South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock are both geographically dramatic dives, providing deep depths and interesting ascents

South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock are Koh Tao’s two other deep water dive sites. South West Pinnacle is a beautiful site that, like Chumphon Pinnacle, repays repeated visits. It is actually a whole series of small pinnacles with the central pinnacle rising all the way to within five metres of the surface. Maximum depth is around 26 metres, unless you wander away from the pinnacle. There are no sharks here, although whale sharks have occasionally been spotted which keeps everyone hopeful – but what it lacks in terms of big fish South West makes up in terms of the sheer profusion of smaller species. There are huge clouds of glassfish hanging around the main pinnacle and just off it too, while grouper and morays are skulking in the pinnacle’s crevices. Following a classic deep descent and then working in a slow circular ascent back up the pinnacle, it’s possible to see the underwater landscape from numerous angles on the way up, looking different each time. Hanging around at the pinnacle’s apex are another collection of batfish, as if waiting to keep you company on the five metre safety stop. South West is an unabashedly pretty site, and when the visibility is good – which is most of the time – it can be quite breathtaking, even if it doesn’t boast the headline attractions of Chumphon.

Sail Rock is always bigged up as a major dive site off Koh Tao but it’s actually a bit of a pain in the backside to my mind – it takes a long cruise to get out there – over 2 hours – and the viz is often shocking. I’ve dived there several times and only once was the viz good enough to actually see anything. Another big pinnacle slam in the middle of the ocean which goes down 40 metres plus, Sail Rock is roughly square shaped and big enough to spend the entire dive circling once. The main point of interest is a beautiful coral chimney, big enough for 2 divers to ascend from 16 metres to the chimney’s opening at 5 metres on the flat coral reef above. This is undeniably quite spectacular but for the time and effort Sail Rock involves, I’d recommend leaving it alone unless you’re spending a week or more diving at Koh Tao.

More About Koh Tao:

• Koh Tao: An Introduction
• Koh Tao, Thailand: Learning To Scuba Dive
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Chumphon Pinnacle
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Hin Daeng
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Green Rock, White Rock, Shark Island
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Twins, Japanese Gardens, Mango Bay

The best dive site in the Gulf of Thailand, Chumphon Pinnacle offers spectacular encounters with sharks and deep dive thrills

For already qualified divers, Koh Tao offers a variety of interesting sites that repay repeated visits. The best dive site in all of the Gulf Of Thailand is undoubtedly Chumphon Pinnacle, a lozenge shaped rock that begins at about 16 metres and goes down to 30metres, with a flat bottom sloping away from its base. Visibility out here can be spectacular thanks to its ocean location rather than being close to the shore – it’s not uncommon to be able to see 20 metres and beyond. And it’s just as well, because the star attraction at Chumphon Pinnacle are the grey reef sharks that patrol its edges.

There’s a big outcrop called Barracuda Rock where sharks are often to be found. cruising by at 25 metres and below. They are big, fearsome looking sharks, some of them a couple of metres long, bigger than a man – but they are harmless to divers, although of course have to be treated with utmost respect. I used to teach Nitrox courses here where we would drop in at sit at 25 metres – sometimes we would be at eye level with them, hanging by the rock, keeping very still as they moved amongst us, mesmerised by how gracefully – and swiftly – they moved. There’s few more memorable experiences than making eye contact with a shark and it was the sort of dive where everyone would get back on the boat raving about how good it had been.

People obviously get disappointed when they don’t see the sharks, but there’s plenty of other fish life to be found at Chumphon if the sharks are proving elusive. Big ugly grouper fish hover at either end of the pinnacle, big shoals of barracuda hang motionless just off in the blue, stingrays and moray eels hide in the crannies of the wall, while batfish keep an inquisitive eye on divers making their ascent at the mooring rope. There was a tiny little bright yellow boxfish at one point, speeding around the carpet of anemones that span across the flat top of the pinnacle. On one dive, I saw an absolutely enormous grey grouper or potato cod – at least a metre and a half in length – break for cover from Barracuda Rock, appearing and disappearing within a few seconds.

The other famous visitor to Chumphon Pinnacle is one I’ve never seen, despite doing over a 100 dives at this site alone. A few times a year, whale sharks turn up at Chumphon, causing a ripple of excitement to pass through the entire island and prompting Koh Tao’s entire population to jump in the water. Or so it seems. Before I got to Koh Tao I was getting text messages from friends saying “the whale sharks are here”. When I left Koh Tao I got text messages saying, “The whale sharks have just turned up”. One supposed friend maintained that they were, in fact, at the pinnacle the entire time but just hiding from me. “Has he gone? Good.” You just can’t win. [See my previous post for more info about where to find whale sharks in Thailand]. Maybe you’ll get lucky and see a whale shark at Chumphon Pinnacle – but if not, there will be plenty of other underwater critturs to keep you occupied.

