Diving in Phi Phi

What to Do, Where and How to Experience It

From breath-taking views to challenging dives, the Phi Phi Islands offer any tourist would enjoy pretty much. There’s diving around the entire island from which you can choose the best possible experience you’ll have each day based on certain diving conditions. 

Koh Phi Phi’s stunning bays also offer great locations to have dives you’ll genuinely remember and treasure. Let’s ‘dive’ deeper into these amazing sites Koh Phi Phi has to offer, and see for yourself what wonders await your next vacation to these beautiful islands.

Koh Phi Phi’s Diving Experience

Koh Phi Phi’s Diving Experience

The Phi Phi Islands offer a wide selection of dive sites that will surely suit all levels of divers. These offerings include gently sloping reefs, deep coral walls, shipwrecks, and an incredible artificial reef. The majority of the dives happen around Koh Phi Phi Leh and at the Bida Islands.

These majestic diving spots are around 20-40 minutes away from the main island Koh Phi Phi Don, using traditional boat rides. With this proximity, tourists can run two trips of tank dives both in the morning and the afternoon towards the famous Phi Phi dive sites. These clear waters offer a wide range of wild sea life, such as black reef sharks, leopard or zebra sharks, hawksbill turtles, sea horses, and a fantastic array of shrimp.

Thanks to Koh Phi Phi’s towering limestone cliffs that give shade and provide shelter from the low season winds, diving is quite possible all year round.

The Diving Sites

1. Bida Islands

South of Koh Phi Phi Leh lies the pristine islands of Bida Nok and Bida Nai. These sister islands are home to a fantastic range of wild sea life and numerous dive environments considered two (2) of the best diving sites the Phi Phi Islands have to offer. 

Most people’s favorite location is Bida Nok due to its varied underwater environments provide excellent diving for divers of all levels and abilities.

i. BIDA NOK

One of the most favorite dive sites of tourists, Bida Nok, has the broadest range of wild sea life, offering something for everybody with its 3-25 meter range.

Dives start on the island’s west side bay. For tourists who’re looking for a diving experience that’s a bit deeper, the south side of the island beckons of finger reefs that lead down from the surface until 18 meters. 

Some sleepy leopard sharks cluster in and around giant coral fans. You can drop yourself off over the reef’s shoulders, cruising above the drop-off while keeping wide eyes for more leopard sharks and hawksbill turtles. 

Moving further along, gets you enveloped inside giant shoals of vibrant yellow snappers. Ultimately, the tour leads you towards the dive’s conclusion with another shoal of big-eyed trevallies.

ii. BIDA NAI

After experiencing Bida Nok, the same 3-25-meter sister island Bida Nai is packed with surprises. Follow the coral walls and encounter leopard sharks or huge black tips. Float along with the turtles and shuffle yourself in schools of yellowtail barracudas.

At times, a great friend visits and comes along when you’re in Bida Nai. It’s big, it’s black, and when its shadow casts over you, you’ll know it’s a whale shark.

2. Palong and Malong

i. Palong

Situated a few kilometers north of Maya Bay, Palong Bay is one of the locally famous dive site offerings of Koh Phi Phi, with 5-20 meters of tranquil waters.

Go north with a 10-minute boat ride and be rewarded by shoals of blacktip reef sharks, ranging from full-sized adults down to juvenile ones. Enjoy the beautiful small valleys of soft coral that drop down to the sandy bottoms as you go deeper. 

Turn south and be rewarded with long pristine coral walls, turtles, and the big thing – a wall of critters. See frogfishes, sea horses, shrimps, and pipefishes.

ii. Malong

The home for lovely turtles, Malong allows you to meet these gentle sea creatures for about 90% of the time – hopefully, your dive get lucky here. Malong, with the same 5-20 meters of water, is also perfect for tiny critters like tiger tail seahorses, swimming throughs towards the end, and numerous types of shrimp.

Phi Phi dive sites

3. The Viking Cave

The Viking Cave has a stunning bay and a gorgeous cave above water but has the real deal underwater, a few hundred meters towards the north. A couple of years ago, Phuket’s Marine Conservation Department placed down a beautiful artificial reef that helped rebuild marine life devastated by the tsunami. Today, it is home to long-finned Batfish, Lion Fish, and Leopard Sharks.

4. Kled Kaeo Gaeow

Needing a short ride from the island, The Kled Gaeow was intentionally sunk on March 19, 2014. Quickly colonized by local marine life right after, this 48-meter wreck became a great dive highlighted by nurse sharks and frogfishes. 

The wreck’s top is at 16 meters bottoms out at 26 meters, which are both suitable for advanced types of open water dives or even higher. Open water divers can experience this excellent dive part of watercourses on adventure-wreck-kind of deep dive or the advanced one called Advanced Dives.

5. Shark Point

Located five (5) minutes from the King Cruiser Wreck, Shark Point is a diving site exploding with fish. See trevallies chase bait fishes and other marine life such as Ghost Pipefishes, Honeycomb Moray Eels, sea horses, and leopard sharks. 

With nine (9) different peninsulas, Shark Point is impossible to disappoint and get bored doing dives in this spot! This dive is part of the King Cruiser dive trip.

6. Hin Daeng and Hin Muang

This twin destination is located around an hour using a speed boat from Koh Phi Phi Don, a dive you’ll never forget! Taken from the Thai word “hin” for “rock,” Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are famous for these top three (3) things: soft corals, swift manta rays, and seismic whale sharks. 

But wait, there’s more! On top of that, wildlife is awe-inspiring out there, with everything even more extensive and much better. Experience massive triggerfishes, playful parrotfishes, and rare morays!

However, we need to keep in mind that trips to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are only made possible during good weather conditions. It also limits people with their minimum diver counts per vacation trip.

Final Thoughts

Are you excited after knowing what Koh Phi Phi has to offer on the diving site? Entice yourself with the treasures that swim freely beneath these clear waters and indeed be amazed at how this twin dive destination would add to your priced possessions of diving and vacation pleasures. 

Add these dives sites to your following Phi Phi Island itinerary and charge the memory of this visit to your vast knowledge and experience.