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Liveaboard Diving in Koh Tachai
What To Expect On A Koh Tachai Liveaboard
Liveaboards to Koh Tachai usually visit this area on a Similan Islands itinerary on their way to Richelieu Rock. It's only 12 square kilometers in size and located on the northwest of Similan Islands National Park, it actually lies between the Similan and Surin Islands. An idyllic location in the Andaman Sea, this small uninhabited island is formed of lush rainforest, stunning white sandy beaches, and crystal clear waters. Relatively untouched Koh Tachai is still unspoiled and worth the visit on your liveaboard dive cruise. Below the surface, some other visitors include whale sharks, manta rays, leopard sharks and Napoleon wrasse to name just a few. The waters around the island are quite shallow towards the shore then drop off suddenly to depths of 70 meters. Acting as a barrier, these drop-offs protect the island and the rich waters around it offer excellent snorkeling.
What You Can See
There are two great dive sites at Koh Tachai, the plateau to the south and the eastern reef. Off the eastern coast, the sheltered shallower waters make for good night dives. Most liveaboards will moor here for the night.
Koh Tachai plateau, about 1km southeast of the island, is so named because it is ringed by a ridge-like coral plateau crowned with hard corals, gorgonian sea fans line the scattered boulders, sloping from 12 - 35 m to the sandy bottom where leopard and nurse sharks lie peacefully undisturbed. Groups of snapper lurking on the top ledges, octopus hiding amongst the corals, under which red-banded cleaner shrimp work tirelessly. It is best to pay close attention to the divemaster's brief as this site can be challenging at times although the swim-throughs provide shelter from the strong currents. There is a decent line from a buoy on the south side, helping the diver to descend in sometimes strong surface currents. This site is for the more experienced diver. Towards the end of the dive, you may see coral-eating Hawksbill turtles, groups of batfish or even the banded sea snake lurking near the mooring line upon your ascent. Keep an eye out for the odd Napoleon wrasse patrolling the area.
Koh Tachai pinnacle is usually done as a drift dive and here the currents bring high levels of plankton, during the months of February - April, and in turn, the larger pelagics feeding on them such as the Manta Ray and Whale Shark. The strong currents enable the barracudas, trevallies, and sharks to hunt easily for smaller prey. Early morning dives can waken you up from your slumber quite quickly as it can sometimes be a feeding frenzy and you may not know where to look there are so many fish. Visibility varies on the month and the amount of plankton in the water, between 10-30m. If the larger pelagics are not shown, then be on the lookout for the macro life. Small frogfish and nudibranch are known to grace these waters.
An impressive underwater topography mixed with a diverse marine life makes Koh Tachai a must for Surin or Similan cruises.
Getting There
The best way to get to Koh Tachai is on a Thailand liveaboard trip to the Similan or Surin Islands, which will depart from either Phuket or Khao Lak. Further from Phuket than from Khao Lak, (200 km north of Phuket and 80 km northwest of Khao Lak), it is worth checking what port you prefer to depart from. Khao Lak is about 100km north of Phuket and can be reached overland. Please check your itinerary before purchasing flight tickets. There are international flights into Phuket and / or domestic flights from Bangkok to Phuket. Reachable from Khao Lak in one hour you may find other day boats in the area.
Koh Tachai Diving Reviews
- 9.1 Superb
- 234 Verified Reviews
Good manta spotting, excellent visbility
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the White Manta Thailand
Abundant marine life, white tip reef shark
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Genesis I
Great, visibility is not 100% but still good diving
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the DiveRACE Class E
Very good -- a nice relaxing dive.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 1
Need to be a experienced diver for Kon Tachai Pinnacle! Lots of current on the night diving! I have a divemaster and it's a tough dive for inexperienced divers!
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Oktavia
Excellent. We got to see a giant manta, schools of barracuda, and a school of mating parrot fish.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Deep Andaman Queen
Our favorite site with beautiful sea fans
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Hallelujah
Poor visibility, otherwise great
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 8
Whale Shark and mantas !!!!
