Phuket, Thailand has some great snorkeling that can be done for free, if you know where to look. Some of the best snorkeling sites may even be right off your hotel or resorts beach! Other Phuket snorkeling sites take a little more effort to find, but the snorkeling is usually worth it.

FREE Phuket Snorkeling Guide

Some of the coral reefs around Phuket are a short swim from the beach, others can be reached by longtail boat and some of the best snorkeling is found on the outer islands further away from Phuket.

The best time of year for snorkeling off the main island of Phuket is in the Winter months from November through April. During the summer season there are often large waves and strong rip currents – if you are not sure, ask about the current conditions at one of the local dive shops on Phuket.

Our top suggestion for Free Snorkeling that is easy to find, close to the beach and of course free, is Kata Beach. Snorkeling can be done on both the North and South ends of the beach. Beginners are best suited to the Southern end, while more advanced snorkelers and stronger swimmers will enjoy the larger reef on the Northern end of the beach.

For a detailed guide to Phuket’s best Snorkeling Sites visit ALOHA SNUBA Thailand’s website

After reading about all of the snorkeling sites in Phuket, you’ll be ready for a fun and free day of snorkeling in Phuket, Thailand!

Have fun Snorkeling in Phuket!!!

Aloha!!!

I shudder at the thought of hypothermia.

At a chilly 19° Celsius and 30 metres down, my three-millimetre wetsuit is no match for the brutal thermocline: the wild temperature variations as steep as 8° Celsius in the space of mere metres. I rub my arms vigorously in an attempt to maintain my body temperature. We are on a hunt. Photo hunt, that is.

“When I dive, I feel alive. Everything else is just a surface interval”, said Dr. Phil Nuytten, a renowned Canadian ocean explorer.

A statement I can easily relate to. I am blessed, as I live in the highlands of Bali. For a scuba fanatic, it’s a dream come true. I often feel the need to descend from the hills to answer the call of the ocean and lubricate my lungs. The beauty of living on a tropical island is that world-class dive spots are simply a phone call and an hour’s drive away.

Divers from all over the world congregate in Bali between July and October to catch a hopeful glimpse of the migratory Ocean Sunfish, also known as Mola-Mola (from the Latin word for millstone, aptly used to describe their roundish figure). These magnificent creatures currently hold the record for the heaviest bony fish on earth; a 3.1-metre long specimen weighed in at 2,235 kg (Carwadine, 1995).

Mola-Mola spend much of their time at cold depth feeding on their favourite diet: jellyfish. Their coarse sandpapery skin is covered with up to 40 different genera of parasites. Occasionally they emerge from the deep to rejuvenate at cleaning stations where schools of bannerfish await, eager to offer parasite riddance services. And one of these cleaning stations is conveniently located at Bali’s own Nusa Penida, a mere 40-minute boat ride from Sanur Beach.

Nusa Penida is the largest of three islands (Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan) lying off the southeast coast of Bali. This 17-kilometre long island is home to stunning corals and diverse marine life. It is a diver’s playground with numerous dive sites worthy of exploring: Crystal Bay, Blue Corner, Bat Cave, SD, and Toyapakeh, to name a few. Besides hosting the Mola-Mola’s seasonal migrations, Nusa Penida is also home to Manta Rays at Manta Point.

It is a gorgeous mid-July day at Crystal Bay – a signature dive site in Nusa Penida famed for the most consistent Mola sightings. The site isn’t named ‘Crystal Bay’ for nothing; the waters are so clear it seems as if we’re looking through a piece of glass. I’m accompanied by my dependable dive buddy, I Made Wirawan, the founder of Bali Marine Sports dive centre, who comes equipped with his natural ability to detect Mola-Mola from a great distance. Mola sightings are dependant on various dive conditions: weather, time of day and month, and dive traffic.

Made signals for me to follow him. We descend further and come to a halt at a sloping reef, facing the open ocean with bated breath. We have limited time to stick around at the risk of running low on air and facing decompression sickness. My heart is racing and I no longer feel the icy water. And there it is, a 3-metre wide Mola parking motionlessly. Six overzealous bannerfish are feasting on its parasite-infested spotty silver skin. The Mola seems to be at peace with this complimentary grooming ritual. It’s a pretty bizarre-looking fish with a massive head, rounded tail, and long sweeping fins atop and below.

I maneuver myself carefully so as not to disrupt its spa session. According to several reports, the Mola also habitually rests flat at the surface of the ocean to sunbathe, hence the common name “ocean sunfish”. A series of questions run through my head: Why do they choose to come to Bali? Where do they go from here? How do they reproduce? What are their roles in the marine environment? And how many are there left in this world?

