Koh Lipe & Tarutao · Thailand · Reef
House Reef
Walk-in beach reef, 5 m deep, where courses start
Area photo: fototaube · CC BY-SA 2.0
The reef straight off the beach on Ko Lipe, entered by walking in, and the shallowest site in the area at a maximum of 5 m. The water is calm and clear, there is coral and reef life a short swim out, and this is where the island's courses start and where students make their first dives. Rabbitfish, clownfish, bannerfish, angelfish and triggerfish are the usual company.
Also known as House reef.
Where it is and how deep
6.4850° N, 99.3034° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
There is no boat and no crossing. You kit up on the beach, walk in, and the reef starts a short swim out in water that never goes deeper than 5 m. That ceiling is the point: it is shallow enough for a first breath underwater, for skills on the sand, and for the confined-water part of a course to run straight into an open-water dive without going anywhere.
What you get for the depth is a calm, clear coral reef with ordinary reef life on it, including rabbitfish, clownfish, bannerfish, angelfish and triggerfish among plenty else. For a certified diver it is a snorkel-depth potter rather than a dive worth a tank, but as a place to learn, or to run a skills refresher before the boat dives start, it does the job.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Koh Lipe & Tarutao: November-April is the dry-season diving window and February-April the best of it; from mid-June to mid-October only the Pak Bara speedboat runs and visibility falls toward 10 m.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Ko Lipe house reef?+
A maximum of 5 m. It is a beach entry with no boat involved, which is why it is used for courses and first dives rather than as a site in its own right.
Sources
- House reef - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Koh Lipe & Tarutao
Reef
Soft-coral outcrops and boulders, mantas in the current
Wall
Wall and coral garden on Ko Lipe's own coast, 12 to 30 m
Coral garden
Coral garden and short walls, 12 to 25 m, strong on macro
Pinnacle
Mild-current ridge at 5 to 18 m with feeding hawksbills
Pinnacle
Soft-coral dome from 6 m to a sandy base at 12-18 m
Reef
Cascading granite boulders from 5 m down to 25 m
Wall
Crevices and overhangs down a 10 to 30 m wall
Reef
Broken coral ground and sand patches, 5 to 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Shallow coral-block reef the dive tables list as a night dive
A shallow shark nursery reached straight from the beach
Shallow bay under the duck-shaped rock, with no current
Shallow coral bay used for snorkelling and night dives