Black Rock
An 80 metre wide islet, Black Rock stands in a northwest to southeast position, with steep banks all around, and with a wall on its west and south west sides. Many divers' favourite spot in the Mergui Archipelago, Black Rock will have your your heart pounding from spectacular passes of whitetips, silvertips, and black-tip sharks.
Standing alone in the Andaman Sea 100 miles north west of the Thai-Burmese border town of Kawthaung, Black Rock acts as a natural fish magnet and is just as famous for its incredible schools of mobula rays. Then there's the majestic encounters with manta rays and eagle rays soaring above and around you off the deep north western corner, and huge marble stingrays and leopard sharks on the sandy bottom.
Diving down on to the boulder slopes to the south you'll find sprawling carpets of brown disc anemones (Corallimopharian Discosoma) and purple soft corals (Dendronephthya). Home amongst the lower boulders is the granddaddy of all great barracudas. Over 1½ metres long, this thick set monster is so huge it ignores divers, intent instead on receiving dental surgery from the cleaner wrasse. Its scars bare testimony to many a bruising encounter.
Soft corals are most dense in the deeper south west sections corner of Black Rock. This colourful area includes orange cup corals, feather stars, gorgonian sea fans, and tiger striped anemones that cover the large boulders. Spotted hawkfish can be found in the sea fans. Black spotted pufferfish seem too lazy to swim here, preferring to just rest on a rock ledge. Blue ringed angelfish swim around the rocks. This is a good spot for seeing reef sharks or even bull sharks.
Head to the shallower eastern section for mantis shrimp, red swimmer crabs and large hermit crabs. Moray eels including zebra and white mouthed morays can be seen plus a large number of cowrie shells. Also dotted on the rocks are the unusual white hairy urchins (Lovenia Elongata).
Explore the wall for blue, yellow, green and orange soft tube corals, and the banks for hunting big-eye trevally, pompano and banded sea snakes. Rainbow runners pass by in fast moving schools, whereas long fin batfish pass at a more leisurely pace.
Please do take note that currents can be strong and terminally downward, particularly on the deeper sides of the islet. Moving beyond the shelter of the rocks on the island's east and west tips can make it very hard to get back to the site again. However if you stay close to the rocks this doesn't have to be a difficult dive.
Altogether, Black Rock is a truly awesome Burma dive site.
Not to be missed!
North Twin Island
is the slightly smaller, tree-topped, sister island of South Twin and lies 20 km to its north. Its waters are visited by 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.
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.
South Twin Island
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.
In the shallows you'll find fine table corals hidden amongst 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 blue water, such as tuna or even a large ray.
High Rock
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.
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.
Fan Forest
Located 10km north of Western Rocky Island, Fan Forest Pinnacle is a very colourful dive site in the Mergui Archipelago.
It is sometimes also refered to as Rocky Peaks.
The limestone pinnacle’s shallowest point is 5m below the surface and it’s deepest doing beyond 40m. This can be an easy dive where divers descend to the deepest part of their profile and slowly circle the rock upwards. On occasions though, currents can be strong and it is not possible to get right around the pinnacle. Visibility ranges from 10m to over 30m.
As the name suggests, this dive site is famous for the amount of seafans here.
The biggest gorgonians are in deeper waters around 30m and below. They are very healthy and support a large variety of marine life including feather stars, cowries, hawkfish, ornate ghost pipefish and shrimps. They are surrounded by bearded scorpionfish and common lionfish. Schools of fish swim all around including snapper, trevally, butterfly fish, wrasse and soldierfish. Moray eels are also numerous. Oriental sweetlips and blue ringed angelfish are always present.
On the deeper reef edges white tip reef sharks and grey reef sharks can be seen. On shallower parts of the reef look for octopus and cuttlefish around the hard and soft corals. In the blue water look for barracuda and the occasional visit from passing manta rays and eagle rays.
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.
Another of the top Mergui Archipelago diving sites, Shark Cave is known for its resident docile nurse sharks. The ragged cave entrance is on the north west corner of the islet, and is 5-16 metres deep. Often found guarding the entance 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 can sometimes be met cruising through the tunnel. These sharks have been known to show aggression to scuba divers so 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 sharks can also make a surprising appearance. A 1 metre square hole marks the entrance to the lower cavern where nurse sharks can be seen. It is accessible 1 diver at a time and real care is needed with buoyancy control. 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. 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, as well as 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 innumerous scorpionfish here. At the safety stop, you're likely to see porcupinefish and occassional 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.
