Your Guide to Diving in Myanmar

Burma Banks

The most famous dive area in Myanmar, the Burma Banks are enormous flat topped sea mounts, rising to within 15 metres of the Andaman Sea surface, before plunging back down into the surrounding 300 metre deep waters. Out here, far at see there is no land visible; only 360 degrees of horizon.
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The Burma Banks - Big, Silvertip, Rainbow and Roe Bank, plus Coral and Heckford banks - are located some 125 km west of Kawthaung, outside of the Mergui Archipelago, and offer some adrenaline-rich open ocean scuba diving, and shark encounters are virtually guaranteed. Nurse sharks are frequently seen, with occasional grey reef shark sightings - you are never sure just what you might see here.

Heckford Bank lies 20 km or so north of Roe Bank and is the deepest of the Burma Banks dive sites, topping out at 21-25 metres. Silvertips are quite common here. When you're in the water you'll be mesmerised by these impressive creatures, as they cautiously circle you. Tawny nurse sharks are also easily spotted, as they doze half-hidden under the overhangs created by the table corals that dot the flat seascape here.

Roe Bank reaches 17-21 metres deep and, like its neighbour to the north, is characterised by hard table corals, limestone rocks covered with black coral bushes and fans and coralline algae (Halimeda Micronesica), and interspersed with sandy patches, but also with massive growths of porites corals, smothered in colourful christmas tree worms, and white and pink wire corals. There are masses of fusiliers - yellowback, golden dash and neon - packs of striped brindletooths and powder-blue surgeonfish.

At Silvertip Bank, 18 km east of Roe Bank, you can look overboard through the crystal clear waters and often see great barracuda and potato cod cruising along the bottom, 15 metres below. The profile here has more variety, and you can make your way through the gullies checking out octopus, moray eels, bignose unicornfish and large red snappers. To the south east is a deeper slope to 40 metres, and here you can catch a glimpse of the skittish whitetip and black-tip reef sharks.

Burma Banks diving is still in quite virgin territory and offered on only a handful of liveaboard cruises. Due to its exposed location, you can expect advanced drift diving in some strong currents, while checking out pelagics and larger reef fish species.

Cockscomb Island

Approximately 2 hours cruising time out of the Myanmar port town of Kawthaung, lies Cockscomb Island, where you can find a spot that is aptly named the 'Hidden Lagoon'. Being close to the port and a shallow site this is often selected as the final dive of your cruise.
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There are several openings in the limestone rock of the island, just at the water's edge, where you can dive through at a depth of around 2-3m. You should consider this shallow section in your dive profile calculations if you also want to visit the sloping reef that extends to either side of the swim-throughs.

Once you have entered the hole in the wall, the intriguing shafts of light will lead you into the lagoon. If you are the first to go through, make sure you turn around to see the silhouettes of the other divers that follow you in the turquoise waters.

You should surface inside the lagoon and have a good look around, since you are surrounded in a 360 degree direction by sheer limestone cliffs with very distinctive ragged edges where some trees have taken root. The lagoon itself has a maximum depth of about 12-15m and there are a few coral blocks to inspect, but since visibility is usually limited in the deeper parts, make sure that you stay close together with your dive buddy/group.

On the way back to the exit of the lagoon in very shallow water of only about 1 to 2m, is a large flat hard coral plateau worth exploring and the visibility is much better here too. You want to try and be the first to exit, to get an unobstructed view of the holes that lead into the open ocean again.

You can continue your dive now, by keeping the reef on your right hand side, since this is the prettier part of the slope at this island. Don't forget to accumulate your submerged times in and out of the lagoon and stick to your plan on this fascinating Myanmar dive site.

High Rock

High Rock lies some 500 metres to the south of Quion Island, just 25 km from Kawthaung. It is a small islet with a single tree, and has a wall on its north and east sides, and a rocky reef on its south and west. This is usually the first dive in the waters of the Mergui Archipelago on a Burma liveaboard safari, as most of the islands south of here are closed to diving boats.
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The sheer volume of fish life at High Rock hits you as soon as you descend. Blue line snapper form huge schools that obscure the reef wall from view. Glassfish are equally numerous, as are gold-striped fuseliers and yellow tail barracuda. Trevally dart into shoals of bait fish that move as one, safety in numbers their only defence. Large flutemouths stalk their prey and titan (giant) triggerfish guard their territory.

