divephuketonline

The dive center is located inside the Moevenpick Resort and Spa on Karon Beach. Walk in guests are welcome. You can contact them by e-mail at: edmoevenpick@euro-divers.com

The Moevenpick Resort and Spa, Karon Beach is a five star resort offering many activities, great restaurants, three swimming pools, Spa, a kids club, tennis courts. It is located on one of the best beaches of Phuket.

The dive center is near the Spa and has easy access to the diving pool. They offer free check dives for divers who did not dive for some time. The instructors speak English, French, Thai, German and most Skandinavian languages.

One of Phuket's best known resort, the Laguna Beach Resort lies along beautiful Bangtao Beach. The dive center is on the beach. You can contact them at lagunaphuket@euro-divers.com In high season, they have great easy access to dives sites from the beach, only a few minutes away by long tail boat.

The dive center is located near the lobby at Club Med. Contact them at cmphuket@euro-divers.com

The Club Med has one of the best food in Kata beach and is a great place to stay.

This is where the main office of Euro-Divers Worldwide is located. You can contact them at +66 (0)76 280 814 or by e-mail at: sales-thailand@euro-divers.com

This is the departure point for day trips to Koh Phi Phi, Shark Point, Anemone Reef, the King Cruiser wreck, Racha Noi and Racha Yai.

Meeting there in the morning is at 08:30. You can always arrange with Euro-Divers that they pick you up for free at your hotel when you stay near the Laguna, Patong, Karon, Kata areas. The pick ups are always free for guests staying in resorts where Euro-Divers operates, Laguna Beach Resort, Moevenpick Resort and Spa, Club Med Phuket.

The boat leaves at 09:00 and return will depend on the destination and the number of dives on that day. There is a light breakfast on the boat; with fresh water, tea, coffee and fresh fruits all day. Lunch is usually set after the first dive.

Phi Phi islands are the pride of Krabi Province and besides gaining status as one of the most popular beach resorts, it is also a dive base in its own class. The islands are approximately 40 km from Krabi and its attractions of clear waters and coral reef enjoy a healthy and well balanced natural environment for diving. Differing landscapes from hills to beaches and bays have influenced the developments on these two islands.

These two islands are locally called Racha Yai and Racha Noi. In the Thai language “Yai “means big and “Noi” small.
Racha Yai’s attractions in diving coincide with its beautiful white sandy beaches and its surrounding palm thatched authentic cottages. When the sun is high, it’s dazzling white sand, tranquil clear emerald waters and back drops of evergreens project a Robinson Crusoe style paradise. Racha Noi is uninhabited and the island comprises only small sandy strips and rocky cliff surroundings. It is however, a nice deserted island offering lee anchorage for diving.

Fringing reef and rocky seabed. Strong currents. Dive depth: 15 to 28 meters. Sighting of game fish in the late afternoon, sometimes the sailfish too.

Collectively, the waters of Racha Islands are clear and deep with prevailing strong currents. It is also the play ground of game fish like the magnificent sailfish, barracudas, jacks and queen fish.

Rock boulders encrusted with corals are a continuation of the cliffs.
Crevices and passages in between these rocks and corals provide natural habitats for marine life. Schools of garfish roam near the surface while rabbit fish and small yellow tail snappers are abundant and feed on plankton. Blue and yellow spine unicorn fish in small shoals keep their distance, while the parrot fish, oblivious to your presence feeds greedily on algae growth amongst dead corals.

Small coves surrounding the island provide excellent shallow and interesting exploration amongst its coral formation. It is these shallow waters where you find large numbers of exotic marine life and crustaceans inhabiting the coral garden. Occasionally silver breams will dart close to your mask by the shoal before vanishing into little avenues in the rocks. Squids and cuttlefish prefer the shallow waters and you see them more during the months of December to February.

These shallow reefs drop steeply to the reef crest and slopes where brain and boulder corals are found and continue sloping into the deep depth of sandy seabed. Coral reefs surrounding Racha Islands are found in narrow strips, unless they are at sheltered coves.

