East of Eden, island no.7

No visit to the Similan Islands would be complete without a dive along perhaps the most famous of all the islands’ divesites. Running along the southeastern corner of Similan Island 7, East of Eden is one of the most colourful and vibrant fringing reefs in Thailand.

Starting in the shallows at 6m the reef falls quite steeply in the northern section to depths of 35m or more where the sand bottom then levels out. Usually this reef is dived from north-east to south-west and it is here at the start if you head down to the deeper coral pinnacles you will often find a few pairs of purple fire gobies and a massive red frogfish hidden amongst the deeper boulders.

Heading along towards the shallower parts of the reef you will swim over enormous orange and red gorgonians sea fans, beautiful barrel sponges as well as staghorn corals, table corals and pore corals, which are home to many colourful Christmas tree worms. Keep a keen eye open as there are ribbon eels, frogfish and hundreds of other small treats in all these corals

At the deeper end of the reef, where reef meets sand (25-30 Meters) we often find scores of Kuhl’s Rays and whole fields of Garden Eels. Along the entire reef you will find all the usual reef fish going about their daily business, a myriad of shapes, sizes and colours. hawksbill and green sea turtles are very often seen at the top of the reef plateau.   At the southern end of the reef is an enormous coral pinnacle starting at 24 mtrs and rising to 10 mtrs. It is definitely worth swimming around slowly at least once. This pinnacle is home to many different large and small sea fans, enormous table corals, endless differently coloured feather star worms and beautiful soft corals and anemones. So many fish are attracted to this pinnacle, but also look for the smaller species such as nudibranchs, cowries and at the right time of year the elusive ornate ghostpipefish. This pinnacle is truly an ecosystem in itself. At the end of the dive we swim in the shallows where several turtles are often found, as well as clown triggerfish