Dive with

Best places to dive with Longfin batfish

Platax teira

A tall, disc-shaped silver fish that drifts in loose groups around reefs and wrecks. A resident school is a well-known feature of the SS Thistlegorm, where the fish hang in the current above the cargo holds and often approach divers closely.

Destinations ranked by how reliably longfin batfish is seen. The bars show the likelihood by month — never a guarantee. See the full species page for more.

Coron, Palawan, Philippines
Sighting likelihood by month
MonthLikelihood
Januarycommonly seen
Februarycommonly seen
Marchcommonly seen
Aprilcommonly seen
Maycommonly seen
Junecommonly seen
Julycommonly seen
Augustcommonly seen
Septembercommonly seen
Octobercommonly seen
Novembercommonly seen
Decembercommonly seen

Batfish hang around the wrecks year-round, often in small groups near the Okikawa Maru, Kogyo Maru and Irako.

Koh Chang, Thailand
Sighting likelihood by month
MonthLikelihood
Januarycommonly seen
Februarycommonly seen
Marchcommonly seen
Aprilcommonly seen
Maycommonly seen
Junecommonly seen
Julycommonly seen
Augustcommonly seen
Septembercommonly seen
Octobercommonly seen
Novembercommonly seen
Decembercommonly seen

Batfish are among the resident schooling fish on the HTMS Chang wreck.

Northern Red Sea, Egypt
Sighting likelihood by month
MonthLikelihood
Januarycommonly seen
Februarycommonly seen
Marchcommonly seen
Aprilcommonly seen
Maycommonly seen
Junecommonly seen
Julycommonly seen
Augustcommonly seen
Septembercommonly seen
Octobercommonly seen
Novembercommonly seen
Decembercommonly seen

A resident school hangs over the SS Thistlegorm year-round, drifting in the current above the cargo holds.

Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Sighting likelihood by month
MonthLikelihood
Januarycommonly seen
Februarycommonly seen
Marchcommonly seen
Aprilcommonly seen
Maycommonly seen
Junecommonly seen
Julycommonly seen
Augustcommonly seen
Septembercommonly seen
Octobercommonly seen
Novembercommonly seen
Decembercommonly seen

Schools hang around the superstructures of the larger wrecks.

Koh Tao, Thailand
Sighting likelihood by month
MonthLikelihood
Januaryoccasional
Februaryoccasional
Marchoccasional
Apriloccasional
Mayoccasional
Juneoccasional
Julyoccasional
Augustoccasional
Septemberoccasional
Octoberoccasional
Novemberoccasional
Decemberoccasional

Groups of batfish hang around the pinnacles and wreck sites, curious and easy to approach.