Sail Rock is in Gulf of Thailand, Surat Thani Province of Thailand.

Understand

Divers surfacing at Sail Rock, August 28 2006

Sail Rock is one of the more famous Scuba diving sites in the Koh Samui archipelago. It is an iceberg shaped pinnacle that rises from the sandy sea floor at 40 metres and rises 15 metres above the surface. It is a suitable dive site for all levels of diver, from Discover Scuba up. It's surface consists of small patches of hard and soft coral. Common fauna that may be seen include barracuda, batfish, jacks, occasional whale sharks, and many other species of tropical fish. The currents can vary considerably, but generally are mid to strong. Visibility is usually in the 10-30 metre range.

For more advanced divers, there is a vertical 'swim through' on the northwest side of the rock. Commonly called "The Chimney", it begins at a depth of 18 metres and exits the rock again at depths of 12 and 6 metres.

Climate

As with most dive sites in this region, it is possible and perfectly comfortable to swim and dive without a wetsuit year round. However, as with most diving, a wetsuit is recommended to help reduce risk of cuts or injury. Avoid contact with coral reefs!

Fees/Permits

There are no associated fees as yet with diving Sail Rock.

Getting there & around

Sail Rock is easily accessible by boat from the nearby inhabited islands of Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, and Koh Samui (45 kilometres). There is an anchored buoy for dive boat tie-up. Most tourists will arrange all travel and dive plans through one of many fully qualified, full service dive shops in any town and village on the islands; however, due to the large proximity of most of the archipelago's best dive sites being around the dive mecca of Koh Tao, many serious divers will stay on Koh Tao and arrange all their dives from there. Nearly all dive shops will arrange to have you picked up at your hotel in the morning (typically 7:00 am), taken to the pier, and provide a free breakfast and lunch during the trip, and drop you off again at your hotel (typically around 4-6:00 pm in the afternoon). PADI is the instructional certification of choice in Thailand, but others, such as DANand NAUI are recognised as well. All dives will be fully supervised by PADI instructors and divemasters, and all staff will most likely be either native English speakers (Australians are very common), or fully fluent Thais.

Anchored diveboats daisy-chained to Sail Rock, August 28 2006