Racha Noi (Small in Thaï language) and Racha Yai (Big in Thaï language)are 2 islands located in the South of Phuket, 1h30 cruising time from Chalong pier they are the closest diving destination. They offer the easiest diving conditions for beginners, rusty divers and all divers looking for easy dives with best conditions, as we often have there over 20m visibility and light currents.
Racha Noi offers on the East side white sandy bottom with hard coral pinnacles and on the Ouest side big boulders. this island looks like the Similan islands. The marine life not in great number is diversified with a lot of species of reef fishes, we encounter some Eagle rays and leopard shark comes find shelter in the quiet bay. During season November to April, we can see the famous Manta rays circling above the reef eating plankton or looking for cleaning station.
Racha Yai Island offers some dive on artificial reef built few years ago to bring back fishes population, that seems to take time but we can say that since 2 years there is much more fishes in the area. there is as well 3 small wrecks, on the east side laying between 20 to 30 meters. We often see there some batfish, chevron barracuda schooling in the bay.
This 2 island have been exposed to the tsunami and a water warming in 2010 made a severe coral bleaching all along the coast. Far from the healthy years, the reef is recovering slowly and style offers nice diving conditions.