Phuket Dive Guide : Racha Noi - Marina bay / Marita's rock
About the location and site
Racha Noi, just 50 minutes south of Racha Yai, has several dive sites around this small island. With greater depths at some locations exceeding 80 metres and frequent stronger currents, it is a popular dive-site for experienced divers to explore. Although some bays are also very ideal for beginners. Racha Noi has become famous for its resident manta rays at several dive sites Manta sightings are the best from December to April, when ocean currents and winds create the ideal feeding and cleaning grounds for these majestic animals.
The northern tip of the island offers an opportunity for a good multilevel dive along a large pinnacle where spotting larger marine life like reef sharks and stingrays is common. Off the southern point is a nice drift dive along some spectacular scenery as you find yourself on top of large rock formations surrounded by deep water. On the southwest side, a wooden shipwreck draws a lot of interesting reef fish.
Racha Noi offers many opportunities for an enjoyable and rewarding deep-dive. It is probably not as famous as some other sites such as Anemone Reef or Shark Point, but it never disappoints.
Racha Noi, just 50 minutes south of Racha Yai, has several dive sites around this small island. With greater depths at some locations exceeding 80 metres and frequent stronger currents, it is a popular dive-site for experienced divers to explore. Although some bays are also very ideal for beginners. Racha Noi has become famous for its resident manta rays at several dive sites Manta sightings are the best from December to April, when ocean currents and winds create the ideal feeding and cleaning grounds for these majestic animals.
The northern tip of the island offers an opportunity for a good multilevel dive along a large pinnacle where spotting larger marine life like reef sharks and stingrays is common. Off the southern point is a nice drift dive along some spectacular scenery as you find yourself on top of large rock formations surrounded by deep water. On the southwest side, a wooden shipwreck draws a lot of interesting reef fish.
Racha Noi offers many opportunities for an enjoyable and rewarding deep-dive. It is probably not as famous as some other sites such as Anemone Reef or Shark Point, but it never disappoints.
Marina Bay lies near the middle of the west coast of Racha Noi. The dive site has large submerged granite rocks that are covered with a mixture of sea whips, fire coral, and rocky boulder swimthroughs at around 21-23metres. Twenty metres away from the wall is a large single pinnacle that runs from high on the hillside into the water below and beyond. It is worth exploring with some fine little swim-throughs. There are several coral bommies to explore, these are always worth checking as there is usually some great life here, and you will find some White Eyed Morays to watch. The usual reef fish are around. If you are lucky you should be able to sight small reef sharks, but the main attraction is probably the presence of large parrotfish. Currents can change from moderate to strong with usually good visibility around 15-30 metres.
Further south from Marita’s Rock 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.
Further south from Marita’s Rock 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.
Phuket Dive Guide dive maps : Racha Noi - Marina bay / Marita's rock
