Japanese Gardens

Sheltered by Koh Nang Yuan's triple islets, Japanese Gardens is the calm, bright nursery where a remarkable share of the world's divers blew their first underwater bubbles. The slope arranges itself politely: fields of branching and brain coral studded with Christmas tree worms, wrasse and damselfish at eye level, butterflyfish pairs on patrol, juvenile angelfish in the rubble, and green turtles that drift through class formations with celebrity effect. Depth barely reaches 16 m and current rarely registers, so skills happen on sand patches while snorkelers float overhead. It is diving with the training wheels visible, and prettier than it has any obligation to be.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: First-dive calm, healthy shallow coral, turtle flybys through training classes

التضاريس: Gently sloping hard-coral garden on sand

نقطة الدخول: On the sheltered east side of Koh Nang Yuan's sandbar; reached by boat or as a shore dive from the islet, which charges a landing fee.

المخاطر: Swimmer and longtail traffic off the sandbar; sunburn ranks above everything else.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Enormous beginner volume concentrates here; instructors drilling fin control before coral contact is the site's real conservation program.