Staghorn Reef is located on the East side of Koh Racha Yai, not far from the very good Lucy’s Reef dive site. It takes about 2 hours to reach this spot by boat from Phuket. Visibility is generally very good in this area. True to it’s name, there is a lot of beautiful Staghorn Coral on this reef. The fish life is also good with a lots of juvenile fishes. It is not rare to see a whitetip reef shark resting on the sand as well as all the usual reef fishes of the Andaman sea such as the superb Titan triggerfish or baby Groupers. It is usually a nice and easy drift dive. This is also a great Snorkelling Spot as the coral garden is very shallow. A snorkelling tour can easily be arranged directly from Phuket Beaches.
You can dive Staghorn Reef all year long. Access: Boat. See the map of Staghorn Reef on the right for the exact location.
Fishes you may spot while diving Staghorn Reef
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Blue Spotted Ray
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Grouper
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Triggerfish
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Whitetip Shark
... and more fishes & sea life, Huge Moray Eel, Twinspotted Snapper
Photos
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Clown fishes waiting in front of their blue anemone housePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Blacktip Shark patrolling the crystal clear water... EPIC photo!Photo by Yann Hubert -
Huge Hammerhead Shark patrolling the reef in French PolynesiaPhoto by Yann Hubert -
Beautiful & Colorful Mandarin FishPhoto by Rich Guest -
Yellow Seahorse in Lembeh StraitPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Lion Fish swimming in crystal clear waterPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Surreal LifePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Closeup NudibranchPhoto by Jihye Lee -
BusyPhoto by Matthieu Billaud -
White Blue NudibranchPhoto by Rich Guest
Diving Reviews for this region
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Access to the best diving areas of the Andaman Sea and starting point of many liveaboards to Similans and Surin Islands! Good place for cheap diving courses.
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For an experienced diver, this dive site is pretty disappointing.
The artificial reef may well get better over time, which will encourage more interest and wild life, until then I suggest you get an update on the environment from a local guide and consider other much better dive sites in the area.
As a beginner or training ground, it is a simple multilevel dive.
Hi Graggs!
Thank you for reviewing this dive site, it’s a huge help in keeping the information up to date and relevant to divers from all around the world!
Best bubbles!