Similan Islands

The Similan Islands are located about 100 km northwest of Phuket Island and 65 km from the coast of Thailand. The archipelago consists of a set of nine granite islands (Koh Bon, Koh Lanta, Koh Similan, Koh Payu, Koh Miang (two islands), Koh Payan, Koh Payang and Koh Huyong) with lush tropical vegetation. A national park since 1982, these paradisiac islands are open from November to May and closed the rest of the year. Scattered in the middle of turquoise waters, they are located in the northeast of the Indian Ocean, in the middle of the Andaman Sea.

The dives on the different reefs of the Similan Islands are unique and incomparable to anything that can be observed elsewhere. The particularity of these dives lies in the geological nature of this archipelago. Shaped, smoothed and polished by elements such as wind and waves for millions of years, granite blocks form immense structures colonized by hard corals, soft corals, alcyonaria and other gorgonians. A veritable Eden where reef life flourishes in complete tranquility.

The entanglement created by the different granite blocks forms singular structures which incites our imagination to associate them with known forms, as we could do by looking at the clouds in the sky. The impressive reliefs of these colossal blocks are all the more appreciated by divers but also by the reef life which finds refuge there. Some rock, sometimes weighing several hundred tonnes, is submerged 30 meters deep and rises like Obelisks inclined less than 10 meters from the surface. Difficult not to be impressed by the gigantic and extraordinary character of their proportions.

Cavities, underwater caves or simply overhangs resulting from the compilation of these granite monoliths are all catalysts for biodiversity. These confined places are places of rest but also of development of certain common organisms of tropical coral reefs. The somber and even gloomy atmosphere of these places contrasts with the explosion of life and colors located a few palm strokes away.