The clear and tranquil waters of Racha Yai are surrounded by fringing, rocky, primarily hard coral reefs, which taper off into a sand, sand rubble seabed. Its close proximity to Phuket, generally easy conditions and diversity of dive sites make it a favorite daytrip spot. Currents can be stiff at times but drift diving is the way to go here. Marine life is great and includes lots of moray eels, schools of small Barracudas, twin spot snappers and fusiliers, trumpet fish, juvenile boxfish and even critters like cockatoo waspish, frogfish, sea moth and pipefish can be found here. Titan Triggerfish take care about some entertainment too.

Les eaux paisibles de Racha Yai sont encerclees par un recif de corail dur qui a fait sa base sur les rochers qui s’elevent d’un fond de sable. L’ile etant tout pres de Phuket offre generalement des conditions de plongees faciles sur nombre de sites. Les courants permettent d’y faire parfois de longues plongees derivantes. Les poissons sont nombreux avec des Fusillers, Vivaneaux, Poissons Trompette, Poissons Coffre et aussi d’etranges residents comme les Poissons Pipe, Poissons Grenouille et Crevettes Mantis.

Racha Noi is uninhabited and the island comprises only small sandy strips and rocky cliff surroundings. It is however, a nice deserted island offering lee anchorage for diving.

Fringing reef and rocky seabed. Strong currents. Dive depth: 15 to 28 meters. Sighting of game fish in the late afternoon, sometimes the sailfish too.

Collectively, the waters of Racha Islands are clear and deep with prevailing strong currents. It is also the play ground of game fish like the magnificent sailfish, barracudas, jacks and queen fish.

Rock boulders encrusted with corals are a continuation of the cliffs.
Crevices and passages in between these rocks and corals provide natural habitats for marine life. Schools of garfish roam near the surface while rabbit fish and small yellow tail snappers are abundant and feed on plankton. Blue and yellow spine unicorn fish in small shoals keep their distance, while the parrot fish, oblivious to your presence feeds greedily on algae growth amongst dead corals.

Small coves surrounding the island provide excellent shallow and interesting exploration amongst its coral formation. It is these shallow waters where you find large numbers of exotic marine life and crustaceans inhabiting the coral garden. Occasionally silver breams will dart close to your mask by the shoal before vanishing into little avenues in the rocks. Squids and cuttlefish prefer the shallow waters and you see them more during the months of December to February.

These shallow reefs drop steeply to the reef crest and slopes where brain and boulder corals are found and continue sloping into the deep depth of sandy seabed. Coral reefs surrounding Racha Islands are found in narrow strips, unless they are at sheltered coves.

Racha Noi, compared to Racha Yai, is an uninhabited island. The waters are clear and deep with moderate to fairly strong currents. It is a good place to spot larger fish such as Barracudas, Jacks, Manta Rays and Zebra Sharks. It offers beautiful underwater formations with fringing reefs, sand rubble, rocky seabed and granite boulders encrusted with sponges, hard and soft coral. Cracks, crevices and coral provide a great habitat for all different kinds of marine life, including schools of Sergeant majors, rainbow runners and Snappers. In shallow water Squid and Cuttlefish are frequently seen along with colourful Nudibranchs and Flatworms on the steep faces of the rocks.

Contrairement a Racha Yai, Racha Noi est une ile inhabitee. Les eaux y sont generalement tres claires, les sites plus profonds qu’a Racha Yai et les courants plus puissants. C’est un tres bon endroit pour rencontrer des Baracudas, des Carangues, Raies Mantas et Requins Zebres. La topographie est spectaculaire avec un fond de sable d’ou s’elevent de grands rochers incrustes d’Eponges et de divers Coraux Durs et Mous tres colores. Ils s’y trouvent aussi une grande variete de Nudibranches et de Vers Plats.

One of the best dive site around Phuket, Bidah Nok has hundreds of different species of corals, both soft and hard, patrolled by colorful fish life.