Striped soldier fish and squirrel fish congregate together in the many cracks and crevices, and barrel sponges dominate the seabed with common lion fish sheltering from the currents inside the rims. The number of bearded and humpback scorpionfish on the wall make touching anything a risky business. These poisonous fish are prevalent most places in the Mergui Archipelago but there numbers are highest here. False stonefish can also be spotted here. Several grouper species such as white-lined and blue-lined grouper are common as are wrasse and leatherjackets. Freckled porcupine fish hide in the crevices.

The walls feature orange and green cup corals and a small overhang. There's a huge variety of invertebrates here such as lobster, hermit crabs, zigzag clams, black diadema urchins, oysters and squid. Yellow-margin, fimbriated, giant and white-eyed moray eels can all be seen in abundance, and different species are often even seen sharing the same hole. Look into the crags and you may be surprised to see Indian Ocean nurse sharks, residents of Mergui, snoozing the day away.

Parts of the wall are draped in old nets of the Mergui fishermen, which are now encrusted in corals, but scuba divers should be wary of entanglement. The nets are a favourite residence of yellow tigertail seahorses that like to wrap their tail around the nets.

High Rock is also an excellent night dive location too, when all the cup corals burst open in brilliant orange. This, together with the orange reflected eyes of the Durban dancing (hingebeak) shrimps, makes a spectacular sight as the whole wall appears alive and feeding in the nutrient rich water. Decorator crabs, hermit and round crabs can be seen. Moray eels swim over the wall, avoiding divers' torches and parrotfish sleep in their protective cocoons.

Little Torres Islands

Here's a site to catch your breath and take in the finer parts of diving. Soft corals, red whip corals, mosaic corals, and table corals have all made the Torres Islands their home amongst the rocks. You'll see round batfish, long-nose and ornate butterfly fish and the awkward and clumsy, but beautiful azure moon wrasse.
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Don't think that you won't see anything special here, as there are usually lots of leopard sharks and sting rays.

North Twin Island

North Twin is the slightly smaller, tree-topped, sister island of South Twin and lies 20 km to its north. Its waters are visited by many of Mergui's pelagic fish such as Zambezi (bull) sharks, rainbow runners, and eagle rays. Manta rays also pay a visit here. Currents can be strong, and visibility is usually excellent.
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Just off the south west tip of the island is South Pinnacle. It starts 3 metres below the surface and drops down to 35 metres. The dive site is made up of large granite boulders similar to those in Thailand's Similan Islands and offers the best of many diving opportunities around North Twin Island. Many swim-throughs offer the opportunity to explore this site from a new angle over and over again as, depending on the time of day, the light shines at new angles through the little tunnels.

The boulders are carpeted in purple soft corals and spiny sea urchins. Ember parrotfish, powder blue surgeon fish and blue-ringed angelfish swim between the rocks. Cuttlefish can often be seen in the shallower areas and hawksbill turtles are common, especially on morning dives when they can be found resting under rocky ledges.

In the deeper areas small coral bommies covered in seafans are scattered in the sand. Blue sea stars and sea cucumbers litter the sandy bottom. This is one of the few Burma dive sites where leopard sharks are regularly seen in the sand patches. Seahorses and ornate ghost pipefish like the shelter of the seafans.

Another common encounter here are the many different moray eels, including banded morays and even the occasional honeycomb moray.

1 kilometre to the north west of North Twin lie a series of sloping rocky ridges known as North Twin Plateau. This is a deep dive that drops beyond 40m in places. The boulder ridges have sea fans, featherstars, and flower corals clinging to the substrate. Local inhabitants include several loose groups of teira batfish, malabar groupers and nurse sharks hidden under the overhangs. Pelagic species such as great barracuda and bluefin tuna are seen patrolling in open water.

Northern Rocky

Located 1 km to the west of MacLeod Island and 50 km from Kawthaung in the southern Mergui, this limestone rock resembles a ship's sail as you approach from the north. It is a rocky wall dive with jumbled boulders spreading outwards at deeper depths, down to around 35 metres. If you like the colour orange you'll love this Myanmar dive site as orange fan corals and cup corals cover much of the wall. Gorgonian seafans are also numerous, crinoids clinging to them, and hawkfish residing on them.
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Entry is normally on the exposed western side, close to the wall. The area at edge of the boulders at the bottom of the reef is home to bent-stick pipefish which can be found in the sand and rubble. They are often together in pairs and look, at first glance, just like the sea whips that they stay close to. Stingrays can also be found buried in the sand. Under the rocky ledges it's possible to see marble rays as well as nurse sharks.

Other fish life here includes blue-ringed angelfish, oriental sweetlips and parrotfish. In the shallow areas nudibranchs are found all over the rocks as are bearded scorpionfish.

