Shore diving - west coast - Thailand

[Trevor JC Brown]

Hello, apart from Kata beach in Phuket, are there any other shore diving sites in western Thailand?
Alternatively any resorts with a good house reef?

 

[JonnieB]

There are shore dives off Le Meridien Resort; and Nui, Naiharn, and Yanui beaches. There is also muck diving at Rawai Pier in Phuket. Other than Kata, due to logistics and tides/currents, these other sites can be tricky to dive without prior experience and few dive shops dive them. There is also some shore diving off the beaches of Koh Lanta. Unfortunately, Thailand is not really the place for shore diving, unlike Bali, where the northern coast is basically one long shore dive. That being said, Kata is a great dive...highlights on my two dives yesterday 2 frogfish, 3 seahorses, large Jenkin's Whip Ray and Khul's Stingray, schooling juvenile and adult Longfin Batfish, nuddies, Fingered Dragonet, juvenile and adult Pharoah cuttlefish, reef and decorator crabs, and Honeycomb and White Eye moray eels.

 

[Jaan]

We were are the Méridien in November and did the shore dive. It was pretty good (scorpion fish, bat fish, juvenile sweet lips, giant clams, anemone fish, blennies, a honeycomb moray and more).

The local shop there is great (sea fun divers). They also organize boat dives with the transfer (and have their own boat). We were paired up with a guide for the two of us (Jorgen, who I would definitely ask for again)!

Nathalie wrote up a few comments in her blog if interested to read more (a few pics too)

Phuket Scuba Diving Adventure

Phuket scuba diving trip: Shore dive at Meridien Phuket house reef, Boat dives at Racha Yai and Racha Noi. Scuba vacation in Phuket, Thailand

freedomtourtravel.com

 

[Trevor JC Brown]

There are shore dives off Le Meridien Resort; and Nui, Naiharn, and Yanui beaches. There is also muck diving at Rawai Pier in Phuket. Other than Kata, due to logistics and tides/currents, these other sites can be tricky to dive without prior experience and few dive shops dive them. There is also some shore diving off the beaches of Koh Lanta. Unfortunately, Thailand is not really the place for shore diving, unlike Bali, where the northern coast is basically one long shore dive. That being said, Kata is a great dive...highlights on my two dives yesterday 2 frogfish, 3 seahorses, large Jenkin's Whip Ray and Khul's Stingray, schooling juvenile and adult Longfin Batfish, nuddies, Fingered Dragonet, juvenile and adult Pharoah cuttlefish, reef and decorator crabs, and Honeycomb and White Eye moray eels.

Thanks for the info!
I've been diving the Amed/Tulamben area for the last 2 months and it is paradise for shore diving.
Do you happen to know if you can rent tanks/weights for Kata beach or are you forced to go with a shop/guide?

 

[JonnieB]

Thanks for the info!
I've been diving the Amed/Tulamben area for the last 2 months and it is paradise for shore diving.
Do you happen to know if you can rent tanks/weights for Kata beach or are you forced to go with a shop/guide?

The shops that do guided Kata Beach dives run about 1500 baht for one dive and 2500 for two, including equipment. I have extensive posts and pics of what we see on Kata dives here in the Thailand sub-forum. DM me if you want more specific information on the shop I dive with...discounts are available if you're a dive professional.