These two rocky outcrops offer various dive sceneries, from walls over series of pinnacles to sloping, fringing reefs and reef patches, spread out over a sandy bottom covered in loose mushroom coral. Both these outcrops can be dived all around, making it a very variable dive site.
Hawksbill turtles, banded sea snakes and Zebra Sharks are not an uncommon sight. Especially on the southern end of both these sites, schooling fish action is at its best due to stronger currents and nutrient rich water, featuring different species of Barracudas and Trevallies, big clouds of Snappers and Bonitos, plus Tunas, Rainbow Runners and Batfish. Critters like Ghost pipefish, Seahorses and Nudibranchs can be found with a bit of luck.

Ces deux pitons rocheux offrent divers scenes de plongee avec des murs surplombant des recifs coraliens qui s’etendent sur un fond de sable couvert de Corail Champignon. Il est frequent d’y rencontrer des Tortues Epervier, des Serpents Marins et des Requins Zebres. Au Sud de chacun des pitons les courants sont generalement plus forts et plus riches en Planctons ce qui attire les Baracudas, les Carangues, les Thons et les Platax ainsi que les Invertebres tels que les Nudubranches, les Hypocampes et les Poissons Pipe.

Great diving is to be had at Bidah Nai, different corals species, leopard sharks and turtles are frequently encountered there as well as the more elusive black tip sharks.

These two rocky outcrops offer various dive sceneries, from walls over series of pinnacles to sloping, fringing reefs and reef patches, spread out over a sandy bottom covered in loose mushroom coral. Both these outcrops can be dived all around, making it a very variable dive site.
Hawksbill turtles, banded sea snakes and Zebra Sharks are not an uncommon sight. Especially on the southern end of both these sites, schooling fish action is at its best due to stronger currents and nutrient rich water, featuring different species of Barracudas and Trevallies, big clouds of Snappers and Bonitos, plus Tunas, Rainbow Runners and Batfish. Critters like Ghost pipefish, Seahorses and Nudibranchs can be found with a bit of luck.

Ces deux pitons rocheux offrent divers scenes de plongee avec des murs surplombant des recifs coraliens qui s’etendent sur un fond de sable couvert de Corail Champignon. Il est frequent d’y rencontrer des Tortues Epervier, des Serpents Marins et des Requins Zebres. Au Sud de chacun des pitons les courants sont generalement plus forts et plus riches en Planctons ce qui attire les Baracudas, les Carangues, les Thons et les Platax ainsi que les Invertebres tels que les Nudubranches, les Hypocampes et les Poissons Pipe.

Koh Doc Mai offers great wall diving where U/W enthusiasts can often find frog fish, pipe fish and sea horses hiding around huge sea fans.

A single limestone outcrop is what in Thai is called “The Flower Island”, with sheer cliffs dropping down to the waterline and carrying on as a beautiful wall below the surface with small caves and lots of cracks and crevices to explore. The wall of this underwater cliff is encrusted with invertebrate marine life, incl. soft corals, sea fans, zigzag oysters and colonies of other bivalves, sponges and rich colored encrusting coralline. Unexpected encounters with big fish are not uncommon. Snappers, Fusiliers, Sweepers, Stingrays, Bamboo Sharks and Morays are some of the inhabitants of this site.

L’ile Fleurie, Koh Doc Mai en Thailandais, est une forteresse naturelle don’t les parois verticales plongent sous la surface et se transforment en un superbe mur compose de crevasses et de petites grottes qui invitent a l’exploration. Ce mur est incruste d’Huitres, de Coraux et de Bivalves. Les Vivaneaux, Fusilliers, Raies, les Murenes et les Requins Bamboo sont des residents permanents de Koh Doc Mai.

