Photo: Myra Pro / Unsplash
Koh Lipe
Koh Lipe sits in the far-south Andaman, in the Butang (Adang) archipelago inside Tarutao National Marine Park, a few kilometres from the Malaysia border. It is the quiet alternative to the Phuket-side sites: fewer boats, small locally-run dive shops, and short speedboat runs to most sites. The diving mixes soft-coral pinnacles and macro with an outside chance at big pelagics. Stonehenge, five minutes from the beach, is a soft-coral and macro dive with seahorses and ghost pipefish. 8 Mile Rock, the marquee site roughly 13km northwest, is a deep exposed pinnacle where whale sharks, reef mantas and devil rays are occasionally seen feeding among schooling barracuda and trevally. The 75m Yong Hua wreck sits on its side at around 42m and is an advanced/deep dive with a resident giant grouper. Best conditions are the dry season, roughly November to April, with visibility commonly 15-30m; water stays warm year-round at about 28-30C. Reaching Lipe takes effort: a long road transfer to Pak Bara pier plus a 90-minute speedboat, or a ferry from Langkawi in Malaysia.
What makes it special
- 8 Mile Rock, a deep exposed pinnacle roughly 13km offshore where whale sharks, reef mantas and devil rays are occasionally seen among schooling trevally and barracuda
- Stonehenge, a five-minute soft-coral and macro dive with seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish and nudibranchs
- The 75m Yong Hua fish-processing wreck resting on its side at ~42m, with a resident ~2m giant grouper
- A quieter, small-shop scene in the Tarutao/Butang archipelago, well away from the Phuket-side crowds
Price range
$
Trip length
3–7 days
Diver level
Open water
Trip type
Day trip, Land based
Price is per person for a typical trip, excluding international flights ($ = under $2,000).
Budget-to-mid. Two-to-three-dive day trips commonly run roughly 2,500-3,500 THB (about $70-100) including gear and lunch; single fun-dives are often ~1,000-1,500 THB. A week of land-based day diving with a budget-to-midrange room lands well under $2,000 per person, excluding flights. National park entry is extra (see fees) and paid in cash. Transfers to the island add cost: Hat Yai-Pak Bara-Lipe packages run roughly 1,000-1,500 THB one way.
Best time to dive
- Current
- Moderate
- Water temp
- 28–31°C (coldest Jan, warmest Apr)
- Visibility
- 10–30m — Commonly 15-30m in the dry season (November-April) with calm seas; drops to roughly 10-20m during the southwest monsoon and after heavy rain. The Yong Hua wreck is often quoted lower, 5-15m.
- Getting there
- Moderate — Reachable but with some friction: a 1.5h boat crossing.
- Experience
- A genuine mix. Koh Yang, Koh Adang and the sheltered reefs suit Open Water divers and courses. The marquee sites are harder: 8 Mile Rock, Seven Rocks and Stonehenge are exposed pinnacles with strong current on full/new-moon tides and are dived by Advanced divers with experience; the Yong Hua wreck (top ~28m, bottom ~42m) is an advanced/deep or technical dive with no penetration permitted.
Nearest airports
- HDY — Hat Yai International Airport (Nearest full international airport; road transfer roughly 2h to Pak Bara pier, then a ~90-minute speedboat to Koh Lipe)
- TST — Trang Airport (Domestic airport with a road transfer to Pak Bara pier (~2.5-3h), then speedboat to Koh Lipe)
- LGK — Langkawi International Airport (Malaysia) (Alternative entry via Malaysia; high-season ferry from Langkawi to Koh Lipe ~1.5-2h with immigration at both ends)
Permit required
Most dive sites lie inside Tarutao National Marine Park and require park entry, collected in cash by operators. Diving is arranged through licensed Koh Lipe operators.
Tarutao National Marine Park entry for foreign visitors is 200 THB per adult and 100 THB per child (3-14), versus 40/20 THB for Thai citizens (rates current as of 2026). Paid in cash. Confirm current amounts at booking.
