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Welcome to my personal review about scuba diving in Nai Yang on Phuket island in Thailand! I’ve lived in Nai Yang Beach, sometimes called Naiyang Beach, in Thailand for more than a month. And I really like this beach town away from the crowds and mass tourism on Phuket island in Thailand. Hat Nai Yang Beach in Phuket is a quiet, clean town in Thailand with a beautiful 2 km, or 1,2 miles, long beach. The place is not among the party places in Thailand and the nightlife is pretty quiet. However, Nai Yang is a good place to chill out and do some beautiful scuba diving and snorkeling on Phuket in Thailand.
Nai Yang in Phuket is a great starting point for doing more traveling and scuba diving in Thailand
Nai Yang is located super close to Phuket airport in Thailand! At less than 3 kilometers, or almost 2 miles, away from Phuket airport, it’s the closest beach to Phuket International Airport. Diving in Nai Yang on Phuket is a great way to warm up your scuba diving skills for continuing your dive travels. No matter if you like to hop on a liveaboard in Khao Lak or start an adventure of island hopping in the Andaman Sea in Thailand.
How I ended up in Hat Nai Yang, located in the Thalang District on Phuket Island in Thailand
Exactly as I was making the decision to escape the winter in Europe and go back diving again, I received a phone call. It was from an ex-colleague from my time working as a diving instructor in the Dominican Republic. He told me that he had bought a dive center in Thailand. And I was invited to help out a little and come scuba diving in Nai Yang in Phuket. Manfred and I worked together as diving instructors in the Dominican Republic in 2008. And then we met again by chance on Malapascua Island in the Philippines in 2012.
Due to the random encounter in the Philippines, I was invited to come diving in Nai Yang in Phuket in Thailand
In the Philippines that time, we exchanged Facebook contact information and stayed in touch with each other. The moment I was invited for scuba diving in Nai Yang on Phuket, my plan was made pretty quickly! I booked a flight to Thailand and Manfred picked me up from the airport in Phuket. The airport is only 3 kilometers, or less than 2 miles, away from Nai Yang Beach. Manfred showed me Hat Nai Yang, located in the north of Phuket island in Thailand. And then he dropped me off at my room in NaiYang Beach. I had my accommodation organized for a month (ad). You can book your shared airport transfer from Phuket International Airport to Nai Yang Beach here (ad).
Nai Yang Beach, located in the northwest of Phuket island, is a quiet & clean place away from the crowds in Thailand!
Certain touristy places on Phuket Island in the south of Thailand can get a bit crowded. If you would like to travel and do some scuba diving away from the mass tourism in Thailand, Nai Yang Beach can be a great option! From there you can also continue to travel and do a liveaboard in Khao Lak, which is located north of Phuket. Hat Nai Yang Beach is located in the Sirinat National Park, it’s a beautiful area on Phuket Island. The place is developed enough to offer you everything you need. Think of some bars, restaurants, minimarkets, massage salons, accommodation for all budgets and ATM´s.
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The two dive centers in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket Island in Thailand can take you scuba diving and snorkeling
Naiyang Beach is a small, very laid back, Thai destination away from the crowds. There’s a nice, long beach surrounded by nature and casuarina trees. And there are only two dive centers in this quiet Thai town, as far as I’m aware of in the year 2024. It’s the perfect diving destination for a quiet, relaxing time and with some easy, but good quality scuba diving. It doesn’t matter whether you’re travelling around Thailand, planning to have a one-week vacation to Phuket or going on holiday with your family.
As a female solo traveler, I felt very safe in Hat Nai Yang Beach in Thailand
Additionally, Hat Naiyang Beach is a very safe place. I traveled to Nai Yang on Phuket Island in Thailand as a female solo traveler and have been feeling safe all the time. It’s also a destination where a lot of families, even with young children, travel to in Thailand. But besides families and solo travelers, I also met couples enjoying this place on Phuket island. With the dive centers located here, you can also go snorkeling in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket in Thailand. Before I go into more details about the scuba diving you can do in Naiyang Beach, I will quickly share about other activities you can do on a diving holiday to Nai Yang on Phuket island (ad).
