Koh Rok is a couple of beautiful, tropical islands with pristine beaches, great snorkelling, good diving, and land wildlife. The location is about 20km directly south of Koh Lanta, surrounded by open sea, thus being treated to crystal-clear waters and healthy marine life communities. Nudibranch Photo by Emmy AhlénBoth islands offer shelter from the conditions and this makes for a very pleasant place to scuba dive as well as an ideal location for learning to dive and for inexperienced scuba divers. However, those with plenty of diving experience can still enjoy the diving at Koh Rok. There’s a lot to see at sensible depths, and this allows for long and colourful dives, especially interesting for underwater photographers.

The sandy beaches continue to descend below the clear water’s surface, becoming a reef of colourful hard and soft corals, sea fans and bommies. Sea stars and sea cucumbers populate the sandy patches in between and the amount and diversity of reef fish is truly eye-opening. Other creatures include octopuses and moray eels, both popular with all levels of scuba divers. Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon Obesus) Photo by Emmy AhlénThere is a chance of spotting one of several cartilaginous species, such as a Blue-Spotted Stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) which is most likely found on the sandy seabed, a Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus) facing the current while resting during the day, or a shy and elusive Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) swimming in shallow water but away from divers. There even occasional sightings of Eagle Rays (Aetobatus narinari), but these tend to be away from the reef.

Diving at Koh Rok is nearly always an enjoyable experience, and those who do so are able to enjoy surface intervals relaxing, playing or exploring on the uninhabited islands or snorkelling right off the pristine beaches. Between the two islands is a channel with a maximum depth of around 15m. This is an ideal place for new and learning divers to enjoy the marine life living in among the corals and sea fans. They set up home here to take advantage of the occasional currents running through the channel. Generally, visibility is excellent and the depths are great for long and enjoyable dives. Currents are rarely a big problem, but when present (normally at the tips of the islands) Divemasters will plan the dives to make the most of them. Not all Koh Lanta diving centres visit Koh Rok, and those which do only do so a few times per week during the diving season. For those lucky enough to join a diving trip to Koh Rok there will be plenty to enjoy and talk about.