Koh Samui diving

Koh Samui is the most popular tourist destination in the Gulf of Thailand attracting millions of tourists each year. Unfortunately the dive sites around Koh Samui are not great with very poor visibility averaging about 5m.

Diving day trips from Koh Samui take divers to the dive sites around Koh Tao which are better. Trips are by speed boat, making them fairly expensive so budget conscious divers can save a lot of cash by staying on Koh Tao and diving from there.

Koh Samui has plenty of dive operators who can arrange your day trips for you and the island has all the facilities that a diver needs to rent, buy or service equipment. There is a recompression chamber on the island as well as an international standard private hospital.

Dive sites in this area of the Gulf of Thailand can be dived all year round although visibility tends to improve from May to October and the sea between Samui and Koh Tao is rarely flat.

The best day trip boat dives from Koh Samui are Chumphon Pinnacles, South West Pinnacles and Sail Rock. It is also possible to reach the Ang Thong Marine Park from Koh Samui and there are occasional liveaboard trips to Koh Kra and Koh Losin.

Koh Samui Dive Sites

Matlang Island
In the east side of Samui island just off the north point of Chaweng beach. Visibility is low and although currents are usually weak, they can pick up on the eastern side. The maximum depth is 9m and the reef is mainly staghorn corals with some anemones and gorgonian seafans.

Chaweng Reef
At the northern end of Chaweng beach this shore dive is to a maximum of 7m. There is some small marine life on this fringing reef popular with snorkellers.

Koh Ha (Five Islands)
A cluster of islands off the south west coast of Samui island. Maximum depth of 24m with some steep drop offs but most marine life is in the shallow areas where sunlight can penetrate. Visibility averages 5m. Currents and waves can make this dive site inaccessible at certain times of the year.

Koh Matsum
Located 7km off the south coast of Koh Samui this small island is primarily a training site but is better than many other Samui dives and divers occasionally see black tip reef sharks here.