Scuba Diving Escapade
As you start to swim leisurely with the current, admiring colorful spreads of stag-horn coral, magnificent sea turtles foraging lazily and curious clown fish poking from anemones. Here Diving at Banana Beach is where you will smile at your dive buddy through your mask, thrilled to explore this lively seascape.
As you ascended later shimmying up the boat’s line, you can take a glance back at the extraordinary wall, knowing this was just the start of what lay beneath at extraordinary Banana Beach.
After a snack and short rest motoring over pellucid waters, the captain secured your boat beside Anemone Reef for the second dive. Giant purple and orange sea anemones waved unearthly tendrils in the current while butterflyfish and shrimp took shelter in their stinging tentacles. We finned through labyrinths of table coral past clouds of neon fusiliers and angelfish patrolling branching stag-horns.
Once you have buckled your BCD vest snugly as your diving group proceeds to strode down the marina, masks and fins in hand, ready to embark on an unforgettable undersea adventure at Banana Beach off Phuket’s east coast.
As you boarded the boat, stowing gear before speeding off toward the first of three dive sites that make up the area’s acclaimed scuba trail. As you and your friends and family take a gaze eagerly out at the sparkling ocean, anticipation building as you race out to sea, to embark on an adventurous journey underwater.
Twenty minutes later you will have arrived at your first stop, the aptly named wall where vibrant coral formations cascade vertically like an aquatic amphitheater. Giant sea fans waved hypnotically amid schools of angelfish, wrasses and snappers. You will flip backward off the boat and followed bubbles streaming from the guide’s tank down 30 feet to a sloping reef bursting with life.
Hovering effortlessly 60 feet down on a sandy patch surrounded by coral, you will spot camouflage scorpion fish and spiny lobsters tucked into crevices. Near the reef’s edge, you will see a hawksbill sea turtle flapped lazily before disappearing into blue abyss.
As you casually check your tank pressure and remaining no-decompression limits – there was still ample time to appreciate this spellbinding alien landscape on our slow controlled ascent.
Back aboard, the captain pointed our bow inland toward Koh Bon for the third and final dive. He cut the engines where limestone karsts jut from turquoise shallows allowing us to plunge directly into crystalline waters.
Fanned out along an eroded rocky canyon at 50 feet, we finned against mild current, the topography funneling nutrients attracting large schools of snapper and yellow-striped fusiliers.
Nearing the end of the dive, I ascended gradually toward sunlight fracturing the surface above into sparkling sea diamonds. Leveling off at 15 feet, I was awestruck by clusters of stony coral sprouting like mini forests from the seafloor.
Schools of juvenile fish swarmed the thickets while moray eels slithered from rocky dens to inspect me. Blue waters filled my mask as I grinned broadly behind my regulator, exhilarated from experiencing Banana Beach’s spectacular underwater treasures.
As I climbed the ladder back aboard, saltwater dripping from my hair, I glanced over my shoulder at aquamarine waters and verdant islands stretching to the horizon, so thankful I’d embarked on this phenomenal tropical scuba journey. As you peel off your wetsuit already eagerly anticipating where the seas may take you on your next dive adventure from this island paradise called Phuket.
So if you are ready to embark on an amazing island adventure,come on and book your tickets to one of the most exclusive private beaches that there is in Phuket.