Other things to do, besides snorkeling and scuba diving in Nai Yang in Phuket
There are also other activities, besides of enjoying the beach, snorkeling and scuba diving, in Naiyang Beach on Phuket Island in Thailand. Whether you want to do something different during a diving holiday, or are traveling in the company of non-divers, you won’t be bored in this part of Phuket. If the weather is not good for diving, or outside the diving season, you can also go kitesurfing in NaiYang Beach (ad). And Dewa Phuket (ad) offers activities such as cooking classes, spa massages, a day at the resort or a picnic on the beach. Nai Yang is also an excellent place to take day trips to see the highlights of Phuket Island. But now let’s move on to diving in Nai Yang on Phuket Island!
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Great scuba diving in Nai Yang on Phuket Island in Thailand at a stone’s throw away!
Nai Yang is home to some great dive spots, which are located very close to the main beach. All dive sites are all located between 10 and 30 minutes away by boat. You can find Monkey Rock, Lost Rock, Hin 333 and Hin Gluay at a 10 minute boat ride away. Then there are dive sites located close to the beautiful small island of Koh Waeo, located at 20 minutes from the beach. And finally, a 30-minute boat ride away from Nai Yang Beach you can dive at the wreck Tin Lizzy.
If you go scuba diving in Nai Yang on Phuket island, you’re back in time for lunch with family or non-divers
Because the dive sites in Nai Yang are so close, you can do a double tank dive and be back in time for lunch. This makes it ideal to combine scuba diving with some sightseeing of Phuket island. Or to spend some time in the afternoon with your family or non-diving travel partner. Most dive sites are between 8-20 meters, or 26-65 feet, deep. The Andaman Sea is part of the Indian Ocean. It is said to be home to more than 3000 different types of fish and over 500 unique corals.
Personal selection and review of scuba diving at three dive sites in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket in Thailand
I have made a review of my personal selection of three dive sites in Nai Yang Beach in Phuket. These dive spots were my favorite diving sites in Hat Naiyang in Thailand. So I will take you with me scuba diving to the dive site at the small island of Koh Waeo, the dive spot Stone Coral Garden, and the wreck dive Tin Lizzy.
Dive site 1: The little islands of ´Koh Waeo´ off Phuket Island, Thailand
My first dive after I arrived in Nai Yang was at the dive spot Koh Waeo, which is an amazing dive site. The small island of Koh Waeo is a rock formations with a windblown palm tree on top. You can dive around all sides of the island and even go through the small channel in the middle. Because of this there are a variety of dives here and every dive is different! We dived Kow Waeo West and came back through the small channel. When we first went down I was surprised by the amount of fish I saw there. The visibility was good too, about 10-15 metres, or 30 and 50 feet roughly. Don’t take my word on it, you can also check out the reviews about this dive site at TripAdvisor (ad).
Marine life and fish species at the first dive site close to Nai Yang Beach on Phuket
When we descended, I immediately spotted a huge masked porcupinefish (Diodon Liturosus). There was also a lot of variety of fish and lots of big schools of fish. We saw boxfish, batfish, oriental sweetlips, angelfish, damselfish, and different species of clownfish or anemonefish. But there were also groupers, triggerfish and surgeonfish. During the dive, we spotted four octopuses, a Kuhl´s stingray (Dasyatis Kuhlii), trumpetfish (Aulostomus Chinensis) and cornetfish (Fistularia Commersonii).
Even though Nai Yang Beach was hit by the 2004 tsunami, the corals are now in good condition
Hat Nai Yang Beach on Phuket Island was, like Khao Lak, hit by the tsunami in Thailand in 2004. Therefore I was positively impressed with the state of the coral reefs. The reefs we dived contained a high diversity of corals, including soft and hard corals. There were sea fans, anemones, gorgonians, pinnacles, whip corals and barrel sponges. There is also a lot of marco life on the coral reefs.
