The Racha Noi And Yai Islands Tour Offers Clear Water, Wrecks & Macro
Racha Noi and Racha Yai are two islands to the south of Phuket. The size of the islands offer a variety of dive sites that although feel very similar have a lot of subtle differences. However the clear water with little current is a constant at any time of year. Racha Noi is the only location close to Phuket where you have the chance of an encounter with a magnificent oceanic manta ray. You will have to be extremely fortunate but there is a cleaning station at the rarely visited south tip. On their travels to the cleaning site we occasionally get an encounter in the secluded bays that we dive.
Banana Bay and Banana Rock on the east of Racha Noi is the most popular spot. Gently sloping sand interspersed with coral bommies covered with jewel like damselfish make a great start to the dives.
The deeper areas have the healthiest staghorn coral beds that we find around Phuket. Much was lost due to extraordinarily high water temperatures in 2010. Regrowth here seems to have outpaced other areas.
Bay 1 at Racha Yai now has 5 wrecks for experienced divers to enjoy. The latest one was purposely sunk in 2023 and will overtime attract a myriad of marine life. Some amazing macro life can be found at Racha Yai, rare nudibranch’s, ghost pipefish and even harlequin shrimp have been known to show up from time to time.
The Perfect Dive Tour For Beginners And Experienced Divers Alike
Racha Yai and Racha Noi are also the best sites for training and diving courses, almost every dive site is a mix of deep and shallow sandy bottoms, corals, boulders and more. Advanced divers can see many things in a single dive. Jenkins Whip Rays, Stone Fish, frogfish and banded sea kraits are all common sightings.
Students on entry level courses can enjoy the swimming pool like conditions in the shallower areas. Building confidence but still seeing some amazing sea life such as barracuda, parrotfish and maybe even turtles.
Racha Yai, Noi Dive Tour Schedule
Racha Noi, Racha Yai diving tours are suitable for all levels of certified divers and are highly recommended for Discover Scuba Divers, Diving refreshers and other training dives.
From October to June
From June to October
As we enter Phuket’s monsoon season, our dive schedule will shift to prioritize comfort and safety. During this time, we’ll be focusing on the stunning, closer dive sites around the Racha Islands, which offer better protection from seasonal weather.
These beautiful locations provide excellent visibility and marine life, ensuring that even in monsoon season, your diving experience remains top-notch. Reach out to us for the latest trip schedules and dive site options!
Equipment Rental
If you have your own equipment, great, bring it with you on the day trip when you are picked up by our local drivers in the morning. We have both DIN and Yoke tanks on our Phuket dive boat, and adapters for DIN to Yoke. Your equipment will be safely brought to the boat by our crew, no worries on your part, just relax and talk to your guide.
If you require scuba diving equipment, either a full set or partial, please see our Equipment Rental page for a full list of available equipment and pricing.
We also have a lot of spare equipment on board, wet suits, fins, masks, regulators and BCD's, ensuring that a malfunctioning piece of equipment won't ruin your day!
Equipment RentalRacha Yai, Noi Tour Itinerary
The Racha Yai & Racha Noi dive tour, usually see us doing the first two dives at Racha Noi, with the final dive of the day at Racha Yai. We do this for a couple of reasons, firstly Racha Noi provides both deep and shallow diving, allowing advanced and beginner divers on the same dive tour. This way we get the deep & training dives done first, then onto Racha Yai which has some amazing artificial reef structures and relatively shallow wreck diving at around 24 meters.
Need more? Then visit our dedicated Phuket diving site description section for all the information you need
Time | Activity |
---|---|
07:00-07:45 AM | Pick up from your hotel |
08:30 AM | Departure from Chalong pier |
09:00 AM | Breakfast buffet |
10:30 AM | Dive #1 @ Racha Noi |
11:30 AM | Lunch and Relaxing |
12:30 PM | Dive #2 @ Racha Noi |
01:30 PM | Relaxing & Snack, fresh fruit |
02:30 PM | Dive #3 @ Racha Yai |
03:30 PM | Pancake, fresh fruit & Departure from the Island |
05:00 – 05:30 PM | Arrival at the pier |
05:30 – 06:30 PM | Arrive at your hotel |
Price
Location | Dives | Price | |
---|---|---|---|
Phi Phi Island + | 3 | 4,200 THB ^ | |
King Cruiser Wreck | 3 | 4,200 THB ^ | |
Racha Noi/Racha Yai | 3 | 4,200 THB ^ |
^ If you need to rent scuba equipment there will be an additional charge 600 THB for a full set.
*Please note that there is National Park Fee of THB 600 (foreign nationals), THB 240 (Thai Nationals) for the Phi Phi day only. For snorkelers the fee is THB 400 & THB 40 respectively
*Price includes diving insurance but it's always better to have your own. Do you have adequate scuba diving travel insurance?
What’s Included
Along with top notch guides and great diving, our price includes almost everything: 3 dives, guide, equipment, hotel transfers (from Kamala, Patong, Karon, Kata, Rawai, Nai harn and Chalong only), breakfast, lunch, snacks, soft drinks, water, tea and coffee.
What’s Not Included
If you’re staying in a resort outside the above listed then there may be a small additional charge. However we pick up from anywhere on Phuket. Accommodation is not included but we are more than happy to recommend local hotels. Beer (THB 60) is available to buy on the boat.
We have a nitrox membrane system onboard so we can give you a nitrox fill at a moments notice. A 12L nitrox fill is THB 150, 15L THB 200 and for all three dives THB 400, THB 500 respectively.
Racha Yai, Noi Tour Bookings
Don’t hesitate, if you have not dived Racha Noi and Racha Yai you are missing out on some incredible reef, wreck and macro diving. Three of the wrecks are shallow enough for Padi Open Water Divers. All that plus the outside chance of seeing a manta should be enough for you to book this tour!