Similan Islands · Thailand · Reef · Night
Donald Duck Bay
Shallow bay under the duck-shaped rock, with no current
Area photo: KOSIN SUKHUM · CC BY-SA 4.0
Donald Duck Bay is a shallow bay on the northwestern side of Similan Island 8, named for a rock on the bay that looks like the cartoon character. The diving runs from the surface to about 10 m with no current at all, which puts it well inside beginner limits, and the bay is used for dives after dark as much as for daytime ones.
Where it is and how deep
8.6667° N, 97.6462° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef is shallow, from the surface down to about 10 m, and there is no current, so the dive can be swum in any direction and run until the gas does. That makes the bay a place to sort out trim and weighting at the start of a trip, or to take a long second dive without pressing a decompression limit. The same still water is why the bay is dived after dark, with green turtles occasionally spotted on night dives.
For such a shallow site the list of what turns up is long: barracuda, fusiliers, groupers, Napoleon wrasse, parrotfish, trevally, jacks, dogtooth tuna and rainbow runner, with whitetip sharks, leopard sharks and manta rays also recorded here. None of that is owed to you on a given dive, but the depth means a slow, wandering circuit costs nothing in bottom time.
Marine life and season
- Barracuda
- Groupers
- Manta rays
- Napoleon wrasse
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef sharks
- Tuna
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Good | Prime |
Season follows Similan Islands: Similan National Park closes mid-May to mid-October for monsoon recovery; calm seas and peak manta/whale shark sightings run December-March.
Sources
- Donald Duck Bay — Divezone
- Donald Duck Bay — Scubago
More dive sites in Similan Islands
Reef
A coral-covered rock standing alone on the sand
Wreck
The 27 m liveaboard Atlantis X, bow at 16 m
Reef
Longest reef in the Similans, over 300 coral species
Reef
Big granite blocks with reef sharks and Napoleon wrasse
Coral garden
Morning light on a shallow coral garden off Ko Bangu
Granite arches at the exposed north end of the chain
Drift
Strong-current ridge with soft coral gardens and big boulders
Violet and blue corals on the site's main bommie
Similar dives elsewhere
Shallow coral-block reef the dive tables list as a night dive
A 3 to 12 m house reef off the beach for training, macro and night dives
Calm ten-metre sand and coral bay used for training and night dives
Easy shallow reef with blacktip sharks and green turtles