Mai Thon Island
Mai Thon is an island just to the east of the bay of Chalong at the south of Phuket. It is reportedly owned by one of the princesses of Thailand.
It is one of the dive sites closest to Chalong Bay where virtually all of scuba diving boats depart from.
Unique to Phuket, Mai Thon appears to be a favourite of the local dolphin population. Although very shy, dolphins have appears around 60% of visits there.
Dolphins Mai Thon Phuket Aussie Divers
It is a rarely dived island and normally only dived during bad weather when other dive sites are inexcessible due to strong winds and high waves.
As the dives are normally done during the wet month most dives are done on the eastern side of the island. A difficult dive site to get any more depth than 10 -12 metres it can be effected by poor visibility.
The has been some reports of leopard shark and turtle being there however they are a very rare occurrence. There are some typical reef creatures there such as eels and cuttle fish.
In 2014 a community group released a lot of breeding pairs of harlequin shrimp and bamboo sharks around the island in an effort to entice divers there.
Harliquin Shrimp Richelieu Rock Liveaboard Scuba Diving Phuket Thailand
On the western side of the island is a rocky outcrop following the island and the rockets and reef run down to about 18 metres.
Depth: 2m – 18m Difficulty: ✩ Marine life: ✩✩ Coral: ✩✩ Currents: ✩✩
