Burma Banks

The Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar comprises 800 small islands north and east of the Burma Banks. Some islands offer huge boulders, soft corals, sea fans, and excellent visibility. Others, such as Black Rock and Three Islets, offer wall diving, caves and drop-offs.
The region has remained relatively untouched by the passage of time this past half century, and it maintains a mystical out-of-this-world aura of years gone by. When visiting these islands on live-aboard charters you really can forget about your worries, on a journey of discovery, unhurried by time and untroubled by others, as you dive Burma and explore these fascinating islands in peaceful solitude.
The Burma Banks are the most famous Burma diving destination, and they rise to within fifteen metres of the Andaman Sea surface, before plunging back down into the surrounding 300 metres deep waters. These open ocean sea mounts used to attract large pelagics and schooling fish from the surrounding waters. Sadly enough, they have been fished out in recent years and smarter live-aboard operators try to persuade their guests not to go out there, to prevent disappointed divers.
Adrenaline-rich drift dives is what made the Burma Banks famous and shark encounters were virtually guaranteed. Not any more! One can be lucky if he sees one or the other nurse shark and maybe a medium sized potato cod. Apart from that, the Banks nowadays resemble more to the surface of the moon and people get bored after just a single dive. Problem is, once you’re out there, there is nowhere else to go, as the Banks are a long way out.
That does not mean that Burma is dead. In the contrary… Burma has much, much more to offer than just the Burma Banks.
Other residents and visitors in the Mergui Archipelago include grey reef, white tip and whale sharks. Schools of mobula rays and manta rays are also frequently seen around places like Black Rock and Little Torres Island. Burma diving has become a macro lover paradise, with plentiful Nudibranchs, clown frogfish, ghost pipefish, ribbon eels, as well as masses of lobsters, crabs and shrimps - in fact, there's far more marine biodiversity here than in the more popular Thai dive destinations.
Myanmar diving is exploratory frontier diving with regular discoveries of new sites. One of the main attractions here is to dive into the unknown. It will appeal if you want to escape the mass commercialism of nearby Thailand - those without a spirit of adventure need not apply!