Spotlight on Koh Racha Noi diving

Racha Noi Island (Koh Racha Noi) is the slightly smaller Racha Island south of Koh Racha Yai and about 2 hours cruise by Phuket day trip dive boat. The diving at Racha Noi is superior to Racha Yai. The corals are healthier, they are mainly hard corals with big beds of staghorn coral in places.

There is also more chance of seeing pelagics. Manta rays can be seen at the south plateau dive site, chevron barracuda can be seen circling at north point.

Diving at these sites either end of Racha Noi can be challenging as the currents are strong at the north and south tips of the island and can sweep divers out to sea. North Point dive site in particular has some vicious down currents which can catch you quite suddenly if you don’t know where you are going.

Other dive sites at Racha Noi include Banana Bay and Maritas Rock. Banana Bay on the east coast is also excellent for snorkeling and for training dives. Beginner divers can do a Discover Scuba Dive here. Marita’s Rock is named after German Marita, an ex divemaster from a local Phuket dive school. It’s a nice dive spot to hunt for small stuff in the rocky crevices and swim throughs.

These are plenty of nice spots for snorkeling, the water is crystal clear but there are no snorkeling tours to Racha Noi, snorkelers must join the dive boats which run year round every Thursday. Racha Noi diving tours are either 2 dive day trips (both at Racha Noi) or 3 dive day trip with one dive at Racha Yai.

Racha Noi is uninhabited with no resorts and is one of the less visited islands close to Phuket. That is a big plus compared to Racha Yai which is full of tourists every day.

The Racha Islands and also sometimes called Raya Islands or Raja Islands.