Marine life of

Thailand » Koh Chang

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There are some excellent diving and snorkelling opportunities around Koh Chang and the region is rapidly developing into a major centre of diving in Thailand. Diving Koh Chang is mainly at reasonably shallow depths with good reefs located at 5 to 25 metres. Visibility can reach 30m but is variable. You can dive year round but the best time is between October and the end of May since rougher seas during the rainy season can reduce visibility or make it difficult to reach the dive sites. However there are calmer periods in the rainy season when diving conditions are OK.

There are impressive reefs in the area with a variety of soft and hard corals including Massive, Columnar and Stagshorn Corals. These support a range of tropical reef life including Blue Tipped Rays, Moray Eels, Trigger Fish, Grouper and Batfish. Turtles can be spotted and Whale Sharks are also seen in the area from time to time.

There are a series of dive sites offering good diving at 5-18m around the seamounts and small islands to the West of Koh Chang. These include Koh Man Nok and Hin Sam Sao. The deeper dive sites are located off some of the islands and seamounts to the South of the Archipelago. Hin Luk Bat has a lot of good coral and some good swim-throughs. Hin Raap is a deeper rocky site with good soft corals.There are also some good dive sites around Koh Rang Island. This is slightly further away from Koh Chang but well worth the journey to dive some interesting pinnacles and see some of the best coral reef in the region. (source: koh-chang-guide.com)

  1. Brown-marbled grouper

    Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  2. Malabar grouper

    Epinephelus malabaricus

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  3. Harlequin sweetlips (adult)

    Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

    think4photop (C) All rights reserved

  4. Harlequin sweetlips (juvenile)

    Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  5. Herring scad

    Alepes vari

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  6. Orangespotted trevally (yellowish)

    Carangoides bajad

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  7. Bluefin trevally

    Caranx melampygus

    Paul and Jill (CC: BY)

  8. Golden medusa

    Phyllorhiza punctata

    Roberto Caucino (C) All rights reserved

  1. Peacock mantis shrimp

    Odontodactylus scyllarus

    Teguh Tirtaputra (C) All rights reserved

  2. Christmas tree worm

    Spirobranchus giganteus

    John A. Anderson (C) All rights reserved

  3. Moorish idol

    Zanclus cornutus

    Ian Scott (C) All rights reserved

  4. Giant moray

    Gymnothorax javanicus

    Kristina Vackova (C) All rights reserved

  5. Greyface moray

    Gymnothorax thyrsoideus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  6. Dotted nudibranch

    Jorunna funebris

    Jette Vis (C) All rights reserved

  7. Varicose wart slug

    Phyllidia varicosa

    marianneb (C) All rights reserved

  8. Green humphead parrotfish

    Bolbometopon muricatum

    DrTH80 (CC: BY)

  1. Blue-barred parrotfish (adult)

    Scarus ghobban

    Levent Konuk (C) All rights reserved

  2. Ember parrotfish (male)

    Scarus rubroviolaceus

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  3. Spot-fin porcupinefish

    Diodon hystrix

    Peter Leahy (C) All rights reserved

  4. Black-blotched porcupinefish

    Diodon liturosus

    asands (CC: BY SA)

  5. Stellate puffer (adult)

    Arothron stellatus

    Stubblefield Photography (C) All rights reserved

  6. Bearded scorpionfish

    Scorpaenopsis barbata

    prilfish (CC: BY)

  7. Thorny seahorse

    Hippocampus histrix

    Ye Choh Wah (C) All rights reserved

  8. Columbrine sea krait

    Laticauda colubrina

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  1. Crown-of-thorns starfish (appearance 1)

    Acanthaster planci

    Kim Briers (C) All rights reserved

  2. Long-spine sea urchin

    Diadema setosum

    Jung Hsuan (C) All rights reserved

  3. Bull shark

    Carcharhinus leucas

    FAUP (C) All rights reserved

  4. Blacktip reef shark

    Carcharhinus melanopterus

    Ruth Black (C) All rights reserved

  5. Whale shark

    Rhincodon typus

    kaschibo (C) All rights reserved

  6. Hingebeak shrimp

    Rhynchocinetes durbanensis

    Whatafoto (C) All rights reserved

  7. Banded coral shrimp

    Stenopus hispidus

    serg_dibrova (C) All rights reserved

  8. Checkered snapper

    Lutjanus decussatus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

Tags: Marine life, Fish, Coral, Fishcard, Fishslate, Scuba diving, Snorkeling, Underwaterphotography, Uwphotography, Reeflife, MyFishGallery.

Marine life tags: Whale shark, Green Turtle, Hawksbill sea turtle, Titan triggerfish, Clown anemonefish (a.k.a. Clownfish, Nemo), Great barracuda, Yellow boxfish, Bull shark, Ribbontail stingray (a.k.a. Blue spotted stingray), Yellowmargin triggerfish, Orbicular batfish, Malabar grouper, Harlequin sweetlips, Christmas tree worm, Greyface moray, Bearded scorpionfish, Black-blotched porcupinefish (a.k.a. Pufferfish), Nudibranchs.

Locationtags: Koh Chang, Gulf of Thailand, Thailand, Diving Koh Chang, Diving Gulf of Thailand, Diving Thailand, Marine life Koh Chang, Marine life Gulf of Thailand, Snorkeling Koh Chang, Snorkeling Gulf of Thailand, Holiday Koh Chang.