Chumphon Pinnacle – The dive spot that gets everyone buzzing
- Travel time : 40 minutes
- Location: 10km north west of Koh Tao
- Depth: Max 40m, Min 14m – Average 23m
- Classification: Large Pinnacle
- Level of Diving: Suitable for Open Water Divers in favorable sea conditions, providing the best experience for Advanced Open Water divers.
- Conditions: Can get wavy with some current due to its offshore location.
- Average Visibility: 05-40 meters
Bucket List-Worthy Dive Site!
Koh Tao's crown jewel for divers, the one that gets everyone buzzing, is none other than Chumphon Pinnacle. It's not only the biggest but also the deepest dive site around these parts.
What You Can Expect!
Chumphon Pinnacle is an impressive underwater granite structure. Its top sits around 14 meters below the sea's surface. The tops of the rock pinnacle are completely covered in thick carpets of colorful anemones full of Pink Anemone fish playing hide and seek with potential predators.
Hidden in its many fissures, you'll spot some pretty cool creatures like Crabs, durban dancing & mantis shrimps, Scorpionfish, and White-Eyed Moray Eels.
Big schools of batfish are your usual first encounter as you descend and you’ll often see lionfish hanging around the mooring lines.
You will be diving amongst swirling schools of Rabbitfish, Snapper, Juvenile Yellow-Tailed Barracuda and Fusiliers, watching as the hunting Trevallies dart in and out of this veritable feast!
Exploring southwest from the main pinnacle, you'll stumble upon another rocks known locally as: Barracuda Rock. Here, you'll come face-to-face with some massive Marbled Groupers and witness impressive schools of Chevron barracudas. And if you've got a keen eye for the small stuff, be sure to peek into the snug crevices where you'll find banded boxing shrimps, Janns pipefish, and nudibranchs.
Whalesharks!
While the pinnacle is captivating, always keep an eye on the open blue waters because the true star of this underwater show – the magnificent whaleshark– may gracefully swim into view! Chumphon Pinnacle is renowned for its frequent whalesharks sightings, and if luck is on your side, you might even be treated to the sight of multiple whalesharks on a single dive!
TO SUM IT-UP!
The underwater action at Chumphon Pinnacle is seriously lit!
- If you're an Advanced Open Water diver and this dive isn't on your dive goals, you might wanna rethink your plans!
- And if you haven't hit that Advanced level yet – it's the perfect excuse to level up your diving skills with our PADI Advanced Open Water Diver courses.
- But here's the deal – one dive won't scratch the surface at Chumphon Pinnacle. So, if you get the chance to join our double Chumphon trip on Nitrox, jump on it! If you're not yet an Enriched Air Nitrox diver, then you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to get your certification or you miss out on your future dives !
