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Racha Yai - Staghorn Reef
The East side of Racha Yai consists of 5 bays running North to South. Usually dives begin in one bay and end in the next one, direction depending on the current but they are almost always drift dives except in training situations where all bottom time is spent in the bay itself protected from the current facilitating skill practice. Bay 1 consists of a small beach, submerged at high tide. Lobed pore corals are abundant in the shallows giving way to sand slope.
GPS Location: 07-36-07N 98-22-39E
Max Depth: 5-24M
Currents: Mild to strong
Visibility: 15M-30M
Diver Level: Beginner
Staghorn Reef is located in Bay 2, which boasts the largest beach of the eastern dive sites. As with Bay 1, the shallows exhibit extensive lobed pore coral heads, however these give way in the deeper water to huge fields of staghorn corals giving the site its name. The reef slopes down to the sand slope at 12M – 24M. Even in the sand there are patches of staghorn forest. As one travels South, out of the bay towards Bay 3 the topography rapidly gives way to a steep slope consisting mostly of large boulders. These change back to a sandy bottom in Bay 3.
Marine Life consists primarily of huge carpets of staghorn corals with angelfish, butterflyfish, damsels, groupers, wrasses and surgeonfish. Basslets and moray eels are common as are shoals of Foster’s barracuda. Occasionally one may spot a starry moray, camouflaged well against its sandy background or even a black and white banded snake eel. Within the confines of the occasional soft coral keep a sharp eye out for ornate ghost pipefish. Due to the steepness of the slope to the South, occasional glimpses of manta rays far out in the blue are not unheard of. This is also a common nesting ground for titan triggerfish due to the abundance of dead staghorn coral substrate with which the males make their nests so beware of aggressive behavior during the mating season. Macro life is good here too within the shelter of the hard coral branches, housing many shrimps, crabs and other crustaceans. If one chooses to go deep at the start of the dive in Bay 2, at around 18M pairs of the rare robust ghost pipefish have been seen as well as the lethal stonefish who nevertheless presents no problems for the macro photographer as he rarely moves.The East side of Racha Yai consists of 5 bays running North to South. Usually dives begin in one bay and end in the next one, direction depending on the current but they are almost always drift dives except in training situations where all bottom time is spent in the bay itself protected from the current facilitating skill practice. Bay 1 consists of a small beach, submerged at high tide. Lobed pore corals are abundant in the shallows giving way to sand slope.
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