More About Koh Tao:

• Koh Tao: An Introduction
• Koh Tao, Thailand: Learning To Scuba Dive
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Chumphon Pinnacle
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Hin Daeng
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Green Rock, White Rock, Shark Island
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Twins, Japanese Gardens, Mango Bay

One of the most popular and the cheapest places to learn to scuba dive in the entire Asia-Pacific region, Koh Tao has many advantages for those new to the underwater world

Koh Tao is an almost unparalleled place to learn to scuba dive thanks to the cheap costs of the courses, the convenient boat journey times to the dive sites from the island – on average half an hour – and the large amount of hugely experienced dive professionals available to teach students. There are literally scores of dive schools on the island, and they all cater to different needs. Some of the most well-established names are Buddha View, Ban’s, Big Blue and Crystal Dive.

If you want to learn to dive, you can choose one of the smaller schools and get one to one tuition from an instructor (or specifically request this when you make a booking). Make sure, though, that you have some idea about the dive operation you’re signing up with before you agree to do the course with them – some places can be a bit lax about safety. Simply wander round the shops – most of them are in the port of Mae Haad – and go with a school that makes you feel welcome and seem well-organised. Prices for courses are the same in all dive shops, so customer service, equipment and the size of their boat should be what you ask about.

If you are going to be visiting Koh Tao in July or August, you should seriously consider booking ahead, both for your accommodation and a place on a dive course. This is high season on the island, and accommodation is regularly, without exaggeration, completely sold out on Sairee Beach (the main beach area of Koh Tao).

Once you’ve decided on who you will do your course with, it’s easy. The dive school will lead you through the 3 day course which involves a morning in the pool learning how all the gear works, 4 real scuba dives in the ocean to build your confidence and get used to the amazing weightless sensation, and some theory stuff. Don’t worry about the last one – it sounds scary but it’s very easy to pick up and it’s interesting stuff too. Besides, it’s a fact your brain starts to seize up when you’re travelling, so a dive course is a good way to exercise the grey matter again. After that, you will be qualified to dive to 18 metres and you can start doing more fun dives immediately after your course is complete. The dive school will give you a temporary PADI card to show you’ve passed the course if you go diving with any other operator.

Learning to dive on Koh Tao fits in perfectly with what most backpackers want – low costs, sun, sea and sand, lots of other backpackers, a party atmosphere, plus great food and cheap booze. The apres-dive is the other key attraction of Koh Tao. There are numerous bars which cater to thirsty divers after a hard day underwater, whether they’re celebrating passing their dive course or arguing about who saw the biggest barracuda after the day’s fun diving. In short, if you like to party, Koh Tao has plenty of places to do it, but you can always repair somewhere quieter if you need it. And – do I need to say this? – you definitely shouldn’t drink and dive. Going underwater with a hangover is no fun and potentially dangerous. That caution aside, the mix of great diving in the day and great partying at night sums up Koh Tao’s enduring appeal.

More About Koh Tao:

• Koh Tao: An Introduction
• Koh Tao, Thailand: Learning To Scuba Dive
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Chumphon Pinnacle
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Hin Daeng
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Green Rock, White Rock, Shark Island
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Twins, Japanese Gardens, Mango Bay

One of the most popular diving destinations in all of South East Asia, the tiny Thai island of Koh Tao provides great diving for beginner and seasoned diver alike

Koh Tao is a very special place to me. I lived there for six months of 2004 when I was doing my PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor course and teaching afterwards; and before that, I’d lived there for two months in 2003 when I originally arrived on Koh Tao to do my PADI Divemaster course. I’ve done literally hundreds of dives around the island, so I know Koh Tao’s dive sites very well. This is a multi part guide to learning to dive on Koh Tao and to its best dive sites.

During my time on Koh Tao, I also met a lot of people who’ve been living there for over a decade and seen Koh Tao transform from a virtually uninhabited rock to the hugely popular scuba diving destination it is today. Koh Tao currently certifies something like 7000 new divers a year, which makes it the most popular place to learn to dive in the whole Asia-Pacific region except for Cairns in Australia. Yet the great thing about the island is that it never feels crowded, like in Phuket or Pattaya or Samui – and for all its rapid growth, Koh Tao retains a real Thai village charm. In previous years Koh Tao’s reputation was always as a place to scuba dive with little other attraction – these days, that’s all changed. I’ve written a brief guide to Koh Tao for non-divers over on my sister site Travelhappy. Here I’ll concentrate on what makes Koh Tao diving great.

More About Koh Tao:

• Koh Tao: An Introduction
• Koh Tao, Thailand: Learning To Scuba Dive
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Chumphon Pinnacle
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: South West Pinnacle and Sail Rock
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Hin Daeng
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Green Rock, White Rock, Shark Island
• Koh Tao Dive Sites: Twins, Japanese Gardens, Mango Bay