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the DiveRACE Class E
Viz was not the best but meant lot of Sea Life
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the DiveRACE Class E
Second dive was good, despite strong currents and poor viz. Spotted a guitar shark on the sea floor and tons of moray eels
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Camic
Enjoyed the good visibility around the twin pinnacles.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the The Junk
Great, but strong currents
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Dolphin Queen
One beautiful dive site after another. Hard to choose the best.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Bavaria
Really busy. Boats overhead the whole time.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Sawasdee Fasai
We were unlucky on our dives and didn't see any large marine life. Unfortunately, most of the reefs in this area of Thailand are bleached, so without sea life the dives are a little disappointing. We know of other divers that have seen a lot more and that would have made our dives better - we may have just been unlucky.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Andaman
We dove a couple of times at Koh Bon, which had abundant marine life and colorful coral.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Sawasdee Fasai
Unfortunately, I dived without current. 😕
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Giamani
Three dives here and one was a bit challenging with the current. Supposedly it brings larger fish because of it
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Blue Dolphin
Great site and clear visibility.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Bavaria
There is always something new to find and photograph.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the DiveRACE Class E
Water warm and visibility was very good. Many dive boats are around at the same time which does detract from the great dive location.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the White Manta Thailand
Saw one 9ft manta for about 30 seconds - the highlight of our entire week on the liveaboard. The rest of the dives brought the same impression of being in petrified forest.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Diva Andaman
A beautiful place to dive and the variety fantastic
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Similan Explorer
The water so warm no wetsuit needed and the fish were plentiful
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Pawara
Great place where i could see a nice couple of octopus.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Deep Andaman Queen
My preferred dive location of the trip.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the The Phinisi
It thought the diving and scenery of this island was incredible.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Camic
Koh tachai was very nice. Saw a few Manta Rays there.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Manta Queen 8
We saw a manta ray. It was really cool.
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Manta Queen 3
sehr schön - unbedingt zu empfehlten - gute Sicht
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Sawasdee Fasai
great visibility made this dive site one to remember.
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the The Phinisi
Much like in previouslly mentioned areas. Full of fish and strong hot/cold currents
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Sawasdee Fasai
Strong current but beautiful rock formations and reef
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the The Phinisi
We saw many different creatures there.
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Sawasdee Fasai Live Aboard
Wonderful visibility could have been better but we saw manta rays each dives
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Oktavia
Strong currents require work, leading to rewarding diving here
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Hallelujah
Sometimes strong current and surge, but that made the diving more interesting. FIsh and human struggling at the same time.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Sawasdee Fasai
The second best spot, where we spent two dives, totally worth. Comparing to Richelieu Rock, that’s more suitable for big fishes. A wonderful Manta Ray spotted from very close.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Deep Andaman Queen
Very nice, but challenging with rather strong current
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Oktavia
The Dome was visited three times and every time it was different things to see. Good experience!
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Manta Queen 1
It was little bit difficult with current but I believed I improved my skills as well. They know what they are doing it ... our instructors are very good.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Manta Queen 3
Beautiful and similar to the other dive sites in the area in terms of life.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the The Junk
Really nice diving, beautiful reefs
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the The Junk
Prefer exploring the pinnacle more as I feel the reef area has less to offer. Pretty good in general.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Genesis I
Excellent diving site. We experinced a bit of current.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the The Junk
Great, although experienced strong currents
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Manta Queen 8
Some current was little strong.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Whale
Koh Tachai dives were good though visibility was variable. At Koh Bon things were better and even saw a whale shark!
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Deep Andaman Queen
We had awesome dives here, saw the tiger shark and had great visibility, without too much current.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Similan Explorer
Great diving, cold in places, but loads to see and beautiful reef.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Oktavia
Healthy coral and plenty of fish
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 1
다양한 생물들이 살아서 좋지만 시야가 그리 좋지 않다
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Sawasdee Fasai
Huge volume marine life! Amazing to watch. Must visit
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Dolphin Queen
Challenging (current) but we loved it!