Startled by a group of oncoming divers, it swiftly wakes up from an apparent trance. Its initial glide is smooth and graceful, but within seconds it speeds up and disappears into the abyss, leaving behind disappointed bubble-makers.

In mid-October last year I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Tierney Thys, a passionate Californian marine biologist, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and a filmmaker, during her workshop to the students of Green School, Bali’s innovative answer to alternative education. She was on a mission to place satellite tags on the Mola and collecting tissue samples for genetic and toxin analysis in the hope of uncovering the secrets of these remarkable creatures.

Dubbed as ‘the next generation’s champion of ocean exploration’ by National Geographic, Dr. Thys and her team have dedicated almost a decade travelling the world’s ocean and studying the mysterious ways of the Mola. Despite their massive size, the Mola remains a creature of mystery; we still don’t know much about their reproductive cycle, population, migratory route, and hunting habits.

“It’s got these big eyes and a goofy look that draws you in to the ocean environment and sparks more questions”, claimed Dr. Thys.

“We want to get people thinking about the ocean and not thinking that land is separate from the ocean but that it’s a big continuum. We can’t have healthy land with an unhealthy ocean.”

It is easy to have a certain expectation of entitlement when you’ve come a long way to see the Mola, but keep in mind that the well-being of the marine life comes first. Go with a reputable dive company with safety-minded dive instructors, be prepared for strong unpredictable currents, and respect the sanctuary of the Mola.

One can’t help but feel humbled in the presence of such evolutionary prehistoric creature. Human civilization is a mere drop in the ocean. Scuba divers and other ocean explorers have been given the privilege of witnessing some of Nature’s most incredible masterpieces. We are stewards of the ocean and with this come a great responsibility to raise awareness and protect Earth’s underwater inhabitants.

Kapoposang and the nearby islands were declared a Nature Tourism Park by the Department of Forestry in 1999. Diving has been an important activity at Kapoposang since the mid 1990s, pioneered by several local divers including Sani Limbunan and Andi Januar Jaury. But because there were so few local divers at the time, and because of the distance from other well-known diving areas in Indonesia, Kapoposang has basically remained a secret.

Even now, there are only two accommodations at Kapoposang, managed by the Makasar Dive Centre and the Popsa Dive Club.

Your journey to Kapoposang Island starts from Popsa pier, near Fort Rotterdam, a historic fort surviving from the Gowa-Tallo kingdom.

The best time to visit Kapoposang is between April and November, when the seas are calm, the weather favorable, and the wind less fierce than in the other months. The trip takes two hours by speedboat; the ocean breezes help to cool your skin in the hot morning sun.

As you approach Pulau Kapoposang, you see the deep blue water, which suddenly meets an expanse of coral reefs between extensive shallows with white sands in the seabed. Sea grass also grows lushly near the shore. The sea bed at Kapoposang has a unique composition; near the island are some quite shallow contours, and then suddenly steep underwater cliffs leading to seemingly endless depths. The water is very clear; you can expect underwater visibility of over 15 meters – ideal conditions for divers.

We had to bring all our supplies from Makassar, because the accommodations on the island are not equipped with full logistical support. Luckily, we didn’t have to bring a diving compressor, because this facility is provided at Kapoposang.

According to the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (LIPI), which conducts monitoring and assessment near Kapoposang, in 2007 there were over 68 species of coral, and over 160 fish species.

Diving points are found along the west, north and east coasts of Kapoposang; some of the best known are “Killing Field”, “Shark Point”, “Mardjono Point”, “Nakano Point”, “Cave Point”, “Turtle Point”, “Aquarium”, “Januar Point” and “Ian’s Point”.

We did our first dive at Cave Point, a favorite spot for underwater photographers because of the extremely high diversity of marine life found here. Our dive started from the inner part of a rock wall; at a depth of four meters, a cliff nearly 90 degrees downward was right in front of us. We slowly approached the escarpment and gazed down into the deep blue water. It reminded us of the diving contours at Bunaken, with steep, seemingly bottomless escarpments providing great diving challenges. The visibility, over 20 meters, makes a dive down to 30 meters feel not that deep.

There were many small gaps in the escarpment; this is why it’s called “Cave Point”. The gaps in the coral typically form small caves where you may see turtles sleeping. But it must not have been our lucky day, because we didn’t see any turtles, though we did encounter some large pelagic fish, including jackfish and tuna.

Suddenly, out of one of these little caves darted a white-tip reef shark, giving us a bit of a fright, though these sharks are not actually dangerous to humans.

Our second dive was at Killing Field, just 15 minutes from where we were staying. Killing Field is next to another dive spot called “Shark Point”, and more challenging than Cave Point. The seabed walls are not as deep as at Cave Point; at a depth of around 30 meters, it changes to a vast expanse of sand.