Dive site 2: Stone Coral Garden in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket island
Stone Coral Garden is a shallow dive site with lots of coral and fish, similar to that at Koh Waeo dive site. The dive spot is a bit closer to Nai Yang beach. And the visibility was even better, probably because it’s a bit protected from the open sea. This dive site will be amazing for beginners or people who are doing their Open Water course in Nai Yang Beach in Thailand (ad)! The dive site gives home to a lot of macro life and I lost count of the number of nudibranchs I saw.
We saw the endangered green sea turtle whilst scuba diving Phuket island in Thailand
After 20 minutes I saw a green turtle (Chelonia Mydas) right in front of me. The sea turtle then swam away for a while before turning back and swimming another circle around us. The green turtle is one of the endangered species listed by IUCN and CITES. Right after that, I saw two seagrass ghost pipefishes (Solenostomus Cyanopterus), also called robust ghost pipefish. Wow, I´ve never seen this type of ghost pipefish before! To make the dive even more complete we spotted two big lobsters under the coral, a lionfish and three brightly colored crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster Planci). Amazing, satisfied I climbed back on the boat.
Dive site 3 at Hat Nai Yang Beach in Thailand: the wreck dive Tin Lizzy (located close to Bang Tao Beach)
Tin Lizzy is a wreck from a Chinese excavator which came to dig for the mining of tin, many years ago. They say that it sunk in the early 90s. The Tin Lizzy wreck is situated at a depth of about 14 meters or 46 feet. You can swim around and over the remains of the tin dredger, and it has attracted a huge amount of fish life over the years. and it attracts a huge amount of fish life. Compared to diving at Stone Coral Beach, there were really a lot of lionfish here!
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Lionfish numbers have been stable in the waters of Nai Yang Beach on Phuket island
Although lionfish are considered a pest in some parts of the world, around Nai Yang the numbers have been stable for many years. Big schools of fish swim was hanging around the large buckets of this wreck in Nai Yang Beach. I saw barracuda, pufferfish, and batfish. There were also different species of moray eels, scorpionfish and a lot of macro life like shrimps, nudibranchs and wart slugs! I recommend bringing a torch to this dive site at Nai Yang, so you can have a look under overhangs and in the holes.
Conclusion of my review about scuba diving in Hat Nai Yang Beach on the island of Phuket in Thailand
I was so happy to be back in warm water! After wearing my 7mm, extra 2mm vest and a hood on the Canary Islands, I felt so grateful to dive again in a 3mm surf suit which my good friend from New Zealand left me as a present upon leaving Europe. And still, I was warm after my dive! Diving at Nai Yang Beach on Phuket Island was more something that happened to me by chance than a destination I had actually considered. But I was very satisfied with all the scuba diving I did during my month in Hat Nai Yang on Phuket, Thailand!
A typical dive day with Aqua One Watersports in Phuket
A typical day of diving at Aqua One Dive Center in Phuket is very relaxed. As soon as you arrive at the dive centre, the staff will take care of you. Once your equipment is packed and your paperwork is filled out, you will be brought to the beach by a pick-up truck. There’s no need to carry your tank or equipment to the boat. This will all be done for you as part of the service. You will get a complete safety briefing for the dive, the boat and the dive spot in Nai Yang you’re going to dive. The speedboat provides a quick, comfortable ride to the dive sites. And on the way you can enjoy the beautiful view of the coast of Nai Yang and this part of Phuket Island.
2024 update about the scuba dive center in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket island in Thailand
The owners of Aqua One Dive Center in Hat Nai Yang Beach on Phuket island in Thailand have changed in the meantime. My friend Manfred has moved on, but as you can read on TripAdvisor they have some very good reviews (ad). Aqua One dive center in Nai Yang Beach is now a PADI 5-star dive resort on Phuket island in Thailand. They continue the ethics for ocean protection and support the PADI Project Aware project.
