Diving in Thailand- Our Dive Center

Koh Ra Ecolodge IS THE CLOSEST resort to the world famous Surin Islands Marine National Park and Richilieu Rock dive sites. That means that you can maximize your Thailand diving time and relaxing and minimize your time on the boat running out to the islands.

We operate a dive center with new AquaMaster diving equipment, a compressor and our own dedicated dive boat, a 30' fiberglass speedboat with twin Mercury 150 hp engines. With this boat we are able to reach the Surin Islands in just over 1 hour, being the closest accessible resort. Richelieu Rock is just 40 minutes. We carry oxygen aboard our boat and also on land and have trained PADI Dive Masters that accompany divers. We have a current emergency response plan in the event of an accident and evacuation to the hospital in Kuraburi or recompression chamber in Phuket.

Day trip to Surin Islands National Park:

Price- Baht 4900. Price is for minimum of 4 divers (can be arranged for 3 divers at additional cost or go to Richelieu Rock instead). Snorkeler or non-diver price baht 2900.

Day trip to Richelieu Rock:

The best all-around dive site in Thailand, rocky pinnacle covered by soft corals, sea fans and many fish, and large pelagics

Includes boat, dive master, lunch, drinking water, air tanks (2 dives), weights. Does not include National Park fee (200-400 baht for foreigners) or SCUBA equipment which can be rented for baht 600/day (new AquaMaster BCD's and regulators, gauges).

Price- Baht 4300. Price is for minimum of 4 divers; (it may be possible to go with 3 divers for baht 5200 per person)

Trips to Koh Tachai available on request- minimum 4 divers. We also organize liveaboard trips to Surin, Similan, and Burma Banks, from 3-10 days. Please inquire specifically for a liveaboard quote.

Our emphasis is on marine ecology and our excellent dive and research staff is extremely knowledgeable about the undersea world in this region. In this regard, we are especially well-equipped to host research and study-tour groups.

Marine ecology workshops, training and study tours

Through our collaboration with Reef Check we can arrange educational workshops focusing on coral reefs, marine ecology, and conservation, either with or without EcoDiver certification. We have classroom facilities for teaching. For example, a typical 5 day course may have the following schedule:

• Day 1 - Classroom presentations covering basic coral reef ecology and common species of fish, invertebrates and corals found in the Indo-Pacific region, and an introduction to scientific methods.
• Day 2 - Scientific methods for studying coral reefs such as transects and quadrats. Afternoon dive focusing on species identification.
• Day 3 - Two dives focusing on species identification and scientific methods (practice transect).
• Day 4 - Two dives focusing on scientific methods- we will collect actual transect data which students will enter and we will analyze and discuss the results. Evening lecture on marine conservation challenges in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
• Day 5 - Two dives in the marine protected area and discussion about the successes of such management.

Other topics and schedules can be tailored. Please contact us well in advance (up to 6 months) to discuss arrangements.

Reef Check

See our Reef Check page for more details about marine conservation projects and the EcoDiver certification schedule.