Night Diving In Phuket Is Easy To Arrange
You won’t see night diving in Phuket advertised very often simply because there aren’t too many options. It certainly is possible and a single long dive at Kata Beach can be very rewarding. Kata Beach is a calm sheltered bay and you don’t need to go any deeper than 12m. Unusual and interesting creatures that don’t seem to be found anywhere else around Phuket reside here.
The reef is only a short swim from the beach and you can begin the dive in as little as 4m of water. You’ll start seeing the unusual species of nudibranch almost immediately. In the daytime they’ll be buried in the sand or hiding under rocks but at night many species come out to play including the rare melibe viridis. Species we don’t find on our usual Phuket scuba diving tours. The seabed is also alive with various different kinds of mantis shrimp that again we don’t see on our day dives.
night diving in phuket with different kinds of mantis shrimp
Safer At Night?
Unusually for a dive it’s a little safer at night. The longtail boats and jetski’s that cause a hazard in the daytime are all gone. The simple topography and lack of any strong current make it an ideal location for night diving in Phuket. If the tide is low then you may not go deeper than 10m, it ticks all the right boxes for an easy, safe night dive.
You won’t be time restricted but the dive will end when you reach 50bar, for some this can mean an almost 2hr dive. We only plan one dive, mainly because of the shallow depth and opportunity to cover the site in one long dive.
Night diving is very different from diving in the day and for that reason we require that you’re PADI Advanced Open Water certified our have completed the PADI night diving specialty. You’re of course very welcome to take either course with us.
Isn’t There Liveaboard Night Diving?
Most of the Similan Island liveaboards only do one night dive during the trip, usually on the first day of diving. The rest will be sunset dives so you can get in as many of the really good dive sites as possible. Safety concerns on night dives limit the choice of locations so everyone seems to be happier with this. The sunset dives in the Similan and Surin Islands can be quite spectacular and it really would be a shame to miss out.
The trips to the South Andaman follow the same premise. They’re usually shorter trips and you want to spend as much time on Hin Daeng and Hin Muang as possible. The only night dive will be in the sheltered lagoon at Koh Haa.
Why So Few Options For Night Diving In Phuket?
Many dive locations around the world are fortunate enough to have short travel times to dive sites. Phuket diving doesn’t really allow that. Our main dive sites are at least a 1hr boat ride, going that far for just one dive is impractical. If you did more than one dive you wouldn’t get back until the early hours of the morning.
Night Diving Available All Year?
No it’s not…From May to October the wind direction makes shore diving in Phuket impossible. Not only are the waves treacherous but the visibility will be reduced to almost zero. The liveaboards don’t run at all during that period so the day trips are the only option. The Phuket diving day trips don’t get affected by bad visibility during green season and to perfectly honest the day trips offer superior diving all year around.
In conclusion we only recommend diving at night if you’re completing the night dive specialty. Of course if you just really like night diving then go for it! You may find some incredible rare finds that make it completely worthwhile.
One really long night dive including equipment and guide will be THB 2,500 per person
Contact Us Now To book Your Night Dive
By Justin Hartrey
Posted in Amazing Local Dives on .
