Racha Noi Island
Racha Noi is a small, uninhabited island located off the southern coast of Phuket.
The island is situated practically in the open sea, which provides better water visibility compared to the neighboring island of Racha Yai.
The underwater topography around the island is diverse - here you can find small bays with white sand and small reef banks made of hard corals, as well as walls covered in soft corals, dropping down to 70 meters, and huge boulders the size of a three-story house. Thanks to the accessible greater depths, Racha Noi island is popular among technical divers.
The dive sites at Racha Noi Island are divided into 4 main zones: north, south, east, and west, therefore, diving here depends on the time of year. From October to April, most boats prefer the dive sites on the west coast, however, around April, they switch preference to the east coast dive sites, which are protected from the western monsoon winds.
Banana Bay
On the east side of the island is the island's most popular dive site - Banana Bay. This dive site is named Banana Bay because it is shaped like a banana. The bay stretches over a kilometer from north to south. The bay can be conceptually divided into three dive sites.
The central part of the bay starts in the shallows with a sandy bottom and a beautiful coral reef gently sloping down to 25 meters.
The northern side is similar to the center of the bay: coral outcrops rise here and there on a white sandy slope down to 35 meters. Each such reef is adorned with feather stars, Christmas tree worms, and serves as home to many other cheerful, colorful inhabitants.
On the southern side, you can admire colonies of table, brain, lattice, and other types of hard corals. Giant morays and cuttlefish inhabit the shallows. Sometimes you can encounter a meter-long barracuda hanging motionless in the blue. In the deeper part, a leopard shark might be resting on the sand. And sometimes, even giant manta rays visit!
Marina Bay
Marina Bay is located near the middle of Racha Noi's west coast. The minimum depth in this bay is 10 meters, so only certified divers can dive there. The gently sloping bottom of this bay is covered with thickets of staghorn coral, and the shallow part of the bay meets steep cliffs covered with fan corals.
To the west lie huge boulders, whose walls drop to depths of 30 meters and beyond. About a hundred meters offshore in this bay are two pinnacles with depths reaching 60-70 meters around them, allowing for trimix dives.
In the western part of the bay is a large detached reef, Marita's Rock (legend says it's named after the instructor who discovered it), formed from a pile of sloping rocks which are covered with a mix of sea whips, fire corals (21m-23m), and surrounded by hard and soft corals, common reef fish, and sometimes reef sharks visit, but perhaps the main attraction is the presence of large bumphead parrotfish.
Currents can range from moderate to strong, and visibility is usually good here – around 15-30 meters.
Further south from Marita's Rock lies a small wooden fishing boat that can be explored. It has been resting on the bottom for several years, so marine life has had time to establish itself on it.
North Tip
In the northern part of Racha Noi island is the dive site called North Tip. The bay offers three dive options. On the surface, this dive spot is bordered by beautiful, tree-covered cliffs. The bay itself is quite shallow and usually well-sheltered, making it ideal for beginner divers. On the east side of the bay is a formation of granite boulders which takes up a large part of the dive, ending in a large drop-off descending to over 40 meters. On the west side, you can see very interesting rock formations unlike other Racha Noi dive sites. The shallow part of the bay consists mainly of a sandy bottom with scattered small hard coral bommies. The hard coral reef slopes gently down to about 20 meters and attracts numerous reef fish, giant morays, and octopuses. In deeper areas along the granite boulders on the east side, small schools of chevron barracuda can sometimes be spotted. It's important to be cautious when reaching the end of the boulders on either side, as there can sometimes be strong downcurrents pushing deeper.
South Tip
On the southern part of the island lies the jewel of Racha Noi - South Tip or South Pinnacle. From October to April, giant manta rays can regularly be encountered here.
The minimum depth here is around 9 meters, and, moreover, there is almost always a strong current, so the safety stop almost always has to be done drifting. The currents here are incredibly strong, both vertical and horizontal, running from northeast to southwest and vice versa. The site itself dictates that only very experienced divers should dive here.
The upper part of South Tip consists of several plateaus located at depths of 9, 12, and 18 meters and covered with soft corals and anemones.
Typically, you can shelter from the strong current between the plateaus and watch for giant manta rays. The edges of the plateaus on the east, west, and south sides drop off steeply as rocky walls covered in diverse corals. Frequent visitors to this dive site are huge trevallies and jacks, hunting schools of smaller fish.
Descending deeper to 50-60 meters, technical divers will encounter large marble rays and whitetip reef sharks. Depths around the southern point reach 70 meters, and very often, downcurrents 'blow' along the descending walls, which can severely complicate ascent.
East Bay
The dive site 'Racha Noi Bay Rock', also called the East Point, is located in the southeastern part of the island. Racha Noi Bay features a white sandy beach with a sandbar that extends at low tide to a small islet surrounded by a rocky reef. It's usually a drift dive around the outer side of the rocky islet, the direction depending on the actual current conditions. The water here is always crystal clear and the sand incredibly white, making it visually stunning both above water and while gliding over it during the dive. The depth on the outer side of the rocky islet reaches over 30 meters. In the shallows, it's interesting to watch schools of small, shimmering fish play. Descending deeper, around the rock formations, you can see Jenkins' whipray and the extraordinary eagle ray with its striking blue eyes.
Camera Bay
At the northwestern tip of Racha Noi lies the shallow 'Camera Bay'.
Its water surface hides a sandy plain with a gentle slope from 10 to 20 meters deep, before the slope drops off steeply to 30 meters (north of the bay). The mix of hard corals and granite boulders resembles the underwater landscape of the Similan Islands …
Dives usually start inside the bay, where it is sheltered from currents and suitable for all diver levels.
The dive here is considered easy a priori, and local legend tells that a professional photographer lost all his equipment in the bay, and that this loss, mysteriously, was never found. Since then, divers have called the place Camera Bay.
The table corals covering the bottom give the impression of a garden densely entwined with huge golden chalices of stone roses. Marble crabs, hermit crabs, and banded shrimps hide among their 'petals'. Look for camouflaged frogfish here.
The dive route exits the bay to follow the western edge of the island northwards.