Similans Dive Sites – Richelieu Rock
Richelieu Rock is Thailand’s most famous dive site and a favourite of Jacques Cousteau’s. This horseshoe rock pinnacle rises just one metre above the water during low tide and is completely submerged during high tide. It boasts an abundance of soft corals and tons of marine life including anemone fish, barracuda, jacks, trevallies, seahorses, ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp and the majestic whale shark can often be seen gliding past.
This is a fabulous site for underwater photographers and should not be missed while diving Thailand. The easiest and best way to scuba dive at Richelieu Rock from Phuket is on a Similans liveaboard trip of 3 – 5 days.
Availability
End of October – Early May
As part of a 3, 4 or 5 day Similan Islands liveaboard trip. Certified divers only.
Visibility
10 to 30 metres
Currents
Mild to strong
Depth
12 – 35 metres
Marine Life
Whale sharks, chevron barracuda, great barracuda, batfish, jacks, snappers, brown-marbled groupers, seahorses, frogfish, tomato anemonefish, clown anemonefish, cuttlefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, tuna, pipefish, cornetfish, boxfish, angelfish, triggerfish, moray eels, peacock mantis shrimps, nudibranchs, octopus, egg cowrie shells. Occasionally manta rays, turtles, guitar sharks.
What we think 🙂
For us this is the top dive site of Thailand and we never get bored of diving here. Well known for encounters with whale sharks and sometimes manta rays, this site consists of a horse-shoe shaped rock pinnacle surrounded by smaller limestone rocks, that are covered with anemones, sea fans, barrel sponges and soft corals.
Following the horseshoe round the west towards the tip you’ll find large rock formations covered in anemones and soft corals, look out for the resident lionfish – sometimes as many as 20 can be counted in the same area.
Richelieu is located north of the Similan Islands in the Surin National park and just south of Myanmar. The journey on your Similans liveaboard boat takes around 3 1/2 hours from Koh Tachai. There is a buoy line located on the east side of the pinnacle which will take you down past lots of stunning soft corals and anemones which start at about 7 metres deep. From here you can descend down into the front of the horseshoe and then follow the channel into the centre of it. Here you’ll find lots of snappers, cuttlefish and often the school of batfish are hanging around here. There are lots of cracks, crevices and overhangs in the rocks that hide smaller marine life such as frogfish, harlequin shrimp, cleaner shrimp, coral-banded shrimp etc. but keep looking out into the blue as often the bigger stuff is passing by!
Follow the wall at Richelieu Rock as it curves round and you’ll find yourself at the back of the horseshoe where there are lots of barrel sponges, big sea fans and purple, yellow and red soft corals. Carry on and you’ll come to a part of the wall that’s covered in yellow corals, here turn into the cut-through and this will take you back into the horseshoe. At the base of this channel you can find the tomato anemonefish, and as you continue on you’ll be gliding through big schools of snappers, as well as barracudas and jacks. Look for scorpionfish in the channels as well as ribbon eels and tiger-tailed seahorses. You can follow the wall around to bring you back to the far east side of the pinnacle.
Dropping away from the pinnacle are several bommies covered in soft corals with big schools of jacks swimming all around. Sometimes current may be strong so you will need to follow the channels within the site rather than going all the way around the outside. I have dived this site many times and it a must for all divers. There’s always plenty of fish and awesome marine life to see and you never know what you may find.