When you travel to the east coast of Koh Ha also known as Island No.5 you will encounter Anita’s reef. This coral reef has gentle currents, which makes it a perfect place to check out the Andaman Sea life. The Scuba Diving spots offer abundances of marine life and various corals. You will encounter Bombora (Bommies in slang) coral, table corals and stag horn corals packed together in the sandy underground. On the Bombora’s grow soft corals and sea fans in different colors. Within these ancient marine forests small fish play hide and seek with divers and predators. You can spot lionfish, Sweetlips, Clown triggerfish, Diana’s Hogfish, long nose hawk fish, glassfish, Blue fin Trevally and other juvenile fish as it is the perfect nursery. Other corals you will encounter are sheet corals, knobbly finger corals, and the bigger species of lobed and star coral.
Garden of eels in Anita’s reef
When you dive southwards you will reach a more sandy area, which is the sanctuary of the famous garden eels. They pop up from the sand to filter food out of the water but when danger is near they hide in the ground. Be very quiet and they will pop up again to check out your diving skills. In this area you will probably also spot Kuhl’s stingrays buried in the sand and Blue Blanquillo’s.
Symbiotic partnerships among shrimps and goby’s
One of the must see’s when you are diving in the Similan Islands is the symbiotic partnership of the shrimp and goby fish. They both live in harmony and rely on each other. The goby gets a free cleaning and the shrimp is warned when danger approaches. Did you forgot to clean your ears this morning? Don’t worry the wrasse will clean yours as you dive along the Bombora’s.
Out in the blue
When you leave the safety of the coral and head out into the blue you can encounter fantail stingrays of around 2 meters long and other majestic creatures of the water world. Additional, you can find other larger fish lurking around the corals, such ase Blue Damsels, Jewel Fairy Basslets, Fusiliere, Parrotfish, Yellowfin Goatfish and Titan Triggerfish. When you reach the larger boulders of Anita’s reef you can encounter Giant Trebally’s as the tend to hunt around them.
Open Water Course
If you are going to dive in Anita’s reef on the Similan Islands you’ll only need your PADI Open Water since the diving conditions are very easy. The currents are gentle and the sea is shallow with an average of around 20 meters. Anita’s reef is a great place to start exploring the great Andaman Sea and underwater paradises.