All about diving in Burma (Myanmar) and the Mergui archipelago

Best travel time: end November to April

Level of diving: advanced to very experienced

Water temperature: 27 C°

Visibility: 5 meters to 35 meters

Burma entry fee: 200 US$ + 4 passport photos + passport photocopy

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Diving in Burma

Burma liveaboard boats

Burma (Myanmar) offers some of the most spectacular and unspoiled dive sites in Asia. Accessible by liveaboard, the Mergui archipelago is a groups of 800 wild islands. Silvertip sharks, gray reef sharks, mantas, giant wrasses, sea horses, nudibranches, shoals of barracudas and many others are commonly spotted during a liveaboard diving trip in Burma. The highlight of the cruise is the Burma Bank, which offers astonishing dives with pelagic fauna. FunDives propose several liveaboard diving boats who cruise to the Mergui archipelago and Burma bank, all of them meet the international standards of safety.

The liveaboard itinerary begins from Phuket. The first 2 days, you will begin by a Similan cruise, Ko Tatchai, Ko Bon, Richelieu rock. Then you will check in at the immigration in Ranong, the border town. The boat will cruise day by day until Tores islands, and on the way back, if the weather is clement enough, you will dive on the fantastic Burma Banks. The the last day you will be back in Thailand for 2 last dives at the similan islands.

The duration of a liveaboard diving trip in Burma goes from 5 days to 11 days. This most popular is the 9 days trips.

What to see while diving in the Mergui archipelago? Everything, from the small rare shrimp to the giant manta, without forgetting the sharks, of course. Black tips, silvertips, nurses sharks, they are the special guest of a Burma diving trip. But that would be forgetting giant fan coral, eagle rays, sting rays, tunas, trevallies and all the tiny inhabitants who leave in this unspoiled part of our planet.

Burma dive sites are so numerous, that some dive guide try a new spot at each cruise. Here is a very short description of what you will see during a liveaboard diving in the Mergui archipelago.

North Twin Plateau :
A plateau from 30 m to 6 m, with a beautiful formation of fan coral. Usually in clear water, abundant life find shelter inside the coral, while huge barracudas are circling around. With a bit of chance, you will meet some sand sharks. There is also a large underwater plateau located close to the North Twin Island. And this, is one of the Burma diving site for mantas. Your dive guide will indicate you the best behaviour to be sure not to scare this gracious animals.

Western Rocky Island :
A limestone island through which a tunnel passes at 20 m deep, home for tawny nurse shark. Famous within the burma dive liveaboards, the underwater relief is a series of pinnacles, where a wide variety of life swims in front of your mask. Sharks, eagle rays, school of fusiliers, rays on the sand, but also an amazing diversity of smaller life in the crevices of the pinnacles. Don't miss this one too !

Little Torres :
North East Little Torres : max 50m, but everything is around 20 m. Beautiful soft coral formation, and chances to meet eagle rays. Excellent dive.

Black Rock :
A small island with a spectacular drop of, where everything is bigger than everywhere else. Moray eels can be missile size.

The Burma Banks :
Probably one of the most spectacular dive in the world. Burma Bank is a seamount, rising from as deep as 300 m, and picking up at 15 m below the surface. This is what experienced divers or self confident divers are looking for in a diving cruise. The currents can be strong, and the sea is never flat. But, once you are down there, it's a ballet of predators like hordes on tunas, mackerels, and sharks. White tips, gray reefs, silvertips, are hunting in the blue while you are hiding behind colourful soft corals. A dive not to miss.