Phi Phi Island
Join Us as a Leisure Dive Center Phi Phi Island Member!
The location of our dive center on Laemtong beach gives us access to a wide range of dive sites across Phi Phi Leh, Phi Phi Don, and Koh Bida. While Phi Phi is famous for its vibrant nightlife, our base on the paradisiac Laemtong beach offers a peaceful setting and the chance to enjoy the colorful coral reefs and marine life that make the underwater world of Phi Phi so special.
We plan our dive trips to leave later than most of the other dive centers, so we are diving while they have a surface interval — meaning the dive sites are less crowded and more relaxed. If you are staying at Holiday Inn, Erawan Palms, Outrigger, or Natural Resort, send us a message and we will help you plan your diving itinerary during your stay in Koh Phi Phi. Have a look through the drop‑down menu for more information on the individual dive sites. Here are some of our favorite dive spots.
These dive sites are located within 25 minutes boat ride from Leisure Dive Center and can be reached with either our big dive boat ‘Chocktavee’ or traditional thai longtail boats.
Koh Phi Phi Leh is the second largest island in the Phi Phi National Marine park and home to the famous ‘Maya bay’ where The Beach was filmed. The dive sites here are very popular due to the range of marine life that can be seen here.
Consisting of Bida Nok and Bida Nai dive sites located at the furthest south of Leisure Dive Center. Bida Nok has it all, a nice shallow bay where we start the dive looking for Blacktip Reef Sharks, contrary to popular misinformation, they are very shy and take no interest whatsoever in humans. They grow roughly over one meter in length and will hightail out of the bay when we get too close to them. From the shallow bay we descend to around 12 meters which is about the average depth of the dive. There is a huge variety of marine life to be found here like swarms of Yellowtail Snapper, Boxfish, Nudibranch, Pufferfish, Crabs, Banded Krait, Sea Horse and Octopus (if we’re lucky) and the occasional Turtle passing by. As the site is SO huge, it can easily be made into three separate dives. As opposed to this easy reef dive description, other areas of Bida Nok have giant rocks, a seemingly endless wall that drops to 24 meters and may harbor lobsters, shrimp and so much more. In short, there is something to be found here for every preference! Bida Nai is slightly smaller but would still take at least 2 dives to complete. As it is adjacent to Bida Nok, it harbors much of the same life and features. It is a bit more round shaped leaving the divers often a bit more exposed to currents. Average depth around 12 to 14 meters on the reef side and 24 meters on the side of the wall.
DIVE THE KING CRUISER FROM PHI PHI ISLAND On the 4th May 1997 the King Cruiser, a car ferry operating from Phuket to Phi Phi, hit a submerged collection of rocky pinnacles (Anemone Reef). The impact split the designated marine sanctuary and popular dive site in two… 17 minutes later it was under 30m of water. All 561 passengers were rescued and safely taken to 2 police boats and 5 fishing boats. The wreck sits upright in 32 metres of water and remains in one piece, although the forward upper deck has collapsed. Penetration is safe and possible through different points, however it is recommended to take precautions and follow the advice of your dive guide. The site is suitable for advanced or deep dive trained divers and the trip is usually combined with the nearby sites Shark Point or Anemone Reef.
Anemone reef is located 55 minutes away from Leisure Dive center, towards Phuket. This submerged pinnacle starts at 5m depth and descends to around 25m. As its name suggests, the top of this site is packed with anemones (photo above) giving the appearance of the whole site swaying with the currents and water movement. It is suitable for divers of all experience levels, with marine life including huge schools of snappers, giant and white eye morays as well as smaller creatures such as seahorses and ghost pipefish. We usually combine this dive with nearby sites Shark Point and King Cruiser.
Shark Point is a 55 minute boat ride from Laemtong beach in the direction of Phuket. Although leopard sharks can sometimes be spotted here, this site actually got its name from the shape of the rock which breaks the surface. The maximum depth at shark point is 25m but there are many areas around both pinnacles that are between 5m and 16m, making it a site that can be enjoyed by divers of all levels.
Nui Rocks is located along the west coast of Phi Phi Don island. Two large rocks sit in front of the bay, offering some exciting swim-throughs and home to various nudibranch species, seahorses, reef grouper, butterflyfish, moray eel and ghost pipefish. You will also discover plenty of colourful reefs and some soft corals. Travel time to the site from our dive shop is between 15 & 25 minutes depending on which side of the island we start from. Green turtle and leopard shark can also be spotted here.
