Koh Rong & Koh Tang · Cambodia · Reef · Coral garden · Drift
Koh Tang
Stingrays in numbers at Sting Ray Alley, the deepest site here
Area photo: TomFitzhenry · CC BY-SA 4.0
Koh Tang sits four to five hours off the Cambodian mainland and is dived only on overnight trips. The reef begins at about 2 m and runs down through staghorn, hard coral, soft coral and bommies to 16-18 m, with visibility between 10 and 30 m and an average nearer 15. Fly By Reef carries enough current to be dived as a drift, and Sting Ray Alley drops below 25 m.
Also known as Tang Island.
Where it is and how deep
10.3000° N, 103.1170° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Overnight trips leave M'Pay Bay at 7:30am and reach the island four to five hours later, about two and a half hours south-west of Koh Rong Samloem. The reef begins at around 2 m and descends from the shallows to roughly 16 m, over staghorn and other hard corals, soft coral and scattered bommies. Most of the dive is worked between 6 and 18 m, following the coral along the island rather than heading out over the sand.
Barracuda and schooling trevally work the reef edge, with batfish and cobia in mid-water, groupers, spotted sweetlips and titan triggerfish among the coral, and moray eels and pufferfish tucked into the structure. Visibility ranges from 10 to 30 m and averages around 15 m, enough to pick fish out along the reef without seeing the far side of it.
Closer in, the same ground is macro: nudibranchs, cuttlefish, octopus and squid, razorfish over the sand, scorpionfish sitting still on the coral, and crabs and other crustaceans in the rubble. Two of the island's sites break that pattern. Fly By Reef carries a current and is run as a drift, so you go in, get moved along the reef and get picked up rather than swimming a circuit. Sting Ray Alley, where the stingrays gather in numbers, takes you below 25 m - the deepest diving here and the one profile to plan gas and no-stop time around.
Background
Koh Tang was the battleground of the Mayaguez incident of 12-15 May 1975, generally counted as the last battle of the Vietnam War. Two US Air Force CH-53 helicopters, Knife 23 and Knife 31, were shot down over the island during the fighting and photographed lying on its East Beach shortly afterwards. None of it is part of the diving - the sites here are reef, not wreck - but it is why an island this far offshore has a name outside Cambodia.
Marine life and season
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Groupers
- Stingrays
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Squid
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Koh Rong & Koh Tang: Oct–Jun is the season with Nov–Apr calmest; the south-west monsoon makes the offshore crossing impractical Jul–Sep.
Know before you go
- Fly By Reef runs with enough current to be dived as a drift; go in with the group, stay off the coral and let the boat pick you up down-current.
- Sting Ray Alley drops below 25 m, deeper than the rest of the island's diving, and you are four to five hours from the mainland - plan gas and no-stop time conservatively.
Dive videos
Dive Koh Tang Cambodia · Ken Dunlop on YouTube
Koh Tang Diving · Oum Bunreth on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the diving at Koh Tang?+
The reef starts at about 2 m and most of the dive runs between 6 and 18 m, descending from the shallows to around 16 m. Sting Ray Alley is the exception, dropping below 25 m.
How do you get to Koh Tang?+
Only by overnight boat. The island is four to five hours off the mainland and about two and a half hours south-west of Koh Rong Samloem; trips leave M'Pay Bay at 7:30am and run two days for five dives plus snorkelling.
What is the visibility like at Koh Tang?+
Between 10 and 30 m depending on the day, with an average of around 15 m.
When is the best time to dive Koh Tang?+
The Cambodian season runs from late October to the end of June, though centres operate year-round.
Sources
- Koh Tang dive trips and sites — Scuba Nation (divecambodia.com)
- Overnight trips to Koh Prins/Koh Tang — Scuba Nation (divecambodia.com)
- General information on dive trips and sites — Scuba Nation (divecambodia.com)
- Koh Tang — Wikipedia
- Mayaguez incident — Wikipedia
In The Logbook
- Cheapest places to scuba dive, and the catchTrip planning · 15 min read
More dive sites in Koh Rong & Koh Tang
Reef
Seahorses and bamboo sharks on a slope that ends in sand at 16 m
Reef
Whale sharks reported in December and again in May
Two-metre cobia that come over to inspect divers
Similar dives elsewhere
Blacktip reef sharks over a granite slope on the western side
Swim-throughs behind walls of glassfish, and no current
Longest reef in the Similans, over 300 coral species
Two shallow coral sites: nudibranchs at 12 m, macro to 18 m