Currents and surge can be strong at Northern Rocky and visibility can drop to no more than 5 metres at times here but when conditions are suitable this is also a very attractive night dive site as the orange cup corals open up. Crabs, shrimps and moray eels can be spotted all over the wall.

Western Rocky is 10 kilometres to the west of Northern Rocky.

Rocky Peaks

12 km to the north of Western Rocky lies Rocky Peaks, one of the Mergui Archipelago's most colourful dive sites. Mountainous limestone rocks, capped with soft corals and black diadema sea urchins, rise to within 5 metres of the Andaman Sea surface at Rocky Peaks.
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There is no mooring buoy and as currents can often be strong, a quick descent is required to get shelter behind the rocks. The pinnacle has the best sea fan and coral coverage at deeper depths so a typical dive profile starts deep and slowly circles the reef upto safety stop level at the end of the dive.

The north and east sides sport thick forests of huge orange and pink gorgonian sea fans, lined up in row after row. They are surrounded by lionfish as well as the usual schools of fish that you can see diving in Burma, such as blue-lined snapper, oriental sweetlips, red soldierfish and wrasses. Here you can also see schools of blacktail barracuda, jacks, yellowfin emporer and lone remoras. Often there's whitetip and leopard sharks resting in the day time. The north west corner has a small fishing boat wreck.

At the south side of Rocky Peaks is a cliff face. Undulated moray eels receive dental work from ghost cleaner shrimps, and the ugly devil scorpionfish waits for unsuspecting strays. In the far south west corner at 25 metres is a swim-through archway. Check out the gorgonian fans in this area, as there are often lime green harlequin ghost pipefish and tigertail seahorses hiding there.

In shallower areas pore corals, lettuce and star corals are just a few of the species mixing with feather stars, sea whips, long spined sea urchins and magnificent anemones. Moray eels and cuttlefish can be found here.

This site is also known as Fanforest Pinnacle by some of the Burma diving operators.

Shark Cave

Shark Cave is 2 km north of Great Swinton Island, 75 km from Kawthaung, and is made up of 3 small islets, the centre islet being the largest at 100 metres wide. In sharp contrast to the bare rocks that identify this site at the surface, Shark Cave will surprise you with its abundance of marine life.
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Another of the top Mergui Archipelago diving sites, Shark Cave was known for having resident docile nurse sharks, although they have not been seen in recent years. The ragged cave entrance is on the north west corner of the islet, and is 5-16 metres deep. Often found guarding the entrance are several long-fin trevally and silver sweetlips. They come to hunt for the masses of juvenile barracudas, cave sweepers and silversides. The tunnel is 20 metres long and the ceiling is covered in beautiful marigold cup corals, and the floors with yellow Stylotella Aurantium sponges. Watch out for the strong surge as you make your way through, but you may just find some large rock lobsters.

Grey reef sharks used to be seen cruising through the tunnel. These sharks have been known to show aggression to scuba divers so if they are present, the best policy is to stick close to one side of the tunnel to give them space to get past. Groups of white tip reef might also make a surprising appearance. However the site is a lovely one even when sharks are absent, as is more likely the case these days. A torch is recommended in the tunnel area to see into the deeper crevices.

The reef on the north east side of the islet (to 25 metres) is rugged with black and white featherstars, and green tube corals and cup corals. Black and white banded sea snakes and black-blotched fantail rays hunt over the reef. Look closely for yellow ornate or harlequin ghost pipefish and tigertail seahorses. Bent stick pipefish can also be seen out on the sandy bottom. At night there are decorated sponge crabs, going about their daily chores. These rather drab-looking creatures are masters of disguise. Turn their back on you, and you could well think that you are staring at a lump of sponge. In the shallow areas magnificent anemones add colour, as do Clark's and tomato anemone fish and the western clownfish.

The southwest wall bottoms at 30 metres and has many fine crevices crammed full of life. Take a careful look and you'll see Durban dancing shrimps and red and white banded boxer shrimps on the ledges, mantis shrimps, sea slugs, cowries and an amazing amount of moray eels - snowflake, white-eyed and fimbriated. Swirling clouds of glassfish drift and dance over the reef. If you're really lucky, you could see the feeding habits of cuttlefish. They hunt in pairs; one acts as a look-out, as the other frantically searches in the crevices with its tentacles to pull out any food it can find. The Mergui Archipelago is an excellent place to see cuttlefish.

