Koh Doc Mai Island
Koh Dok Mai Island is located east of Phuket, on the way to the Phi Phi Islands. In fact, the island of Koh Dok Mai is a cliff with sheer walls rising almost 30 meters above the water. Underwater, the walls go to a depth of 30 meters, but you can reach up to 40 meters, for example, diving as part of the Deep Diver specialization .
The western side of the island is flatter and less deep, while the eastern wall slopes deeper and has a negative slope in places, which creates beautiful canopies under the water in which small creatures hide - shrimp, seahorses, ghost fish and colorful nudibranchs.
The walls of the island are covered with colorful soft corals, sponges and anemones. In the water column you can see schools of large barracudas and tuna. Nurse sharks hide under the corals, at the bottom.
The hallmark of the island are two grottoes located near the bottom on the eastern side of the island. You will need flashlights in the grottoes, so be sure to bring them with you on this dive.
The larger grotto is located at a depth of about 18 meters closer to the southern part of the island. The grotto goes only ten meters deep into the rock. This grotto is mainly interesting for the macro-living creatures living on the walls. Usually at the entrance to the grotto, among the fragments of corals, you can find moray eels of different types and sizes.
The second grotto is located deeper and approximately in the middle of the eastern wall. The depth at the entrance, depending on the height of the tide, is about 23 meters. The entrance to the grotto is quite narrow, but then the passage widens and divers find themselves in a fairly spacious hall in the right corner of which there is a beautiful limestone column.
If you move further, then after about 10 meters a small arch will be visible ahead. Directly behind the arch, an air dome has formed on the ceiling, which is located at a depth of 15 meters. The dome is small and only two divers can fit comfortably in it.
Having plunged under the water again, you can swim while adhering to the right wall of the grotto.
About halfway to the exit, if you shine the flashlight upward, you can see another air dome, which is located in a bell-shaped glass. As you slowly float up, inspect the walls of the glass - sometimes you can find nurse sharks, colored shrimps and crabs on the limestone shelves. As a rule, the water in this glass is much warmer and clearer than outside the grotto.
The air dome is located at a depth of 8 meters and can easily accommodate three to four divers. While in the dome, you can cover the lanterns and enjoy the view of divers swimming with lanterns at the bottom of the grotto.
If your route passed from the southern side of the island to the northern, then at the exit from the deep grotto it makes sense to swim to a depth of 15 meters. Walking at this depth you will find a crevice in which ghost fish live.
As a rule, depending on the direction of the current, the dive goes from south to north, or vice versa. For less experienced divers, it is preferable to dive along the shallower western wall. Visibility varies depending on the current and can be either more than 30 meters or less than 10 meters.
Given the depths and dive profile at this dive site, it makes sense to use oxygen-enriched air - Nitrox, which will significantly expand the no-decompression limits of your dive.
