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Diving in Phuket
How to get here, when to come, and what the diving is like.
Getting here
Fly into Phuket
Phuket International Airport is the arrival point for almost every guest. Tell us your flight times and we will tell you whether you can dive the next morning.
Base yourself on the west coast
We collect guests from Kamala, Patong, Karon, Kata, and parts of Rawai, Nai Harn and Chalong at no charge. Staying inside that stretch keeps your mornings short. From further out we can arrange a private transfer at cost price.
We pick you up
Hotel pick-ups start at 7:00 am. The boat leaves from Chalong pier, which is on the other side of the island from most hotels — that is why the start is early.
Leave a day before you fly
Do not book a flight home for the morning after a dive. Divers Alert Network recommends eighteen hours between your last dive and a flight, so after a day trip or a course, do not fly before 11:00 am the following day.
When to come
There is no closed season here. Day trips run every day of the year, and the sea stays at about 29°C throughout — you could dive in swimwear, though we hand out 3mm wetsuits anyway.
What changes is where the good water is. Phi Phi is most predictable from October to May. During the monsoon months of June to September the Racha islands often have the better conditions, and visibility there can exceed 40 metres. We follow it.
Highlighted — what the shop calls best season
The diving
The diving around Phuket splits three ways. The Phi Phi islands, about 40km south-east, are limestone — sloping coral reefs, boulder formations and some walls dropping to around 32 metres. Currents are usually mild and visibility normally runs 10 to 20 metres, regularly reaching 30.
The Racha islands are the gentler option and the monsoon-season favourite: forgiving sites, mild currents, and the clearest water of the year when the rest of the coast is stirred up. The King Cruiser is the third — a car ferry on the sea floor at 32 metres, close enough to Shark Point and Anemone Reef that the whole day is worth having. That one is for experienced divers.
See the dive sites →
Beyond the diving
Most guests stay in Patong or one of the beaches south of it, so the non-diving half of a trip tends to take care of itself. If you want ideas beyond the obvious, ask on the boat — the crew live here.
Questions about the trip?
We help every guest plan the journey — just ask.