Shark Point and Anemone Reef Diving

By far the best and most popular daytrip dive sites visited by us, located 25 Km east of Phuket. Given official marine sanctuary status in 1992, Shark Point and Anemone Reef truly offer world class quality diving, and except for the limited visibility, these are two of the better day trip dives in the Asian region. The rock pinnacles explode with life; the sheer density of marine life makes diving here a wonderful, sensual experience.

Location of both sites just south of Ao Phangnga and all of it's fresh water rivers, means visibility averages around 10 meters, sometimes less during Phukets rainy season. Although conditions such as this are not what divers dream of when they think of the "perfect dive," the amount of marine life more than makes up for it. On days when the water becomes gin clear, diving here feels like taking a breath of fresh air.

Shark Point

Hin Muang (Shark Rock, as it translates), rises out of the water from the surrounding depths of 18-20 meters. Considering the small extent of the rock above water, the actual size of the reef underwater is a big surprise to most divers. Beginning from the relatively steep main rock pinnacle, the reef flattens out to the south rising two more times to just below the surface at the other two pinnacle that make up the reefs structure. The second pinnacle, depending on the currents is an excellent place to start the dive. Like many places in Thailand, Shark Point's most colorful feature is the profusion of the purple and pink soft corals that cling to the rock.

The currents sweeping over the pinnacle's provide food a-plenty for the hundreds of different species of hard corals and limitless tropical fish species. The name of the site comes from the common Leopard (Zebra) Shark (Stegastoma Varium), a docile creature that can be found lying in the sandy bottom surrounding the pinnacles. These completely approachable, trusting sharks grow to a length of a little over 2 meters, and most divers think that they are one of the "cutest" sharks in the ocean. Divers that are not accustomed to seeing sharks are genuinely surprised at how big and approachable they are. Because they are nocturnal feeders, they are very approachable during the day, especially for u/w photos. The sharks aren't the only attraction here though, Shark Point is one of the richest and most vivid dive spot around, with it's stunning soft corals, fan corals and anemones.

Anemone Reef

Hin Jom (Submerged Rock or Anemone Reef) lies just below the waters surface, about 600 meters to the north of Shark Point. As the Thai name makes it clear, no part of the pinnacle is exposed, and under water the pinnacle drops off more dramatically to a depth of between 20-27 meters until reaching a bottom of sand and oyster shells. Although not as colorful as Shark Point, the marine life here is excellent, and our friends the Leopard sharks, are often seen free-swimming at the top of the pinnacle in 6 meters of water. The english name for this dive site is derived from the profusion of Sea Anemone's that cling to the edges providing a magnificent back drop of colour from the sammler Clown fish that make this ther home. This site also acts as a haven to snappers and groupers and attracts larger gamefish like tuna and jack, sometimes even larger pelagics can be seen passing by.