250 meters out the bay in front of our dive centre, the reef lies along the cliff for 1.5km. The coral garden plunges to 18 meters. It is an uncomplicated wall with coral garden in the bottoms. The site is suitable for Discover Scuba Diving as the average depth is only 15m. Going out to the cliff requires vigorous swimming for around 8 mins before descending. Under the water, you will come across young reef fish such as parrotfish, sergeant major, damsel, angelfish, needlefish and schools of yellow snapper along the way. Small shrimps and crabs are on Brain and Leather Corals. Cuttlefish loves to camouflage among staghorn coral as well. Other soft corals, small gorgonians, sea feather and whips are common here.
Starting from the famous Maya Bay, but going Southwards, is a dive site called Whaleshark Wall. Here we have to be fortunate with the conditions to be able to dive, as currents don’t always allow us to do so. The average depth is around 12 – 15 meters, right from the start we can find a cave, overhanging rock “shelves” and eventually even swim throughs between gigantic rocks at 18 meters. This place definitely has a bit of a special atmosphere to it, and with great visibility which is most common between Feb – March, this will be a dive to remember. Lobsters and Nudibranch are amongst our usual finds here.
Palong comes right after Malong and is mostly known for its larger sandy patches with rocks scattered al over the place. Lots of smaller marine life can be found here, as well as another opportunity to look for Blacktip Reef Sharks. Depending on our objective, we can choose to dive here between 8 and 14 meters.
This site is located at the East side of Phi Phi Leh island right next to the famous cave at the surface that is said to contain ancient writing of merchants long ago. In front of the bay that has a lot of longtail boats passing by to drop off snorkelers, there is a big artificial reef made up of concrete cubes, it sits at almost 18 meters. Here we can find Pufferfish, Nudibranch, Lionfish, Crabs and more. Going shallower there is a coral reef as well around 5 – 10 meters. Overall a nice entry level dive site, with lot of swim through opportunity at the artificial reef.
Pileh Wall is located to the south of Pileh Bay. The dive site is a sloping wall with exquisite soft coral, nudibranches and enormous fan. There are also some pinnacles along the wall. Turtles and blacktip reef shark visit the area from time to time. You can also find triggerfish, pufferfish, boxfish and other typical reef fish. The site is also fitting for all divers’ level.
Ready to take it up a notch. One of Phi Phi Island’s most exciting dives is at the Kled Gaeow Wreck. At 27 meters depth, this ex-Thai navy vessel was decommissioned and deliberately sank to act as an artificial reef and an incredible new dive site. This spectacular wreck dive is teeming with marine life since it was sunk back in 2014. Located close to Phi Phi Ley Island this dive trip includes one dive on the wreck and one reef dive. The dive is conducted descending using a line, divers meet at the end of the line and all together start exploring the site. Starting at the deepest level, circulating the wreck while simultaneously advancing slowly towards more shallow depths. We don’t penetrate the wreck. The wreck is covered in shells and barnacles, in between which the careful eye will distinguish many smaller lifeforms like Nudibranch, Pipefish, Shrimp, Crabs, etc… This dive requires a good buoyancy so we can keep a safe distance from the surface of the wreck. Due to the size and depth of the wreck, we usually spend just over 30 minutes on this dive. NOTE 1. This dive site is suitable for certified divers with Advanced certification. 2. This dive package is only available during periods when the currents are mild. During Full Moon and New Moon this package will not be available.
Coming from Palong and continuing North, we start another dive site called Mushroom Rock. Upon descend we find here a plateau at around 7m depth. This plateau continue on for some 20 minutes depending on the current and our speed, after which we descend a bit further to find between 12 and 14 meters the famous Mushroom Rock. The rock, as its name suggests, is shaped like a giant tilted mushroom, and you can even swim under the crown of the mushroom and you’ll come close to 18 meters doing so. The most stunning thing about it is when the visibility is great and the sun penetrates all the way down, revealing the mushroom to be completely covered with at least five different species of soft corals, some hard corals, and other marine life. If you’re really lucky, at that moment there would also be some Yellowtail snappers around, swarming you and the rock, you’ll leave here feeling like the little mermaid.
From the corner of the famous Maya Bay facing North, we first come across Malong dive site, which is easily recognized at the surface by its 10 meters long tunnel-like cave. We descend here and explore the marine life in front of the cave, passing by a few swim throughs, we spend our dive at an average depth of 10 meters or can stay on the shallow 6 meters plateau for a while trying to spot a turtle or some cuttlefish. There is a sandy bottom next to the reef at around 14 meters. Malong further offers more swim throughs, an underwater cave, rocks covered in Nudibranchs and soft corals, etc
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