Marine life
Sightings are never guaranteed — the bars show typical likelihood by month.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Occasional at 8 Mile Rock, sometimes circling divers on the safety stop. Irregular; no reliable season documented here.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Occasional, not reliable. Reported mainly at 8 Mile Rock, in the dry season and during May-September plankton blooms; most trips see none. Treat operator 'year-round' claims as marketing.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Schooling trevally are a feature of 8 Mile Rock's pelagic feeding activity.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Regular on sheltered reefs such as Koh Yang and Sail Rock, though numbers are modest.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Barracuda school at the wreck and pinnacles; a chevron barracuda school reportedly circles divers on the Yong Hua ascent.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Indo-Pacific zebra/leopard shark (Stegostoma) resting on sand or reef; reported at Stonehenge and 8 Mile Rock.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Seen patrolling shallow reefs around the Adang/Rawi group; not a guaranteed sighting.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Larger trevally hunt the exposed pinnacles, most often on the outer and offshore sites.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Common across the soft-coral pinnacles and macro sites year-round.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Reported at Stonehenge, 8 Mile Rock and Pattaya Corner; seasonal and easy to miss.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
A macro highlight at Stonehenge and Koh Talang; found among soft coral and rubble.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Pink and purple soft-coral gardens define Stonehenge, Jabang, Seven Rocks and Koh Sarang.
Dive sites
Worth knowing before you book
- Access is long: a road transfer of roughly 2h from Hat Yai to Pak Bara pier plus a 90-minute speedboat, or a ferry from Langkawi in Malaysia. There is no airport on or near the island.
- Whale sharks, mantas and devil rays are occasional here, not reliable - most trips see none, and encounters cluster at deep, current-swept 8 Mile Rock rather than being predictable.
- Most dive sites sit inside Tarutao National Marine Park, which closes in phases for the southwest monsoon (roughly June 1 to September 30); many operators scale back or shut, though Koh Lipe village itself stays open.
- The best sites are exposed and only diveable on the right tides - 8 Mile Rock and Seven Rocks run strong current near full and new moon, and the Yong Hua wreck is a deep advanced dive.
- Infrastructure is limited: it is a small island reached only by boat, with the Langkawi ferry route running mainly in high season.
Sources & last checked
Checked July 2026
This is a researched draft, not yet human-verified. The seasonality and logistics are drawn from the sources below — confirm specifics (permits, fees, closures) with an operator before you book.
- Dive Sites around national marine park Koh Lipe, Thailand — Adang Sea Divers
- Favourite Dive Sites: Koh Lipe Divers — Koh Lipe Divers
- Koh Lipe: Yong Hua wreck — Asia Dive Site
- Satun's Tarutao marine park begins monsoon closure on May 16 — The Nation Thailand
- Tarutao National Marine Park — Thai National Parks
- Diving in Koh Lipe — PADI
- Hat Yai to Koh Lipe via Pak Bara Pier — kohlipe.my
- Sea water temperature Ko Lipe — seatemperature.info
- How to get to Ko Lipe — Travelfish
Note on the data: Site coordinates are approximate area positions, not surveyed GPS. Yong Hua length is reported as both ~50m (asiadivesite) and ~75m (several operators); coded at 75m and flagged. Whale shark, reef manta and devil ray sightings are coded occasional and are genuinely irregular here - operators report them mainly at 8 Mile Rock in both the dry season and during May-September plankton blooms, but they are not reliable; no photo-ID study was found to pin a firm window, so coded conservatively. Park closure: the Nation (news) and Thai National Parks report Tarutao's monsoon closure runs in phases from mid-May, with most sites closed June 1-September 30 and reopening October 1; Koh Lipe village stays open year-round (it is an inhabited island with its own immigration point) but specific park dive sites such as Jabang and Koh Yang close August 1-September 30, so mid-year diving is reduced and many shops pause. Park entry (200 THB foreign adult) confirmed against Thai National Parks and Tourism Authority listings. Water temperatures interpolated from a seasonal range, not per-month measurements. Sources include operator pages for site colour plus non-operator/primary sources (Thai National Parks, The Nation, Travelfish) for closures, fees and access. Water temperature: Bands are approximate, interpolated around the ~27-30C the south Andaman holds year-round; deeper or upwelling-affected dives can run a degree or two below these surface figures, and a 3mm suit is plenty. Access: Fly to Hat Yai (HDY), transfer by road ~2h to Pak Bara pier, then a ~90-minute speedboat to Koh Lipe; alternatively a high-season ferry from Langkawi, Malaysia (~1.5-2h) with immigration at both ends.