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A pale spotted leopard shark swims over a coral reef among a large school of small silver fish — Khao Lak

Khao Lak · Thailand · Artificial reef

Artificial Reef (Underwater Museum)

About twenty sunken army trucks, a patrol boat and a turtle statue

Area photo: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋) · CC BY 2.0

The Artificial Reef is a collection of sunken army trucks and other structures not far from Khao Lak, laid down in a project launched in 2014 in honour of Queen Mother Sirikit. Tropical fish and nudibranchs have already settled on it, and its shallow depth suits new and experienced divers alike.

Also known as Underwater Museum, Khao Lak Artificial Reef.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Artificial Reef (Underwater Museum): typical dive to 15 m (to 50 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit15 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

No published position for this site — the map shows Khao Lak and its other sites; operators know the mooring.

The dive

The site goes no deeper than 15 m. About twenty army trucks lie on the bottom together with a navy patrol boat, a motorbike, a turtle statue and a group of open concrete blocks, and a good variety of tropical fish and nudibranchs has already moved onto the structures.

Marine life and season

  • Nudibranchs
Month-by-month season rating for Artificial Reef (Underwater Museum)
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimeFairOff-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairPrimePrime

Season follows Khao Lak: Wreck day trips run 15 October to 15 May; the dry northeast monsoon from November to April gives the best conditions.

Dive videos

DIVING IN KHAO LAK, ARTIFICIAL REEF/UNDERWATER MUSEUM DEC 23 · DivingWithChristian on YouTube

Sources

  1. Khao Lak Reefs — Sea Dragon Dive Center

More dive sites in Khao Lak

Wreck

Boonsung Wreck

A tin dredger broken into four sections by the 2004 tsunami

to 20 mbeginner

Reef

Khao Na Yak

A quiet shallow reef where nudibranchs and octopus hide

to 9 mbeginner

Wreck

Premchai Wreck

An intact tin dredger with lionfish and scorpionfish on its decks

15–20 m · max 23 mbeginner

Wreck

Sea Chart Wreck

An intact cargo ship with its load still aboard, on its side

22–40 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

Artificial reef

Construction Artificial Reef

Koh Samui & Koh Phangan · Thailand

Four man-made reef units on the floor of Chaloklum Bay

to 18 mbeginner

Artificial reef

Koh Waen Train Wreck

Trang Islands · Thailand

Twenty railway wagons still sitting on their train rails

to 18 mbeginner

Artificial reef

Junkyard

Koh Tao · Thailand

Sunken jeep and scrap at 10 to 12 m, colonised by reef fish

10–12 mbeginner