Similan Islands · Thailand · Reef · Coral garden · Night
Hideaway Bay
Shallow coral bay used for snorkelling and night dives
Area photo: Reinhard Link · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hideaway Bay, sometimes called Barracuda Point, is a shallow bay off the southern point of Island 5, with coral through the bay and granite boulders covered in coral at its edge. Most of the diving is inside 10 m, the current is usually gentle, and the bay is used for snorkelling and night diving as much as for ordinary daytime dives.
Also known as Barracuda Point.
Where it is and how deep
8.5696° N, 97.6452° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The diving is shallow and unhurried: coral through the bay itself, and at its edge granite boulders covered with coral that are worth going out to, where the ground reaches about 35 m. With the current usually gentle there is no route you have to follow and no timing to keep, which is what makes the bay work for a night dive and for snorkellers over the same coral in daylight. Most groups never leave the top 10 m.
Reef sharks, turtles and groupers are all seen here, along with the usual reef life of the Andaman Sea. Watch where you put your hands and knees while you are down there: stonefish and scorpionfish are both present, and on a site this shallow, with plenty of coral to hover over, that matters more to the dive than depth or current do.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Sea turtles
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Similan Islands: The park is closed by law from mid-May to mid-October; December to April is the calm high season.
Know before you go
- Stonefish and scorpionfish are both present in the bay; stay off the bottom and watch where hands and knees go on a site this shallow.
Sources
- Hideaway Bay — Divezone
- Hideaway Bay — Scubago
- Barracuda Point/Batfish Bend — Scubago
- Similan Islands dive sites — Dive The World
More dive sites in Similan Islands
Pinnacle
Unmarked deep pinnacle where mantas and leopard sharks turn up
Mantas and a swirling barracuda vortex over a current-swept plateau
Hard-coral slope better known as Leopard Shark Reef
Reef
A coral-covered rock standing alone on the sand
Wreck
Park-scuttled fishing boat ringed by schooling batfish
Staghorn coral and garden eels on a long sandy slope
Reef
Gently sloping bay reef shared by courses and snorkellers
Pinnacle
Boulder field from 24 to 36 m with near-constant current
Similar dives elsewhere
Shark Fin's shallow coral gardens and nudibranch zones
Swim-throughs behind walls of glassfish, and no current
Shallow coral-block reef the dive tables list as a night dive
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Connected to the large Ao Tum coral garden off Ngamkho Beach