Diving Chumphon Pinnacle in Koh Tao, Thailand

I dove Chumphon Pinnacle in August 2026 with Big Blue Diving, by boat out of Koh Tao, Thailand. It was my first dive in Thailand since 2017, when I did my Advanced Open Water here.

I remembered coming out to Chumphon Pinnacle back then and I remembered it being a great dive, but not much beyond that. It is consistently named one of the top three dive sites in Koh Tao, along with Sail Rock and Southwest Pinnacle.

The Pinnacle

Chumphon Pinnacle sits about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Koh Tao. It is a submerged granite pinnacle, so there is nothing above the surface to mark it and the entire dive happens on the structure itself.

The anemone coverage is what sets it apart. There are anemones everywhere you dive in Thailand, but at Chumphon Pinnacle they blanket the rock. You can barely find bare stone under them.

The site is also known for whale sharks. I did not see one. There was a whale shark sighting while I was on the island, on a day I was diving a different site, so there is a decent chance if you dive here.

The Dive

We dove Chumphon once. Getting back out to the same offshore pinnacle twice in one trip is hard to arrange, so one shot was what I had.

Our guide was Nadine from Big Blue Diving, and she knows this site well. If you dive Chumphon Pinnacle with Big Blue, request her.

My Garmin Descent MK3i logged a max depth of 84 feet (25.6 m), an average depth of 50 feet (15.2 m), and 45 minutes of bottom time. The average sits high against the max, which is what a pinnacle dive looks like. You work one structure at depth instead of following a reef up a slope.

There are channels and swim-throughs between the granite boulders as you work your way around.

What Marine Life I Saw

• A large school of barracuda
• Dense schools of fusiliers along the pinnacle wall
• A moray eel out in the open rather than tucked into the rock
• A juvenile yellow boxfish
• Sea anemones carpeting the top of the pinnacle
• Long-spined sea urchins

Dive Conditions

The surface was rough. Heavy seas and pouring rain the whole way out. Visibility still ran about 100 feet (30 m), which was far better than I expected given what it looked like topside.

Water temperature averaged 86°F (30°C).