By
far the best and most popular dive sites by day trip from Phuket
or Phi Phi, these two pinnacles are located approximately 25 kilometres
east of Chalong Bay in Phuket. Given official Marine Sanctuary
status in 1992, these two dive sites are the only day trips in
Thailand that offer truly world-class quality diving and except
for the limited visibility, these are two of the best dives in
the world. The rock explodes with life; the sheer density of fish
and other marine life makes diving here a wonderful, sensual experience.
Shark Point, or Hin (Rock) Musang rises out of
the water from surrounding depths of only about 18-20 meters.
Considering the small extent of the rock above the water, the
actual size of the reef underwater is a big surprise to most divers.
Beginning from the relatively steep main rock pinnacle, the reef
flattens out to the south until it rises towards the surface again
about a half kilometre away. This second rock does not break the
surface, and depending on the current, is an excellent place to
begin the dive.
Like many places in Thailand, Shark Point's most colourful features
are the profusion of purple and pink soft corals that cling to
the rocks. The strong currents that sweep over the pinnacle provide
food a-plenty for hundreds of different species of hard corals
and Indo-Pacific tropical fish. Literally every square centimetre
is covered by something living, and at times it seems that every
square centimetre of water surrounding Shark Point is filled with
fish!
The
name of the site comes from our common leopard (zebra) shark (stegastoma
varium), a docile creature that hangs out in the sand surrounding
the pinnacle. These completely approachable, trusting sharks grow
to lengths of a little over two meters, and most divers think
that they are one of the cutest sharks in the ocean. Divers who
are not accustomed to seeing sharks are genuinely surprised at
how big and approachable they are. Unfortunately, many times these
sharks are taken advantage of and handled unnecessarily. Handling
by divers can injure the animal and expose it to infection. Touching
an animal in no way benefits it and-more often than not, seriously
harms it.
Anemone Reef or Hin Jom (Submerged Rock) lies just underwater,
about 600 meters to the north of Hin Musang. As the Thai name
makes clear, no part of the pinnacle is exposed, and underwater
the rock drops off more dramatically to a depth of between 20-27
meters until reaching a bottom of sand and oyster shells. Although
not as colourful as Shark Point, the fish life here is excellent
as well and our friends, the leopard sharks, often are seen free-swimming
at the top of the rock in six meters of water.
A couple of years ago, my dive buddy and I counted 92 lionfish
in less than 20 minutes at this dive site! Although this is not
an everyday occurrence, as lionfish seem to move around from place
to place, I know people that have spent years diving without seeing
this many in total, much less on one dive. This gives you the
idea of just how dense the marine life is in these areas.
Located
just south of Ao Phang Nga and all of its fresh water rivers,
visibility averages around 10 meters, often less. Although
conditions such as this are not what divers dream of when
they think of perfect vision, the amount of marine life
more than makes up for the often limited visibility. On
days when the water becomes so clear that you can see the
bottom, diving here feels like taking a breath of fresh
air and even the fish seem to be happier. Unfortunately
for the local diving community, conditions are virtually
impossible to predict so I can offer no advice about the
best times to go. The only downsides of these sites are
the visibility and the occasional strong currents, making
both locations intermediate to advanced level dive sites.
Beginners should be closely supervised by trained professionals
and this is certainly no place to conduct beginning diving
courses. (Click
here to see available diving daytrips)
