Myanmar Divesites

Mergui Archipelago


This movie was taken on a liveaboard trip to the Mergui Archipealge including Burma Banks

Mergui Archipelago, located in southernmost part of Myanmar (Burma), comprises over 800 beautiful islands. Due to its virtual isolation, the islands and surrounding seas are alive with an amazing diversity of flora & fauna and very beautiful underwater scenes and marine life.

Myeik or Mergui Archipelago, located in southernmost part of Myanmar (Burma), comprises over 800 beautiful islands. Due to its virtual isolation, the islands and surrounding seas are alive with an amazing diversity of flora & fauna and very beautiful underwater scenes and marine life.

The only human inhabitants in the area are sea gypsies, they live on boats during dry season and remain on land during rainy season. They still practice the same fishing and boat building techniques used for generation.

Mergui Archipelago

Just north of the Surin Islands, an imaginary line divides Thai waters from Myanmar's Mergui Archipelago. Also known as the Myeik Archipelago, this immense area covers approximately 14,000 sq miles and includes roughly 800 islands. Diving here is still in its infancy, as the entire region has been off-limits to outsiders since the late 1940s. After several years of negotiation by Phuket dive operators, the archipelago was opened for tourism in 1997, yet much of the area remains unexplored.

The islands are similar to their Thai counterparts, with rugged, high-profile limestone and granite topography. One obvious difference, aside from the sheer number of Myanmar islands, is their unspoiled terrestrial scenery. Dense brush and rainforest cover most areas above the high-tide line, while vast stretches of mangroves and magnificent white-sand beaches are interspersed with rocky headlands, tidal creeks and a few freshwater rivers. Though several of the larger islands are home to small communities of Moken 'sea gypsies,' the vast majority are uninhabited and largely untouched by humans.

View into a bay in the similan islands Underwater, this region offers scenic reefs, fascinating topography and prolific fish and invertebrate life. One of the main attractions for divers is the strong possibility of seeing big animals, especially sharks and rays. More dependable, however, is the tremendous variety of smaller fish and reef creatures, including many unusual species, some of which are rarely encountered in Thai waters. Add to this the allure of diving where few people have before and you've got all the ingredients for a top-notch dive destination. Considering the vast number of islands and reefs, many more dive sites are undoubtedly waiting to be discovered.

In addition to dedicated drive trips, several companies offer eco-adventure trips in Mergui Archipelago, combining sailing, snorkeling, diving, beach-combing, island exploration and, in some cases, kayaking.

Divesites are sorted by areas, if you want to add a divesite, please click here.

Area	Burma	Click for Map
Site name	Black Rock
max. depth	35
current
visibility
Description	Single rock in the middle of nowhere, south west side steep slope, north east side shallow. Rocky landscape, corals, gray reef sharks, chances for mantas, lot of stingrays on the sandy bottom.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Burma Banks	n/a
max. depth
current
visibility
Description	Big submerged plateau, more than one sqkm, rising up from 300 to a top level of 18 meters. The main attraction there are the silver tip sharks.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Cavern	n/a
max. depth	25
current
visibility
Description	Rocky bottom covered with hardcorals. Nothing spectacular, lots of shellfish, good for night dives.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Clara Pinnacle	n/a
max. depth	30
current
visibility
Description	Underwater plateau with soft corals and fan corals. White and black tip sharks, gray reef sharks.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Devils in the Sky	n/a
max. depth
current
visibility
Description	Big boulders with relatively small corals, most of the time strong currents. All kind of big schooling fish like mackarels, tuna, barracudas, all kind of reef sharks, bull sharks. Big schools of devil rays!
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Double Rock	n/a
max. depth	25
current
visibility
Description	Small rocky island with two big boulders, mostly hard corals.Black spotted sting rays, devil rays, nurse sharks, white tip sharks.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Leo Point	n/a
max. depth	40
current
visibility
Description	Beautiful reef, lot of big stuff, mackerels, tuna, wahoos, zebra sharks, white tip sharks.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Lion Rock	n/a
max. depth
current
visibility
Description	Big fan corals, white tip sharks
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Little Torres	n/a
max. depth
current
visibility
Description	Small island, beautiful boulders, nurse sharks, bull sharks! Lots of fishes!
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	McCarthy Island	n/a
max. depth	25
current
visibility
Description	Small rocky island, wall dive on the south side - all kind of reef fish.
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Area	Mergui	Click for Map
Site name	North Twin Pinnacle
max. depth	40
current
visibility
Description	Submerged reef, east side steep slope down to 65 m, west side shallow, soft and fan corals. Zebra sharks, blue spotted sting rays, bull sharks have been sighted, sometimes strong currents.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	North Twin Plateau	n/a
max. depth	30
current
visibility
Description	Submerged reef, south west of the main island, boulders, all kind of hard and soft corals, gray reef sharks, white and black tip sharks and often mantas.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Northern Rocky	n/a
max. depth	30
current
visibility
Description	When i dived there the last time (1997) it was an uneventful place. Quite possiblel that it improved in the last years.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	South Twin	n/a
max. depth	15
current
visibility
Description	Beautiful bay, lot of under water rocks, hard corals, small stuff, good place for night dive.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Steward Island	n/a
max. depth	25
current
visibility
Description	Island with a lot of caves. Rocky bottom with soft corals, barracudas, rays .
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Swinton Bay North	n/a
max. depth	15
current
visibility
Description	Sandy bay, blue and black spotted sting rays, hard and soft corals. Ideal place for night dives.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Swinton Bay Southeast	n/a
max. depth	15
current
visibility
Description	Sandy bottom, soft and hard corals, good night dives.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Tower Rock	n/a
max. depth
current
visibility
Description	About 100 m high rock - therefore the name Tower Rock! Wall dive down to 35 m, hard corals, a lot of small caves with lobsters, crabs, shrimps. Devil rays. Current.
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Area	Burma		Click for Map
Site name	Western Rocky	n/a
max. depth	32
current
visibility
Description	One of the most beautiful divesites in Burma. It consists of two parts, the main island and the pinnacles with the coral garden. Thriving, intact marine life. Encounters with sharks of all kinds.
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Burma Banks

The Burma Banks is located 165 km Northwest of the Similan Islands. The tops of the Bank rise to within 15m-24m of the surface. With no coastline or islands insight, the Burma Banks have to be located by GPS.