Koh Haa 1

THAILAND

Koh Haa 1

Koh Haa is a tiny group of islands situated in the Andaman Sea 16km west of Koh Lanta. The name means five islands, but there are, in fact, six beautiful uninhabited limestone islands that offer fantastic diving to suit all levels.

“ The lagoon is an excellent place for beginners. Its sandy bottom is scattered with hard corals and varied marine life. In the deeper parts of this site are the pinnacles of Koh Haa 2 and 4, where large schools of fish often congregate ”

Whalesharks can be spotted all year round, however, Koh Haa is more famous for tiger tail seahorse, hawksbill turtle, blue-spotted ray, spotted garden eels, pipefish, ghost pipefish, barracuda, banded sea snake, blacktip reef shark and the shy guitar shark.

The lagoon is an excellent place for beginners. Its sandy bottom is scattered with hard corals and varied marine life. In the deeper parts of this site are the pinnacles of Koh Haa 2 and 4, where large schools of fish often congregate.

Koh Haa Yai boasts an impressive cathedral-like cave and shallow hard coral gardens. Numerous pinnacles are covered in soft corals of every colour where the reef drops off. Koh Haa 6 is a small pinnacle with abundant soft corals and tiny critters. Turtles are regular visitors to this excellent dive site.

But for me, the pick of the dive sites is Koh Haa 1. The soft coral coverage is outstanding, and the topography, which includes a chimney and caves, is stunning. The entrance to the chimney lies at 18m. It opens into a small chamber full of bronze cave sweeper. The exit hole above is at 5m. From there, you can enter another very narrow tunnel that links up with a small cave, from which you can swim directly onto the reef again.

To the south of the chimney, large limestone rock pinnacles create a playground of channels and swimthroughs. Giant pink and soft purple corals are also growing out of the sand everywhere, and huge schools of snapper hover above hard coral gardens.

This dive site is in pristine condition with big stuff in the blue and critters among the corals like harlequin shrimp, ghost pipefish and more.

Who to dive with
Phoenix Divers Koh Lanta
www.phoenixdivers-kohlanta.com

Did you know?

Thailand’s has over 2,000 miles of coastline, encompassing 1,430 islands. Many of these are tourist hotspots, while others remain uninhabited to this day!

Essential information

Location: Koh Haa, Thailand
Depth: 5m-18m
Diver level: Beginner to advanced

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