If we were to describe Richelieu Rock in its entirety one paragraph wouldn’t be enough, as this dive site is so incredibly full of life that to list it all we would have to write a whole book! Just as an introduction, Richelieu Rock is listed as one of the Top 10 dive sites in the world on most diving magazines, and it’s without question the best Thailand dive site. Richelieu Rock is a horseshoe-shaped pinnacle situated in the open sea about 10 miles east of the Surin Islands, the rock breaks the surface during low tide and becomes submerged at high tide. There are many different stories and myths about the origin of this dive site’s name, but the most popular says that the name was given by Jacques Cousteau himself as the shape and the colors of the pinnacle reminded him of the cape of the famous Cardinal Richelieu from the Three Musketeers (the rock is covered by purple soft corals on the outside). The absolutely pristine reefs of Richelieu Rock host an overwhelming amount of marine life, anything from large pelagics, predators, schooling fish and more, all the way to macro life such as seahorses, ghost pipefish, nudibranchs and countless more including Whale Shark when diving on a lucky day. Because of the size of the dive site and the unbearable amount of marine life, with MV Giamani we usually do three dives at Richelieu Rock on the same day. The first dive around the deeper part of the east side, the second dive around the deeper part of the west side, and the last dive all the way around the pinnacle at shallow depths. It is really hard to describe Richelieu Rock in words, you should really come and see it with your own eyes!!!

Other Thailand Dive Sites

• Similan Islands Dive Sites
• Koh Bon & Koh Tachai Dive Sites
• Richelieu Rock
• Koh Haa, Hin Daeng & Hin Muang
• Phi Phi Islands Dive Sites
• Racha Islands Dive Sites
• Shark Point, King Cruiser & Koh Doc Mai
• Khao Lak Wrecks