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Richelieu Rock

Andaman Sea, Thailand · 8–35m · intermediate · exposed

Horseshoe pinnacle packed with life from seahorses to whale sharks — Thailand's best dive site.

Conditions today

Retrieved · refreshed hourly

poor

Poor — 1.5m effective waves made worse by local wind chop.

Limiting factor: wind

Wave height
1.4–1.6m
Wave period
6.1–6.4s
Wind chop
0.8–1.5m
Sea temp
29.4–29.5°C

Ranges span today's hours. Wave height here is the raw sea state — the rating scales it for how exposed the site is. Exposed — open water with nothing to block the swell, so it is scored at full height.

Next few days

  • TodayPoor — 1.5m effective waves made worse by local wind chop.poor
  • FridayPoor — 1.7m effective waves made worse by local wind chop.poor
  • SaturdayPoor — 1.6m effective waves made worse by local wind chop.poor

Each day is scored over its morning dive window, the same as today's rating.

Dive briefing

AI-generated

Conditions are poor today, driven by wind chop adding to a 1.5m effective wave height. The exposed location means surface conditions will feel rougher than the raw swell of 1.4–1.6m suggests. Sea temperature sits at 29.4–29.5°C. This is an intermediate site working between 8 and 35 metres, so consider whether the topside state suits your group and your boat operation before committing.

When conditions allow, divers commonly log tawny and purple hermit crabs, ocellaris anemonefish, moorish idols, and Indian redfin butterflyfish across the pinnacle. Parrotfish, swarthy and greenhead species, and blackspotted puffers are often recorded here as well. The site's reputation rests on its density of life, but today's wind chop will test your comfort and air consumption.

Written by Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from the rating, forecast, and sightings on this page — it has no other source and cannot look anything up. Treat it as a summary, not as local knowledge.

Commonly seen here

Most-recorded species near this site, ranked by research-grade iNaturalist sightings from divers, snorkelers, and naturalists.

Species come from iNaturalist — research-grade sightings logged by divers, snorkelers, and naturalists nearby. The ranking reflects what people photograph most, not guaranteed abundance. Ask a local operator what's actually being seen. Species names link to iNaturalist for range maps, seasonality and more photos. Photos by iNaturalist contributors under Creative Commons licences — individual credit on hover.