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Diving at Koh Rin Islands Near Pattaya

With an abundance of hard and soft corals, sea whips, and feather stars, divers will appreciate the clean water and diverse aquatic creatures around the pinnacles.

This Koh Rin dive guide contains hands-on information for scuba divers and snorkelers with extra details about the sea life found at the islands close to Pattaya in Thailand.

Which Months are Best for Diving in Pattaya

Unlike the Andaman Sea coastlines, the eastern shores of Thailand are unique for several reasons:

The shallowest coral reef dive sites are ideal for divers of all experience levels.
You can also find challenging dives (including some of the best wreck diving in Thailand).
The eastern seaboard tends to get shelter from the worst of monsoon rains that sometimes rule out diving in areas like Phuket and Phi Phi.

It's fair to say that most scuba divers want to explore top diving destinations that have calm conditions underwater and lots of dry sunny weather above the waterline.

In fact, Chonburi Province has more than 300 days of year-round sunshine and the water temperature rarely drops below 29° Celsius (84° Fahrenheit).

As a result, the white sand beaches and clear blue water found at the islands around Pattaya have transformed the region into one of the top places for diving holidays in Thailand.

Here's the thing:

As a consequence of that, diving in Pattaya tends to be an annual activity. Even so, divers need to be mindful that the southwest storms usually arrive towards the end of October and can last for several weeks.

At certain times of the year, the north eastern gulf can have twenty (20) metres of underwater visibility. Thus, the best months for scuba diving and Pattaya snorkeling trips are from the beginning of September through to the end of February.

Tips for Diving at Koh Rin

At Koh Rin Bay, the dives needn't be deep to see some amazing marine life, such as nudibranch sea slugs, moray eels, and a mass of other types of small reef fishes.

North Rock (Hin Khao)

The best diving at North Rock takes place below ten (10) metres, even though the maximum depth is fifteen (15) to twenty (20) metres.

This site is prone to strong currents, but the underwater visibility here is exceptionally good for most of the year. As its name implies, North Rock has a superabundance of rock structures, hard coral formations, and boulders.

However, don't let that put you off diving at this remote location because you'll be rewarded with a diverse mixture of large fishes and small macro organisms.

South Rock (Hin Ton Mai)

The chain of Pattaya Far Islands includes one of the least dived sites called Hin Ton Mai (translated to South Rock by the local diving community.

This small rocky outcrop sits south of Koh Rin and is among the best reef dive sites in Pattaya, with a collection of hard and soft corals that simply do not exist around other islands.

Rare species include elkhorn coral, barrel sponges, coral whips, brittle stars, and feather stars, with a spattering of gorgonian sea fans and stinging hydroids to be aware of during the dive.

Pro Tip: Check out our sea life section for interesting facts about sharks (e.g. blacktip reef sharks) and rays (e.g. spotted eagle rays) that sometimes put in an appearance at the outer islands.

Sea Wildlife at Koh Rin Island

Having the opportunity to experience interesting topography, clearer underwater visibility, and an overabundance of aquatic creatures are the main reasons divers make the trip to the Far Islands.

Plus, most of the Pattaya dive sites are good places to see big fishes (e.g. pelagics). But at Koh Rin, divers should expect to catch sightings of common marine life that are native to the northern Gulf of Thailand, especially during the plankton blooms in March and April.

Typical examples include:

Angelfishes (e.g. blue ringed angelfish)
Butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae)
Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)
Damselfishes (e.g. the dusky damselfish)
Gobies fish
Hermit crab
Lionfish
Moray eels
Octopuses
Pufferfish (Tetraodontidae)
Rabbitfishes (spinefoots)
Razorfish (Aeoliscus strigatus)
Scorpionfish
Sea anemones (including clownfish)
Sea turtles (e.g. hawksbill sea turtle)
Stingrays (e.g. bluespotted ribbontail ray)
Tangs (Acanthuridae)
Wrasse fish (e.g. Bluestreak cleaner wrasse)

Pro Tip: Within reach, Koh Hu Chang dive site is a great spot to explore diverse reef life and marine invertebrates that live around hard and soft corals. It also creates a neat way to combine reef diving and shipwreck diving on the same day, such as at the nearby HTMS Khram and HTMS Mataphon wreck.