The small rocky outcrop to the north is called Square Rock. This insignificant chalk white rock drops vertically down to about 15 metres before jumbled rocks spread out wider, reaching the sandy bottom at 26 metres. This site is dived in a circular fashion if currents will permit, and there is a smaller sister pinnacle just to the south. Currents can be fierce here with strong up and down currents.

Square Rock's walls have green and orange Antipathes black corals, orange cup corals, green tubestrea corals, and white Anthothelidae sea fans. Check out the bases of these to try and spot the minute banded pipefish. Schools of silversides and fusiliers are always present in the water column. Have a look out into the blue for passing jacks, mackerel or tuna.

In the cracks in the wall are hidden nocturnal grey bamboo sharks, a small species about half a metre in length, as well as rock lobsters and frogfish. Under rocks at the bottom of the walls, mantis shrimp, seahorses and ghost pipefish can be found. If you are lucky you may spot whitetip reef sharks and small nurse sharks occasionally. This reef is full of scorpionfish, some small and well camouflaged, and some huge specimens almost half a metre long.

The southern outcrop, often just called The Pinnacle, is slightly deeper at 30 metres, and hosts olive green Theonella Cylindrica sponges and anemones with their attendant anemone crabs and saddleback anemonefish. Like the rest of the site too, there are innumerable scorpionfish here. At the safety stop, you're likely to see porcupinefish and occasional schools of rainbow runners, darting past. Currents can also be strong here.

This dive site is also known as the Three Islets, the Three Stooges, In-Through-The-Out-Door and Colona Rocks.

South Twin Island

South Twin is a grassy, tree-topped granite island, 1 kilometre long, lying in an east-west direction approximately 10 nautical miles due west of Loughborough Island. There are 2 small bays on the south side. Topographically similar to the Similan Islands in Thailand, the island has deep, large rock structures forming gullies, long swim-through passages and overhangs.
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In the shallows you'll find fine table corals hidden among the boulders and home to anthias and damsel fish. There are tiger cowries here and the elusive ribbon eel. Look carefully, as they are really very small, only showing maybe 3 centimetres above their holes in the sand. Male ribbon eels are black and females blue with bright yellow fins. Immature juveniles are all yellow. There are also colourful magnificent anemones and carpet anemones all being defended by plucky little anemone fish.

The deeper boulders are covered in brown disc anemones as well as purple soft corals, white bushy sea fans and crinoids. Acropora coral clings to the rocks in small patches. Various nudibranch species can be seen on the the rocks including twin magnificent and fried egg nudibranchs. Whitetip reef sharks can be seen under the boulders as can tawny nurse sharks. Solitary chevron barracuda can be seen patrolling the blue and large schools of rainbow runners often race by. Emperor angelfish and parrotfish are common as are schools of snappers, oriental sweetlips and fusiliers.

75 km from Kawthaung, South Twin is also a popular site for night dives as that's the time when you really get to see how colorful this reef is. The visibility is usually excellent and currents are usually gentle, making it a great spots for divers of all skill levels.

Stewart Island

Stewart, or Ba Wei, Island lies north west of Cavern Island in the Mergui Archipelago and its main feature from a diving point of view is a smaller islet at its southern end with a spectacular large hole in it that makes for great photo opportunities, even above the water.
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You can descend down the steep walls on either side of the small island and make your way to the other side through one of many large swim-throughs that are filled with large schools of snappers and fusiliers. Be aware of the strong surge and currents that can be present when you attempt the cross over.

The walls are covered in clams and sponges, making for a vibrant and enchanting scene. The wall is peppered with many caverns in which you could historically find juvenile nurse sharks, Here and in the smaller holes and crevasses, watch out for little crabs and all sorts of shrimps, including boxer shrimp and Durban dancer shrimps scuttling this way and that. Around the sandy bottom at about 25m, look out for rays on the sandy floor.

As you can imagine, a dive site like this which has interesting features like swim-throughs, crevasses and caverns, plus all manner of crustaceans and other macro-life, is a popular spot for a night dive, conditions permitting.

Tower Rock

As its name suggests, this a magical dive site with towering walls descending into the depths. Below the water you'll find a lunar site of boulders, made up from the taller reaches of Tower Rock in years past. The walls are laced with whip corals and sea fans, oysters and clams. White banded cleaner shrimp and ornate spiny lobster hide among the crags, whilst blue faced angelfish and yellow striped fusiliers dance their way up the walls.
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Tower Rock, nearly 200 km north of Kawthaung in central Mergui, is manta ray country, so prepare yourself for some special close encounters with schools of these massive creatures. Also ever present are schools of devil rays gliding past overhead. If your itinerary allows for it, plan to dive here in the afternoon to almost guarantee a meeting with them. But your chances are very good at any time of the day.