On May 1997 this passenger ferry sunk, on its way to Phi Phi, hitting the Anemone Reef…
Now, this big wreck sits on a sandy bottom of 32 meters. The water conditions require a good level and a certain experience to dive on. Strong currents are not uncommon and the visibility can be much reduced too. Due to the wreck’s location that close to the neighboring sites Shark Point and Anemone Reef, it is teeming with life and had a very fast population growth in just a short time. Big pelagics, Turtles, Bamboo Sharks, Nudibranchs and loads of Scorpion fish can be seen here. The Wreck is an extremely popular dive.

En Mai 1997, ce traversier en route pour Koh Phi Phi a percute Anamone Reef…
Il est maintenant couche sur le fond sableux de la Baie de Prangha a une profondeur de 32 metres. Les conditions parfois difficiles demandent une bonne experiance. Les courants sont souvant tres forts et la visibilite reduite. L’epave se trouvant pres de Shark Point et d’Anemone Reef, attire une vibrante multitude de vie marine et donc d’enormes Pelagiques, de Requins Bamboo, Tortues, Merous, Nudibranches et Poissons Scorpions en font maintenant leur domicile.

Shark Point Phuket is one of the best dive site in the area. It is vibrant with colorful marine life. The soft coral on the second reef South from the main rock, is a fiery display of colors.

This is certainly one of the most popular and most diverse dive sites. This series of three pinnacles and several rocky outcrops, makes for amazing underwater photo opportunities. Here, one of the richest marine ecosystems in this whole area is on display, due to the incredible amount of dendronephthya Soft coral, sea whips, sea fans, barrel sponges, whip and wire coral. Next to a wide range of smaller critters like the Seahorse, Pipefish, Scorpion fish and Nudis, there is great schooling fish life too, including Snappers, Bigmouth Mackerels, Barracudas, Queen fish, Tunas and Oriental Bonitos. Occasional glimpses of Zebra sharks, which gave the Site its name are highlights.

Shark Point est certainement le site prefere des plongeurs et offre la plus grande diversite de vie marine. Le site est compose de trois recifs submerges qui contiennent l’ecosysteme le plus riche de la region avec une multitude coloree d’Anemones, de Coraux Durs et Mous, d’Eponges, de Gorgones et d’Evantails ou s’abritent des Hypocampes, Nudibranches, Poissons Scorpions, Poissons Fantomes et Poissons Razoirs. Les Fusilliers, Maquereaux, Baracudas, Thons et les Bonites s’y regroupent. Et les Requins Zebres viennent s’y reposer. Shark Point est un endroit ideal pour la photographie.

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!

Ten military aircrafts will be sunk off Phuket at Chern Talay!

There will be 4 Douglas C-47 Skytrain as well as 6 Sikorsky Helicopters.

The sinking will happen in May and we are hoping to dive the new wrecks as soon as next high season.

Great news indeed as Euro-Divers maintains a dive center at Laguna Beach Resort very nearby.

Eager wreck divers, get ready for some great dives!

Quelques très bonnes nouvelles:

Dix avions militaires seront coulés à Phuket à Chern Talay!

Il y aura 4 Douglas C-47 Skytrain et aussi 6 Hélicoptères Sikorsky.

Les appareils couleront en mai et nous espérons plonger sur ces nouvelles épaves dès la prochaine haute saison.

Bonnes nouvelles en effet puisqu' Euro-Divers maintient tout près un centre de plongée à Laguna Beach Resort.

Plongeurs d'épaves passionnés, préparez-vous pour quelques superbes plongées!

The wall and caves, rocky outcrops and reef patches on the northern end of the bay offer a very diverse underwater topography. Crevices and walls at this dive site are abundant with clusters of zigzag oysters and fan oysters. Feather stars in a multitude of colours, cling and grow on sea whips and sea fans and interesting commensals like tiny squat lobsters and Clingfish can be seen here. Towards the end of the day pelagic fish can bee observed hunting around and gobbling up everything that comes within their paths. Turtles and Zebra Sharks are a common sight and critter lovers won’t be disappointed either.

By the way, it is in Thailand and not in Estonia as suggested above but I simply cannot change this from the Nomao program.