Find your flight deal to Phuket in Thailand here (ad)
The whale shark can be seen whilst scuba diving Hat Nai Yang Beach in Thailand
Whilst chatting to one of the other divers, who travels on a regular base to Nai Yang Beach in Thailand for a diving holiday, I discovered that the whale shark can be seen here too! You have to be lucky, but he spotted one in Nai Yang on a previous holiday! After having done about 15 dives in Nai Yang, I´m still excited to go scuba diving in this part of Thailand. From Naiyang in Phuket you can also do day trips to the Similan and Surin Islands, Richelieu Rock, Ratcha-, Phi Phi Islands and more. However, after staying for over a month in Nai Yang Beach, I started an island hopping adventure to 9 other islands in the Andaman Sea in Thailand :-)
A diving holiday to Hat Nai Yang Beach in Thailand
Hat Nai Yang Beach is a perfect place for either a dive holiday. Or to get warmed up before you do a liveaboard or other travels in Thailand. The place is ideal too if you´re planning to learn to dive. Sme shallow protected dive sites are located a few minutes away by boat from the beach of Nai Yang. The water temperature is around 29°C, or 84,2°F whole year around. So you don’t need a thick wetsuit to dive in Nai Yang Beach. And besides scuba diving, there are also many other fun activities, day tours and excursions to do in Phuket (ad), during a holiday in Hat Nai Yang Beach in Thailand!
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Some practical information for your scuba dive vacation to Nai Yang on Phuket in Thailand
Nai Yang is located less than 3 km, or 2 miles, away from Phuket International Airport. You can prebook your airport transfer with HolidayTaxis here (ad) or rent a car on Phuket Airport (ad). Phuket Town is located 30 km away. You can prebook your room in Nai Yang Beach with Booking (ad). But if you prefer to pay even less and find a really cheap accommodation in Phuket island, you can use hostelworld (ad).
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There are plenty of options to book a day tour from Nai Yang. You can do excursions to the islands around Phuket, such as the famous James Bond Island or Phi Phi Islands. You can book massages like you can everywhere in Thailand. And there are some basic supermarkets in Nai Yang Beach too. You can also check Nai Yang Beach in Thailand out on TripAdvisor here. And keep reading for tips about finding your best flight deal to Phuket in Thailand!
Tip for your flight deal or other transport to Phuket in Thailand
You can use Kiwi (ad) to find a good flight deal to Phuket in Thailand. And you can use 12go.com for both a flight ticket to Phuket or other kinds of transport to Thailand. Maybe you are backpacking in Asia and need a boat or bus transfer. You can book that as well with them. Use the link above or the search box below, and Splashpacker earns a small commission without you paying extra. Thank you!
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Restaurants and places to eat in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket
After scuba diving, you might be hungry! And there are lots of good places to eat in Nai Yang Beach. At the beach, you can choose between restaurants offering Thai and international food. And there are the food stalls in the street offering lovely, authentic Thai food. If you come out of the Walking Street, you find the street with lots of food stalls. They have Thai dishes, pancakes and vegetarian spring rolls. For the night owls, there are some bars to hang out and enjoy a beer or a cocktail.
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Enjoy your travels and scuba diving in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket Island in Thailand!
Should you have any questions regarding scuba diving or traveling to Nai Yang Beach in Thailand, feel free to ask in the comments below. Also share it if you’ve been scuba diving in Nai Yang Beach on Phuket Island in Thailand. And let other readers know how your experience was. You may also like to read about diving in other places in Thailand, such as scuba diving on Koh Lanta island, an eco conscious and sustainable diving holiday to Koh Lipe island, or environmentally friendly scuba diving on the Phi Phi islands. Wishing you safe travels and happy bubbles!
A big thanks to Silvia Gegenwart for some photos in this post :-)
* To comply with the European advertising law, I hereby clarify that as an associate with Booking, Get your Guide, TravelPayouts (i.e. TripAdvisor, Kiwi, HolidayTaxi, Discover Cars, DrimSim) and HostelWorld, I earn from qualifying purchases.
All rights reserved – updated 2024
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Hi thanks Neil, my faithful reader :-) Yes it's in that style. It should everywhere be that style remember the words 'you're on holiday!!!':-)
I enjoyed this review Ellis and have added this location to my holiday wish list, sounds idyllic and the dive centre ethos is much like Dave & Ellen that you're on holiday, relax and we will do the work just enjoy the dive time. ������