The strong currents here attract large fish to feed. We came across a large Great Barracuda, perhaps a meter long. In the distance, we also saw several Eagle Rays, a type of stingray that swims in the open sea like pelagic fish; its head resembles and eagle’s, and from a distance it does look like a flying bird.

We also did a night dive near the lodging, at a spot called “Aquarium”. Our flashlights lit up the colorful coral reefs. Nudibranches, which are already quite colorful, seemed even more beautiful at night. We also encountered some sleeping puffer fishes. It’s easier for divers to get close to fish at night, when they are less active. Aquarium is a very easy spot for diving, with depths of only around four to eight meters and almost no current.

At Ian’s Point, concrete blocks have been planted to provide an environment for fish; these are called “fish aggregation devices”, or in Indonesian, rumpon. The rumpon attract smaller fish, as here they can hide from predators. Eventually, coral will grow on them, and they will function as semi-artificial coral reefs.

Kapoposang’s unique beauty makes it a useful asset for the local community, but it remains underutilized. Attention from the public and the local government will enable Kapoposang to become an icon for Indonesia and South Sulawesi.

Climate change is already beginning to transform life on Earth. Around the globe, seasons are shifting, temperatures are climbing and sea levels are rising. Research shows that the world has now become hotter than at any time during the past 1000 years.

Until recently global warming didn’t worry too many people. A few years back people thought it was a joke, a fantasy dreamed up by scientists. But things have changed. Many people now accept the reality of global warming. And this includes most of the world’s governments. We also realize that global warming is mostly bad news. Rising sea levels will threaten coastal communities, especially affecting countries like Indonesia which has very long coast lines. We will see more extreme droughts and other weather events.

About three billion people who live in poverty around the world will be hardest hit by climate change. The poor are more dependent on natural resources and have less of an ability to adapt to a changing climate. Diseases, declining crop yields and natural disasters are just a few of the impacts of climate change that could devastate the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Keeping the Rainforest Intact

Many agree that we need to reduce the release of greenhouse gasses, such as CO2, into the atmosphere. One way to do this is to avoid further deforestation. Between 2000 and 2005, loss of global forests was about 7.5 million hectares per year, or about twice the size of the Netherlands. The loss of tropical forests alone released some 5.5 billion ton of CO2 throughout the 1990s, accounting for almost 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, reducing forest loss can have a significant impact on reducing global warming.

But how do we reduce forest loss? First we need to know what is actually causing deforestation. Among the many factors, unsustainable logging (illegal and legal), fires, development of plantations for palm oil and pulp and paper, unregulated mining, and also small-scale agricultural activities stand out as major factors. These activities can take place because national and local governments develop land use plans that aim at rapid economic development of forest areas. So the key to reducing loss of forest and species like orangutans is to convince governments to not allocate forest to non-forest use.

Let’s look at an example. Of the 8 million hectare of land earmarked for oil palm development in Kalimantan, 1 million is in orangutan forest habitat. This means that some 10,000 orangutans or about 20% of Kalimantan’s remaining populations are threatened by oil palm. Some of this oil palm will be planted on peat lands, which basically consist of carbon. Development of these peats can release vast amounts of CO2. This is one of the reasons why the Indonesian government is looking into better protection of peat lands.

But these are not easy choices. Oil palm is highly profitable. One hectare of oil palm on peat can result in more than US$4,000 in annual revenues. On non-peat soils in Kalimantan this is reduced to some US$ 3,000, but this is still a lot of money.

One potential help in the protection of forests comes from payments for avoided deforestation. Increasingly, buyers in the United States, Australia, and Europe are willing to pay forests users in countries like Indonesia to protect forests. Payments for this can be substantial.

Erik Meijaard, TNC Indonesia’s senior science advisor, explains how payments for avoided deforestation could be at a level similar to revenues from oil palm.

“At a carbon price of US$ 3.50/ton, peat land conservation could be worth as much as the annual revenues from oil palm. If in addition, some timber is extracted at low volumes forests would be worth more than oil palm,” he says.

Local communities would then still enjoy forest benefits like bush meat, fish, fruit, honey and other products. Much depends on market price development of palm oil and carbon and the availability of carbon buyers, but as Erik says “payments for avoided deforestation on peat could save species like orangutans while allowing for economic growth in Indonesia.”

Not all forest is on peat, although the potential value of other forests through avoided deforestation is also high and could provide a badly needed stimulus to forest and wildlife conservation, it appears that revenues from oil palm, mining, and pulp and paper plantations is often higher. If we think in economic terms alone, there will likely be more forest loss in Indonesia.

These four territories ruled by the kings are now known as Pulau Waigeo, Pulau Misool, Pulau Batanta, and Pulau Salawati. Together with around 600 smaller islands, these four major islands now comprise Raja Ampat Regency.

