Richelieu Rock

This is it – the most famous site in Thailand. It’s cited as the best dive site in the country – for good reason!! The site is big and so filed with life that you need at least three dives to see the place. It is considered one of the best dive sites in the world, with or without whale sharks. The limestone rocks are covered with anemones, sea fans, barrel sponges and soft corals of all kinds. From Porcelain crabs, Tiger Tail Sea Horses, Pipefishes, Harlequin Shrimp, a great variety of Nudibranch, tomato anemone fish, yellow boxfish, moray eels and mantis shrimps to nurse sharks, manta rays, 1 meter Malabar groupers and Big, big barracudas, there’s always plenty of life to grab your attention on this dive. Several big schools of fish comes in to feed. And what you see on the morning dive (5.30) is different from the noon dive. So get on a liveraboard to see all of the rock. The hardest thing about diving here is what underwater camera setup you should have. Macro, supermacro or wide angel? You have everything here!

Best Time to Visit

Visibility at Richelieu can change in minutes. The lunar cycle has a large bearing on visibility here so when the tides are weak, excellent visibility can be anticipated

Richelieu Rock is located in the open ocean so is generally only safe to dive between the months of October and May. To visit Richelieu Rock during the monsoon season would be reckless. Storms can blow up out of thin air, and there is nowhere for dive boats to shelter.

History

Richelieu Rock was discovered as a recreational scuba dive site by diving pioneer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, with the help of local fishermen. Long known among the Moken (Sea Gypsies) as the main landmark where the Surin Islands and Mainland are visible to each other – the name originally came from Admiral Richelieu, a commander in the Royal Thai Navy (Yes, a Belgian was the first admiral of the navy!!!) as he instituted a massive mapping campaign of Thai Waters.

Since 1988 the rock has been part of the Surin Islands National Park.

Weather

Due to weather conditions it can only be visited between November and April and, even during those periods waves can make visits impossible. All you can see of it from the surface is a small rock just protruding above the water, and only then at low tide. At high tide the rock is often completely hidden. With no safe harbors nearby, and the speed of monsoonal storms is is impossible to visit outside of the dry season.

What to do in Richelieu Rock

Activities

Due to the Remote nature of the site and being completely submerged during high tides, this site is reserved for diving only

Where to Stay

While 95% of people stay in Khao Lak for any trip to Richelieu, Kuraburi is closer to the pier, but very limited options for tourism. Check out the options for Khao Lak accommodation below…

Getting There

Located in the middle of the sea with no lighthouse or marker buoys - the only way to reach Richelieu Rock is by reliable boats with competent captains and navigation systems.

Trips and Courses in Richelieu Rock

How to Find Us

All our Richelieu Rock Liveaboards start and finish in Khao Lak.

Marine Life

Richelieu Rock consists of a series of underwater limestone formations of which the main pinnacle can be seen breaking the surface at low tide. The rocks themselves are covered in the most beautifully colored soft corals, sea anemones, sponges and fans that it is possible to imagine. When the sun is shining and the sea is blue the colors are breathtaking especially with the profusion of tiny colorful reef fish in the shallows with light reflecting off of their scales. Besides the color, no matter what you are interested in, big or small, you will almost certainly leave more than satisfied. For the lovers of large species you have large groupers, nurse sharks, turtles and leopard sharks. A few meters away from the main pinnacle and about five meters deep are schools of large black fin barracuda circling around. On a good day a manta ray may pass by often gliding by close to the main pinnacle itself as it filters plankton out of the water. Harlequin Shrimp, Richelieu Rock Macro Heaven For macro lovers this is heaven. This dive site is a mass cleaning station so expect to see a large variety of shrimps possibly including the very rare and beautiful harlequin shrimps. A few different pairs have been resident there for a number of seasons now. Pipefish are abundant from the stunning ornate ghost pipefish to banded and cleaner pipefish. Frog fish are definitely present including the giant frog fish. You just have to find them superbly camouflaged in some crack or crevice. And then there are the resident seahorses!