Marine life of

Thailand » Pattaya

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For diving, the Gulf of Thailand has some outstanding marine environments, and Pattaya, with its surrounding islands, certainly has its share. We have an abundance of hard and soft corals, countless species of marine life, and some of the only wrecks found in Thai waters.

The Pattaya Bay area is fortunate in that its weather and sea conditions allow year-round diving. Visibility on all types of dives ranges between 6-30 metres depending on time of year, weather, sea conditions and currents (which are usually very mild).

The marine life is extremely varied and quite prolific with clowns, butterflies, tangs, damsels, groupers, snappers, morays and stingrays to name just a few. It is characterized by a noticeable lack of large pelagic. However, these can be found further south along the  coastline and often seen on trips to the Ko Chang islands. Whale shark sightings have also been noted on these trips.

Nurse sharks, black tips, blue-spotted rays and turtles are seen on almost every dive. Dive depths vary from 3 metres close to the islands down to 15-18 metres where the coral begins to peter out. Generally, the best and most colourful coral dives take place between 6 - 15 metres. Wreck dive depths are between 18 - 40 metres. (source: dive-sea.com)

  1. Coral hind

    Cephalopholis miniata

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  2. Brown-marbled grouper

    Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  3. Malabar grouper

    Epinephelus malabaricus

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  4. Harlequin sweetlips (adult)

    Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

    think4photop (C) All rights reserved

  5. Harlequin sweetlips (juvenile)

    Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  6. Herring scad

    Alepes vari

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  7. Orangespotted trevally (yellowish)

    Carangoides bajad

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  8. Bluefin trevally

    Caranx melampygus

    Paul and Jill (CC: BY)

  1. Golden medusa

    Phyllorhiza punctata

    Roberto Caucino (C) All rights reserved

  2. Peacock mantis shrimp

    Odontodactylus scyllarus

    Teguh Tirtaputra (C) All rights reserved

  3. Christmas tree worm

    Spirobranchus giganteus

    John A. Anderson (C) All rights reserved

  4. Moorish idol

    Zanclus cornutus

    Ian Scott (C) All rights reserved

  5. Giant moray

    Gymnothorax javanicus

    Kristina Vackova (C) All rights reserved

  6. Greyface moray

    Gymnothorax thyrsoideus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  7. Dotted nudibranch

    Jorunna funebris

    Jette Vis (C) All rights reserved

  8. Varicose wart slug

    Phyllidia varicosa

    marianneb (C) All rights reserved

  1. Green humphead parrotfish

    Bolbometopon muricatum

    DrTH80 (CC: BY)

  2. Blue-barred parrotfish (adult)

    Scarus ghobban

    Levent Konuk (C) All rights reserved

  3. Ember parrotfish (male)

    Scarus rubroviolaceus

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  4. Spot-fin porcupinefish

    Diodon hystrix

    Peter Leahy (C) All rights reserved

  5. Black-blotched porcupinefish

    Diodon liturosus

    asands (CC: BY SA)

  6. Stellate puffer (adult)

    Arothron stellatus

    Stubblefield Photography (C) All rights reserved

  7. Bearded scorpionfish

    Scorpaenopsis barbata

    prilfish (CC: BY)

  8. Thorny seahorse

    Hippocampus histrix

    Ye Choh Wah (C) All rights reserved

  1. Columbrine sea krait

    Laticauda colubrina

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

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

    Acanthaster planci

    Kim Briers (C) All rights reserved

  3. Long-spine sea urchin

    Diadema setosum

    Jung Hsuan (C) All rights reserved

  4. Bull shark

    Carcharhinus leucas

    FAUP (C) All rights reserved

  5. Blacktip reef shark

    Carcharhinus melanopterus

    Ruth Black (C) All rights reserved

  6. Whale shark

    Rhincodon typus

    kaschibo (C) All rights reserved

  7. Hingebeak shrimp

    Rhynchocinetes durbanensis

    Whatafoto (C) All rights reserved

  8. Banded coral shrimp

    Stenopus hispidus

    serg_dibrova (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: Pattaya, Gulf of Thailand, Thailand, Diving Pattaya, Diving Gulf of Thailand, Diving Thailand, Marine life Pattaya, Marine life Gulf of Thailand, Snorkeling Pattaya, Snorkeling Gulf of Thailand, Holiday Pattaya.