Marine life of

Thailand » Phuket

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Phuket is strategically located in the Andaman Sea and therefore a great place to be when you want to see the marine life of the Andaman Sea. Daytrips for divers and snorkelers are made to the western located Racha Islands, towards and around the Phi Phi islands in the west and to the famous Similan Islands in the northwest.

Expect to see different types of angelfish, clownfish, butterflyfish, fusiliers, groupers, lobsters, shrimps, snappers and trevallies. You have a realistic chance to see barracudas, turtles, the yellow boxfish, an octopus, the scribbled filefish, a giant moray, nudibranchs, the black spotted puffer, lionfish and the titan triggerfish.

Keep in mind that October to May is the best time to visit, when the sea is calm. Due to unpredictable weather conditions, the Similan Islands National Park is closed from 15 May until 31 October. The most ideal period to visit the Similan Islands is from late February through mid March.

Phuket is the starting point of many liveaboard cruises ranging from 2 until 10 days. A liveaboard cruise will let you see the best of what the Andaman Sea has got to offer, like Hin Daeng and Hin Muang in the far south. You can reach the more remote dive sites of the Similan Islands, the Surin Islands including the famous Richelieu Rock and even the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar/Burma.
Joining a liveaboard cruise gives you a better chance to see whale sharks, manta rays, schools of mobula rays, nurse sharks and white tip reef sharks. You probably also see different species of moray eels, boxfish, frogfish, ghost pipefish, humphead parrotfish, cuttlefish, seahorses and many many more amazing marine life animals.

  1. Goldlined spinefoot

    Siganus guttatus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  2. Giant manta

    Manta birostris

    aquapix (C) All rights reserved

  3. Live sharksucker

    Echeneis naucrates

    Cigdem Sean Cooper (C) All rights reserved

  4. Common lionfish

    Pterois miles

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  5. Bearded scorpionfish

    Scorpaenopsis barbata

    serg_dibrova (C) All rights reserved

  6. Tiger tail seahorse

    Hippocampus comes

    S J Carr (C) All rights reserved

  7. Columbrine sea krait

    Laticauda colubrina

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

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

    Acanthaster planci

    Ethan Daniels (C) All rights reserved

  1. Long-spine sea urchin

    Diadema setosum

    iliuta goean (C) All rights reserved

  2. Blacktail reef shark

    Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos

    aquapix (C) All rights reserved

  3. Blacktip reef shark

    Carcharhinus melanopterus

    cbpix (C) All rights reserved

  4. Whale shark

    Rhincodon typus

    feel4nature (C) All rights reserved

  5. Whale shark

    Rhincodon typus

    kaschibo (C) All rights reserved

  6. Zebra shark

    Stegostoma fasciatum

    Narchuk (C) All rights reserved

  7. Harlequin shrimp

    Hymenocera picta

    Stephen Childs (CC: BY)

  8. Banded coral shrimp

    Stenopus hispidus

    ligio (C) All rights reserved

  1. Sexy shrimp

    Thor amboinensis

    prilfish (CC: BY)

  2. Checkered snapper

    Lutjanus decussatus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  3. Bluestripe snapper

    Lutjanus kasmira

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  4. One-spot snapper

    Lutjanus monostigma

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  5. Black and white snapper (adult)

    Macolor niger

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  6. Barrel Sponge

    Xestospongia testudinaria

    Lawrence Cruciana (C) All rights reserved

  7. Ribbontail stingray

    Taeniura lymma

    Sergey Khachatryan (C) All rights reserved

  8. Powderblue surgeonfish

    Acanthurus leucosternon

    LubaShi (C) All rights reserved

  1. Lined surgeonfish

    Acanthurus lineatus

    Paul and Jill (CC: BY)

  2. Orange-lined triggerfish

    Balistapus undulatus

    serg_dibrova (C) All rights reserved

  3. Clown triggerfish

    Balistoides conspicillum

    NOAA Photo Library (CC: BY)

  4. Titan triggerfish

    Balistoides viridescens

    Rich Carey (C) All rights reserved

  5. Red-toothed triggerfish

    Odonus niger

    totophotos (C) All rights reserved

  6. Green sea turtle

    Chelonia mydas

    Isabella Kuehn (C) All rights reserved

  7. Hawksbill sea turtle

    Eretmochelys imbricata

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  8. Bignose unicornfish (subadult)

    Naso vlamingii

    brian.gratwicke (CC: BY)

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

Marine life tags: Whale shark, Giant manta, Green turtle, Titan triggerfish, Clown anemonefish (a.k.a. Clownfish, Nemo), Great barracuda, Yellow boxfish, Ribbontail stingray (a.k.a. Blue spotted stingray), Yellowmargin triggerfish, Orbicular batfish, Harlequin sweetlips, Christmas tree worm, Giant moray, Snowflake moray, Bearded scorpionfish, Black-blotched porcupinefish (a.k.a. Pufferfish), Nudibranchs, Yellowface angelfish, Copperband butterflyfish, Indo-pacific sergeant, Warty frogfish, Blackspotted puffer, Zebra shark.

Locationtags: Phuket, Andaman Sea, Thailand, Diving Phuket, Diving Similan Islands, Diving Racha Islands, Diving Koh Phi Phi, Diving Surin Islands, Diving the Mergui Archipelogo, Diving Diving Andaman Sea, Diving Thailand, Marine life Phuket, Marine life Racha Islands, Marine life Similan Islands, Marine life Surin Islands, Marine life Mergui Archipelago, Marine life Andaman Sea, Snorkeling Phuket, Snorkeling Andaman Sea, Holiday Phuket.