Keep your eyes peeled also for those reclusive blacktip sharks, often staying just out of vision behind the rocks, or enjoy swimming through the numerous swim-throughs that are created by the large boulders here.

This is a site which is best suited for advanced divers due to the strong currents that are sometimes present.

Western Rocky

The Mergui Archipelago's southernmost dive site, Western Rocky offers you an overwhelming choice of walls and reefs, pinnacles and an impressive passage through the centre of the island. It is a small barren island, perhaps 60 metres wide with 2 smaller islets to the east which can be reached underwater from the main island or dived as a separate dive. Marine life ranges from the tiniest nudibranch to occasional whale shark visits.
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Descending on the southern wall there is a large cavern that starts at 5 metres below the surface and drops to the seabed at around 25 metres. On the western side of the cavern is a large archway swim-though or window, through which sunlight streams. The cavern walls and ceiling are covered in zigzag clams, encrusting sponges and spinous sponges. Shrimps, crabs and lobster are numerous in the crevices and common lionfish are also present.

Just to the east of the cavern is the entrance to a tunnel that runs right through the centre of the island and exits on the northern side. The large passage entrance starts at 17 metres depth down to 24 metres, allowing scuba divers to see daylight (just) for the whole 30 metres through the tunnel.

There is a large chamber inside but as the tunnel reaches the northern side it gradually narrows so that divers must progress in single file. The maximum depth in the tunnel is 24 metres and it splits into 2 exit passages that open to a fringing reef at a depth of 21 metres. The passage to the right is the larger of the 2 exits. The left passage may require removal of the scuba unit to squeeze through. A torch is needed to see into the darker ledges of the tunnel.

The tunnel is a prime example of how the marine life of Mergui prospers when out of the reach of fishermen. Everything inside the cave is big, most notably gigantic lobster and very fat nurse sharks. One nurse shark, about 3 metres long with a very wide body, may make it impossible for divers to continue through the tunnel, instead having to turn around and exiting the way that they entered.

If you exit the tunnel on the north side the prettiest section of the dive site is to the left, on the western tip of the island. Here anemones and pore corals proliferate with a myriad of fish life, including thousands of glassfish being hunted by trevally. Fimbriated moray eels are common and banded sea snakes can be seen.

The south side of Western Rocky is a wall dive with gorgonian sea fans, feather stars and sea whips protruding from the wall. There are some small rocks a short swim away from the wall, in deeper water where white tip reef sharks can be found.

The south wall also makes an excellent night dive. Red finger soft coral and orange cup coral provide the colour. Brown spiny lobsters and painted rock lobster are more numerous here than at any other Burma dive site and are often seen out of their crevices displaying their full length. Long haired hermit crabs, scaled hermit and giant crabs, plus sponge and decorator crabs are all present, as are wandering cowries and, if you are eagle-eyed, anglerfish.

There are 4 small pinnacles to the east of the main island. These islets are worth a dive on their own or, in good visibility and when currents allow, can be reached from the eastern tip of the main island. Cuttlefish are common here as are big reef squid. Bearded scorpionfish are everywhere as are twin-spot lionfish and various moray eels including yellow margined, white-eyed and spot-faced morays. Pelagics like jacks, mackerel and chevron barracuda patrol the blue waters.

Western Rocky Pinnacle is located about 500m southwest of the main island. Starting at about 12m below the surface, this site consists of a large plateau from which finger-shaped reefs stretch out into the deeper water to a maximum depth of close to 40m.

As soon as you reach the top of the plateau you will notice the thick carpet of purple soft corals that cover most of this dive site; what a beautiful and rare sight! As you make your way over this lilac reef you will see that there is no shortage of life among the hard corals and rocky substrate. Numerous cracks and crevasses provide shelter to different types of moray eels whose heads stretch outwards, their jaws wafting oxygen rich water over their gills. You can also spot all manner of shrimps and other creatures that prefer to stay out of sight of predator animals.

At the section of the reef that extends out from the plateau from the north-western area to the south-eastern corner, you will see large schools of snappers and also jacks and mackerel on the prowl.

Currents permitting, it is possible to swim all the way around throughout this dive, but you can also find shelter from the current, if needed, and still have plenty of reef to explore. At the end of the dive just ascend to 5m, deploy your surface marker and drift along as you watch out for larger pelagics in the Mergui blue water, such as tuna or even a large ray.