Administratively, Raja Ampat lies within the province of West Papua; geographically, it extends north and northwest from Sorong, covering 4.6 million hectares of waters.

Since 2003, Raja Ampat has been a newly-created regency, separate from Sorong. The administrative capital of Raja Ampat is Waisai, on Waigeo, the largest island in Raja Ampat, which is roughly the size of Bali.

Raja Ampat is a maritime region located within the world Coral Triangle, which includes parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands.

In 2007, Raja Ampat Regency was declared a Maritime Regency by the Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

A Diver’s Paradise

The islands of Raja Ampat were visited by several European explorers in the nineteenth century. In 1860, the renowned British researcher Sir Alfred Wallace spent three months in Waigeo studying birds and insects.

Diving activities began in Raja Ampat in the early 1990s, but the area remained relatively unknown until the 2000s.

Attracted by the reports of biological diversity in the Raja Ampat Islands, since 2002 several world conservation organizations have been conducting research. The survey results are amazing; Raja Ampat is home to at least 537 species of coral – 75% of all coral species known in the world – as well as at least 1074 fish species.

Thanks to these discoveries, Raja Ampat has been declared the center of the world Coral Triangle, with the greatest biodiversity found anywhere. A renowned scientist, Dr. Gerald Allen, says that in just one dive he recorded 283 fish species, far higher than the average diversity level of 183.6 species.

With these survey results, the eyes of the world turned to Raja Ampat. Over the past few years, Raja Ampat has become known as one of the world’s best diving regions. The limited facilities did not deter enthusiasts from diving at Raja Ampat. These underwater explorers were enticed by the chance to encounter rare creatures or even discover new species.

The islands of Raja Ampat extend over quite a large area; to explore the islands properly, you need highly mobile transport facilities. More than 15 diving ships now operate regularly, enabling visitors to explore the entire Raja Ampat area. As well as providing transport to diving sites, these tour ships also offer full accommodation, just like floating hotels. And if you’d prefer to relax on the beach and interact with the local people and their culture, resort accommodation is available on several islands near Waisai and Misool, which are surrounded by extraordinary diving sites.

Live-aboard and land-based accommodations each have their advantages; together, they complement one another and offer a truly different experience.

All foreign tourists entering the area are required to pay an entrance fee of Rp 500.000, which entitles them to visit for one year; for domestic tourists, the fee is Rp 250.000. The entrance fee can be paid at a counter at the airport or through any live-aboard or land-based dive tour operator in Raja Ampat.

The 36-nautical-mile journey from Sorong to Waisai takes 2 to 2½ hours by speedboat. We docked at an area near Waisai to visit Waiwo, an area managed by the Raja Ampat regency government as a local development facility. Waiwo has several guest houses, and diving facilities such as scuba tanks and air compressors.

Waiwo is located near Waisai, just ten minutes away by speedboat; it takes only 20 to 30 minutes to reach the best diving sites in the area. To visit the Manta Point at Arborek Island takes around 90 minutes.

The diving sites near Waiwo include Sardine Reef, Mike’s Point, The Passage, Cape Ri, and Mansuar Reef. Here you regularly encounter schools of fusiliers, jacks, snapper, and anthias. Though reef damage is evident in a few places, most of the reef coverage is still excellent.

One unusual species that can be seen here fairly easily is the pygmy sea horse, a tiny creature (±1-2 cm) that lives in symbiosis with gorgonians and in the gaps between hydroids living in the coral reefs. Another rare species found here is a shark seldom found elsewhere, the wobbegong shark, which conceals itself among the reefs and plays dead. You can get quite close to them, but mustn’t touch them or disturb them in any way; though they seem very passive, they are very dangerous and likely to bite.

To the south of Waiwo is Pulau Saonek, the administrative capital of South Waigeo District. For those who enjoy “muck diving” (diving to dig for unusual creatures in the sand, dead reefs and/or slime), the dock at Saonek is the perfect place. Living in the shallow waters below the pier are several rare species of octopus, such as the mimic octopus, often called the “wonderpus”, which camouflages itself by imitating various fish species to avoid detection by predators.

Also found here is the blue ring octopus, a small but highly venomous octopus that can be recognized by the blue rings that appear when it is stressed or otherwise disturbed. Never try to touch this beautiful creature! Other exotic species found here include the ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, and crocodile fish.

A short journey to the west takes us to Pulau Arborek, home to schools of manta rays. The currents run swift here, and you can see the schools of mantas playing while seeking food. Below the simple pier at Arborek you can find many other schools of fish, ideal subjects for photographs.

There’s always more to say about the beauty of Raja Ampat; every time you dive, you discover something new and unusual.