Scuba Diving Destinations:

The Similan Islands

Destination: Indian Ocean, Thailand, Similan Islands

The Similan Islands are a diver's paradise in which more than 25 different diving spots can be found and explored. The Similans are located in Thailand and consist on a group of nine main islands which form a 25 kilometer chain in the Andaman Sea. These islands contain several areas of tropical jungle at their lands while they also have amazingly beautiful beaches at its coastlines. Similan Islands' beaches have white soft sand and blue clear waters which turn them to be a great place for sunbathing and relaxing as well as for swimming and practicing water sports.

In 1982, The Similan Islands were named National Park and since then they have been highly protected due to the fact that they receive so many visitors that they could loose some of its natural beauty if there weren't some special regulations. This way, it is important that visitors are respectful for the places which they visit and the environments with which they interact.

One of the most amazing areas of the Similans for divers to visit is the eastern side. Divers who visit the eastern side of the Similans could observe hard corals which reach an underwater profundity of over 30 meters. Besides these hard corals, divers could also observe soft corals, exotic fish and a great amount of different marine creatures which together create a very colorful and varied underwater picture.

The Similan's western side also offers very exciting and unique attractions for those divers who visit it. This Similan's area is characterized by having many rock formations which divers can explore while diving as well as, due to their great size, visitors in general can also observe some of them from the surface.

The north and south areas of these islands are similar to the west and allow visitors to observe several rock and granite formation of all sizes and shapes. Some of these formations can be observed underwater due to the way in which they might become part of the underwater world which divers would observe while practicing the sport as well as they could have a very particular point of view of the surface formations while looking at them from the sea.





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