Christmas Point – Similan Island 9
Christmas Point is a wonderful dive site at the far north of the Similans group of nine main islands. It is located just to the west of Koh Bangu, which is Island 9. Like most Similan Islands diving sites, it consists of large granite rocks and boulders on a relatively flat sandy seabed. It is best known for its swimthrough, which is at a depth of 24 metres, but there are other swimthroughs and lots of other things to get excited about here, just south of North Point.
This is definitely a dive site to bring your camera! With a maze of granite boulders and swim-throughs photos really capture the beauty of this site. Ribbon eels and Orange-spotted Pipefish can be seen around the edge of this dive site as well as Napoleon Wrasse and the occasional Eagle Ray. Anemones with Porcelain Crabs inhabit the crevasses and Nudibranches galore can be seen crawling over the boulders.
The most popular is located at a depth of 24 metres, so it should be found and swum through during the first half of the dive. There are others, though, some of which are more challenging than others. As the rocks and boulders become further from the island, they also become more scattered and in deeper water. Here is a good place to look out for resting sharks and rays, such as the Leopard/Zebra Shark and Whitetip Reef Shark
Type of Dive: Boulder
Depth: 8 – 40 metres diving depth
Visibility: 10 – 30 metres
Temperature: 27 – 29 degrees C
Difficulty: Intermediate / Advanced PADI