I joined 12 others on a diving trip to South Thailand from 24th to 28th November, 2006. We boarded MV Pawara at Chalong Bay on the southern end of Phuket Island in the evening of 24th and the boat took us south to Hin Daeng, a pinnacle about 12 nautical miles from Koh Rok which is itself about 100 km southeast of Phuket.

MV Pawara is a new medium-sized dive boat. It can accommodate about 20 divers comfortably and has been designed and equipped for the convenience of divers.

Over the 3 following days, we did 12 dives at Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Koh Ha, Hin Bida and Phi Phi Island.

Hin Daeng (Red Rock) is a pinnacle projecting above the water. Hin Muang (Purple Rock), just a short distance away, is completely submerged even at low tide. These two pinnacles offer some of the best diving in Thailand, and feature the steepest wall diving in the country as well. Hin Muang, in fact, is touted one of the best dive sites in the world!

Koh Ha (Five Islands) is located about 30 km south of Koh Phi Phi Don and 29 km north-west of Koh Rok. This group of 5 small islands is designated a national park. The islands’ vertical cliffs drop to over 35m of water in most places. The deep water and its good visibility make good diving. The main attractions here, however, are the 3 underwater caverns on the southern side of the main island, Koh Ha Yai. The caverns are safe to enter and are quite spectacular.

Hin Bida (Bida Rock) is otherwise known as Phi Phi’s Shark Point. Located south of Phi Phi Lae, this rock is a navigational hazard as it just breaks the surface at low tide. This is one of the best places in Thailand for spotting leopard (zebra) sharks.

Phi Phi is made up of Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Lae and 4 smaller islands. Phi Phi Don is the only island in the group with accommodation, shopping, casual bars, restaurants and dive centres. One of the main reasons diving has grown rapidly at Phi Phi is the proximity of the various dive sites around the island group (dive sites are 5 minutes to 1 hour away), and the number and variety of dive sites to visit. Although the diving is not generally considered to be world class, the amount of marine life and the variety of diving make the islands attractive to many divers.