Koh Rin Island has many diving spots which include two small satellite island pinnacles called North Rock and South Rock.
With an abundance of hard and soft corals, coral whips and feather stars, divers will not be disappointed with the cleaner water and aquatic creatures around these dive sites.
At Koh Rin Bay, the dives needn't be deep to see nudi-branchs, sharks, razor fish, pipe fish and morays and a multitude of small reef fish.
Most of the best diving at north rock is below 10 meters although the maximum depth is 15m.
This site is prone to strong currents but underwater visibility here is exceptionally good for most of the year. As its name implies, north rock has a plethora of rocks, boulders and hard coral formations.
Don't let that put you off diving here because you will be rewarded with a diverse mixture of large fishes and small macro organisms. Expect to see nudibranchs, razorfish, pipefish, barracudas, jacks, feather stars and sea whips.
The chain of Far Islands include one of the least dived sites called Hin Ton Mai, or 'South Rock' to the local diving community.
This small rocky outcrop sits to the 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 nearer to Pattaya.
Rare species include elk-horn 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 your dive.
Best Dive Months: Year round
Average Depth: 10m
Maximum Depth: 22m
Underwater Visibility: 5 - 15m
General Currents: Weak to Moderate
Unusual Hazards: Sea Urchins, Navy Explosives
Marine Life: Sea Turtles, Seahorses, Morays, Snappers, Lionfish, Stingrays (Myliobatiformes), Squirrel Fish, Rabbit Fish, Butterfly Fish, Octopus, Wrasse, Angelfish, Damsel Fish, Puffer Fish, Hermit Crab.
The Pattaya Far Islands will take most dive boats around 1.5 hours to reach from Pattaya and they include Koh Rin, North Rock, South Rock, Koh Man Wichai and Koh Phai. It's obvious as you approach Koh Rin that this tropical island is less crowded by dive boats and water sport activities and the lack of noise and activity is a welcome relief from the normal mayhem of Pattaya.
The large powdery sand beach and swaying palm trees invite divers and snorkelers to the clear azure bay on the south east corner. This popular diving spot is ideal for discovery dives and swimming/snorkeling because of the generally calm sandy inlet with small crops of corals and bommies that house families of reef fish.
From my hundreds of previous diving experiences at Koh Rin Island, I would like to mention two main hazards that slightly interfere with one of the best dive sites in Pattaya.
Sea Urchins seem to thrive in this area so extra caution should be taken for bare-footed swimmers and snorkelers and don't be too alarmed if you see spent mortar shells nestling in the sand. Koh Rin is uninhabited, like most other Pattaya islands, and is regulated by the Thai Navy.
Occasionally, having pre-warned the local dive shops and fishermen, the Navy will use the outer islands for target practice and misguided missiles land in the surrounding waters. Although I have no evidence that suggests the shells are explosive, I would suggest that you steer clear of messing with underwater shells.
One of the main attractions of scuba diving at Koh Rin Bay is the existence of soft corals and although these don't seem to be in abundance at other Pattaya dive sites, Far Island divers will be treated to whips, brittle stars, feather stars and fans.
Aquatic animals seem to be friendlier to divers and they appear to have brighter colours such as Angel fish, Wrasse, Butterfly fish, and Seahorses.
Pattaya Coral Islands |> Koh Larn |> Ko Sak |> Koh Krok |> Koh Phai |> Koh Klun Bedan |> Koh Hu Chang |> Koh Manwichai |
There are days when the weather and/or sea conditions dictate whether the dive trip will target Koh Rin, but the extra thirty minutes of journey time is almost always guaranteed to reward the divers and snorkelers with less Pollution, colorful coral reefs and diverse marine life.