Phuket Critter Diving – Great At The Moment

Phuket Critter Diving – Great At The Moment

Plenty of Cool Critters Can Be Found Diving Around Phuket

Phuket critter diving doesn’t get much publicity but we do get our fair share of small animals. It’s just that they’re a little harder to find. It’s hard to beat our dive guides for local knowledge, they’re out everyday looking in every crack and crevice trying to find those special animals for you.

Phuket Daytrip Critter Spots

Recently there’s been lots of cool critters spotted on lots of dive sites. We have ornate ghost pipefish at Shark Point, Racha Noi and Racha Yai, harlequin shrimp and tigertail seahorses at Shark Point, giant frogfish at Racha Noi and freckled frogfish at Racha Yai. Our favourite critter dive site – Koh Doc Mai is being slightly over shadowed although it’s always home to many different species of nudi’s. Those willing to take their time and search every inch of the sponge and coral encrusted walls are rewarded.

Peacock mantis shrimp are almost a guaranteed sighting around Phuket. At the moment we also have the rarer giant spearing mantis at Racha Noi and not far from its perfectly manicured hole there’s a stunning red fire goby and a winged pipefish.

Cleaning stations are always a hive of activity and every dive site has them although one in particular. Turtle Rock in the Phi Phi has four different species of cleaner shrimp, cleaner wrasse and the beautiful Jann’s pipefish. All anxiously waiting for the next client on the station.

Whip corals around Phuket are worth closer inspection, most of them have their resident gobies but some have the perfectly camouflaged coral whip shrimp and the bizarre looking xeno crab.

It may not compare to some more famous critter locations around the world but there’s not many where the lighting on your macro shot can be ruined by the shadow of a passing giant manta ray…

From The Beach

For those in the know, Kata Beach has a great reputation for the small stuff. However it’s not the only place, Yanui Beach has plenty of nudi’s, frogfish and pipefish. It’s not that popular a dive site but we hope to explore it more now that we’ve moved location. Our new Rawai dive centre is just a few minutes drive away.

So what are you waiting for? Come and find your critters with our expert Phuket diving guides

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By Justin Hartrey

I've been enjoying the incredible marine life in our oceans for over 25 years. 13 years ago I became a PADI professional in Phuket, hoping to introduce as many people as possible to the incredible beauty of the seas.

Having been fortunate enough to dive all over south east and especially Thailand, I enjoy sharing my diving experiences and passion on this blog.

Originally from Bristol in the UK, I swapped the frigid waters of the North Atlantic for the warm tropical seas around Thailand and can confidently say that I wouldn't go back

Posted in Amazing Local Dives on .

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Don't trust your diving to amateurs or freshly minted dive guides, dive with local experienced experts from Local Dive Thailand. Our Scuba Diving Phuket Tours will take you to see the rarest of the rare critters, you will be amazed by the macro life our guides can find, in the secret places only they know. To put it in perspective, if you were going to climb Mount Everest you would certainly hire a local sherpa to lead the way & keep you safe. Diving is similar because there is absolutely no substitute for local experience & local knowledge, Local Dive Thailand's guides are Phuket's Sherpa's of the Andaman Sea!

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When talking about Scuba Diving in Phuket, you should believe the hype, many seasons we have had Whale Sharks grace us on our regular and easy to reach dive sites and on a good day you can add Sea Horses, Sea Moths, Snake Eels, Frog Fish & Octopus to what you can see on any given dive and so much more. If we are heading to Phi Phi Island for the day, you can possibly see Hawksbill Sea Turtles and Black Tip Reef Sharks, also don't forget the King Cruiser, 84 meters of beautiful wreck and the most amazing reef nursery for fish and nudibranch. Local Dive Thailand day trip tours to these locations are not to be missed when you are scuba diving Phuket, get in touch with us and book an 'awesome' day of diving.

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