Phi Phi & the King Cruiser · Thailand · Wall · Reef
Pileh Wall
Gorgonian fans below, blacktip reef sharks along the shallow top
Area photo: Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
A wall on Phi Phi Leh beside Pileh Lagoon, dropping to 20 m and faced with soft corals and gorgonian fans. Blacktip reef sharks turn up in the shallower water along the top of it, and moray eels, nudibranchs and hawksbill turtles fill in the rest. Nothing about the site is demanding and the whole dive fits inside 20 m, so it is run for divers at every level.
Where it is and how deep
7.6846° N, 98.7699° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wall is the whole dive. Drop in, settle against the rock and follow it, with 20 m as the deepest the site goes. Soft corals and gorgonian fans cover the face and are worth diving slowly and close in rather than swimming the length of; moray eels sit back in the cracks between them and nudibranchs are on the rock for anyone diving slowly enough to find them. Reef fish work the water immediately off the wall.
Come up as the dive goes on and finish along the shallower top of the wall, where blacktip reef sharks are most often seen — divers sometimes watch them cruising the overhang before the descent has even started. Hawksbill turtles are seen along the same stretch. The shallow finish means the safety stop happens over reef with something to look at, and because the site sits well inside recreational depths it is dived at all levels.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Sea turtles
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Phi Phi & the King Cruiser: Nov–Apr is the dry season with the calmest, clearest water; the south-west monsoon from May to October brings swell and rain.
Know before you go
- Pileh Lagoon carries heavy boat traffic: dives run south along the wall away from the bay, and a surface marker buoy goes up before you ascend.
Questions divers ask
Can you see sharks at Pileh Wall?+
Blacktip reef sharks are reported in the shallower water along the top of the wall, and divers sometimes see them along the overhang before descending. They are passing encounters rather than a guarantee, and the shallow end of the dive is where you have the best chance of one.
Sources
- Pileh Wall 1 — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
- Pileh Wall 2 — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
- Pileh Wall dive site — PADI
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