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Deep Andaman Queen
Good, similar to Koh Tachai in that we didnt see as much but thats probably down to luck more than anything.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Hallelujah
Great spot, but a little bit of current
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the The Junk
Great diving, not the best spot but pretty nice.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Dolphin Queen
Many fish’s and colour full Dive sides
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Merdeka 1
Tachai with great marin life but not so good visibility
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Sawasdee Fasai
Strong current so less enjoyable.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the The Junk
The pinnacle can be challenging with strong currents but it was the home to my first whale shark sighting so I hold it in high esteem. During a sunset dive we also saw hundreds of predatory fish gathering to hunt which was a formidable sight!
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Oktavia
Good. Manta and whale shark.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Oktavia
This was my personal favorite of the trip. The visibility was better here than any other place we went and there was an abundance of active marine life.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 5
Fantastic dives with a whale shark sighting and a couple of manta rays
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Oktavia
Fantastic! Got to see some big fish!
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 3
Great site but very poor visibility
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Oktavia
Koh Bon and Koh Tachai were the best from our trip. Sadly we had only 1 day there.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 8
The dome was great. We wish we had done a true ‘night dive’ there. We got out of the water before the sun had even set!!!
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 2
A lot of barracuda and trevally. Can have quite a strong current.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Hallelujah
Way too strong current but asked not to use current hook. Only for fit divers I guess.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Hallelujah
A nice dive. Not the best of the trip but very pleasant!
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the The Junk
Mantas galore. How can you ask for any better. Blessed by God.
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Manta Queen 7
Amazing - WHALE SHARKS AND MANTAS
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Manta Queen 3
The pinnacle was very cool lots of stuff to view, the barracuda balls were amazing
Diving Koh Tachai in March on the Deep Andaman Queen
Koh Tacha for me was a little scary a lot of current which I'm not used to, but again beautiful diving.
Diving Koh Tachai in April on the Manta Queen 5
Good diving. Relaxing drift dives.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Bavaria
Amazing. Saw an eagle ray.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Sawasdee Fasai
We had a strong current, but luckily there are enough places behind rocks to shelter and relax. There was an impressive school of big chevron barracuda's.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Sawasdee Fasai
Schools of batfish, trevallies
Diving Koh Tachai in May on the Manta Queen 2
Koh Tachai was great, strong currents on both the dives there. Koh Bon was very nice too
Diving Koh Tachai in May on the Sawasdee Fasai
The best site but we only did a sunset and very early morning dive there & never saw it at it’s best.
Diving Koh Tachai in October on the Sawasdee Fasai
Challenging due to strong currents, but rewarding
Diving Koh Tachai in October on the Manta Queen 7
big blue experience going in. A bit challenging because of the current. Amazing coral.
Diving Koh Tachai in October on the Camic
Cool pinacle, sometimes strong currents, possible to See sharks
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Marco Polo
Lots of fish, wreck effective an artificial reef, so manage expectations if you want a wreck dive
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the DiveRACE Class E
Nice night dive with rich sea life and interesting rock formations.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Camic
Experienced stronger current but fun.
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Andaman
2 awesome dives there, Moray Eels, Garden eels, Giant Trevalies, amongst great life to see there
Diving Koh Tachai in November on the Camic
Great dive location with healthy corals. Great dive sites with much to see and explore.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the DiveRACE Class E
The Dome was a very cool site with lots of cool wildlife.
Diving Koh Tachai in December on the Manta Queen 2
Great dive site. Saw plenty of life.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 7
Great, snakes, guitarsharks
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 7
No mantas or wale shark this time but overall according to my expectations.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 2
Another Great Spot, especially the Dome
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 2
It’s cool. A lot of different marine lives.
Diving Koh Tachai in January on the Manta Queen 2
reefs had good coral and sea life, no pelagics
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Bavaria
Good site with a good variety of smaller fish life.
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Sawasdee Fasai
Amazing visibility and marine life
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Manta Queen 7
Clear water and great sightings
Diving Koh Tachai in February on the Marco Polo