La topographie de Maya Bay, rendue celebre par le film “La Plage”, ressembe boucoup a Koh Bida Nok avec des crevasses, des tombants des passages surblombes et decores de Coraux et d’Huitres. Il est frequent d’y rencontrer de petits Requins Pointe Noire ainsi que des Tortues et des Requins Zebres. Ceux qui sont passionnes par les invertebres ne seront pas desapointes.

A part of India, the Andaman Islands are one of the world's newest diving destinations and have yet to be properly explored for diving.
After a 60 year period of virtual isolation from the outside world the Indian government has made a decision to allow limited, environmentally conscious tourism development in the islands.

The Andaman Islands are a group of 274 islands of which 26 are inhabited.
They are located 480 nautical miles west-north-west of Phuket. The distance from India, to which they belong, is more than 600 miles. The Nicobar Islands are strictly off-limits but the Andamans opened up to cruising yachts and live-aboard dive boats a few years ago. Recently, the Chambers of Commerce of Phuket and the Andaman Islands signed several friendship and cooperation treaties and communication between the two island provinces is improving.

The Andamans have no modern fishing fleet and only very few commercial fishing licenses are granted to foreign operators. Thus, the islands’ fish stocks are plentiful and most of the diving areas have been dived by only a few people. In a short time some places, such as Barren Island (live volcano) and Narcondam Island (extinct volcano), became established divesites but most of the archipelago remains under-explored.

Although in many of the near shore areas the visibility is limited, the offshore islands such as Passage Island, Barren Island, and Narcondam are rich in marine life, huge fish, sharks, manta rays, unbelievable coral growth-and are blessed with crystal-clear water.

About 70 kilometers to the south of Port Blair, the capital and main port of the Andamans, Passage Island features an offshore pinnacle-appropriately named Fish Rock, where two meter long dogtooth tunas compete with sharks for food. Groupers larger than most men cruise the reef unafraid of divers. Large eagle rays patrol the plankton rich waters completely at ease in the strong currents.

The active volcano, Barren Island, almost 100 nautical miles cruising northeast of Port Blair, last erupted in January of 1994. The eruption covered almost everything underwater and above with a thick layer of black sand, creating an unusual landscape to explore. Although most of the coral was killed by this layer of sand, tunas and sharks swim along its black walls, which plunge to over 500 meters. Hammerhead sharks have been seen here. Visibility can exceed 50 meters, and even though there is not much coral left, the contrasting vivid colors of bright fish against the jet-black walls is almost psychedelic.

The Andamans are certainly not for everyone. It requires spending long periods of time on the boat and traveling almost every night in order to get to the best spots. However, for those interested in the best of frontier diving, this is it!

A must for every divers, the top of Anemone Reef is completly covered with, well, anemones. This is the reef that was struck by the King Cruiser ferry boat, famously known now as the King Cruiser WRECK.

A small underwater pinnacle, sitting on a fairly flat, sand rubble bottom, entirely covered in anemones, offering a perfect hideout for small porcelain crabs, commensal shrimps and countless anemone fish. The profusion of sea anemones and the nutrient rich water are a magnet to a constant parade of reef fish seeking food and shelter. Enormous schools of snappers, mackerels and jacks along with larger game fish like Tuna and even Wahoo, as well as the occasional Zebra Shark can be seen here. Currents can vary from middle to pretty strong.

Un piton rocheux qui s’eleve d’un fond plat et sabloneux, Anemone Reef est en effet couvert d’Anemones qui offrent leur protection aux Crabes Porelaine, Crevettes et a d’innombrables Poissons Demoiselles. La profusion d’Anemones combinee avec les eaux riches de Planctons attirent une parade de Poissons de Recif a la recherche de nourriture et d’un abrit. De grands bancs de poissons tel que les Baracudas, Maqueraux, les Carangues et les Thons y chassent avec frenesie pendant que les Requins Zebres viennent y faire occasionnelement leur sieste quotidienne.