and observe the reefs longer.

There are sharks but don’t expect too much to meet them often. It is more familiar to turtles, moray eels, and blue-spotted stingrays to show up.

Read more about things to do in Koh Chang here.

Dive In Krabi

Krabi is a heaven-diving site with a remarkable coastline and sublime islands. As a result, you can find a diving spot with no trouble.

Hundreds of fish species like to live there and the view of stingrays, leopard sharks, and cuttlefish is common sea life to see.

Koh Yawabon is the one you can pick if you are a skillful diver. Its flawless diving condition will make you fall in love instantly.

Read more about things to do in Krabi here.

Recommended destinations: Koh Yawasam, Koh Si, and Koh Dor.

USEFUL TRAVEL RESOURCES

Book Accommodation

Booking.com has a large range of properties from hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and resorts where you will find the best deals. Airbnb and Hostelworld also have a good range of places to stay at good prices.

Booking Flight

Skyscanner is a flight search comparison website that searches millions of flights all at once. Ultimately it is the best flight comparison website online at the moment.

Booking Transportation & Things To Do

Rome2rio and 12Go are useful to plan how to get anywhere by searching train, bus, car, and ferry routes. Especially useful in countries like Vietnam or Thailand. While Klook is great for exploring things to do in each place.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is cheap and more than likely you will never need to use it but you will have peace of mind if something does happen, you are covered in case of an emergency. World Nomads have great customer service and competitive prices.

Check out our resource page for the best companies to use when you travel.

Wrapping Up

Finally, diving in Thailand gives you the opportunity to see turtles, see manta rays, even certain types of sharks, and more. The dive sites around Thailand offer some great scuba dive sites with Koh Tao the best overall, especially for beginners and refreshers. While Khao Lak and Phuket Island are also good options.

You may regret going in the low season as some dive points are closed.

And that’s it for now! I’d love it if this post on the best places to scuba dive in Thailand was helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is any more to add.