Dive site · Offshore north-west
Chumphon Pinnacle
The island's most famous dive, and its best whale shark odds.
Dive site · Offshore north-west
The island's most famous dive, and its best whale shark odds.
Chumphon Pinnacle is the dive Koh Tao is known for. It's a granite pinnacle rising out of deep water about 12 km north-west of the island, forty to forty-five minutes by boat, and it never breaks the surface: the top sits at 14 metres, and the site drops away to around 36.
The summit is carpeted in anemones swaying with pink anemonefish, one of the prettiest scenes in the Gulf, with satellite pinnacles scattered around the main peak, including Barracuda Rock to the south-west. Because of the depth it's best enjoyed with an Advanced certification; Open Water divers can still cruise the summit around 14 to 18 metres when conditions are kind.
The life is the big-blue kind: chevron and yellowtail barracuda in schools, big-eye trevally hunting in packs, giant and marbled groupers holding court in the crevices, batfish, snappers and fusiliers everywhere in between.
And then there's the reason everyone keeps coming back: no site around Koh Tao records more whale shark sightings. The season peaks from late March to May and again around September and October. Never guaranteed, always unforgettable.
About 12 km north-west of Koh Tao, in open water. It's an exposed site, so visibility and surface conditions vary with the day; every school on the island runs it regularly, usually as an early-morning dive.