Silvertip Bank (Burma Banks)
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
The Burma Banks are open-ocean seamounts far west of the island chain, and Silvertip Bank carries their story. In the 1990s this plateau was legendary for bold silvertip sharks circling divers in numbers; decades of regional long-lining thinned that spectacle, and today's visitor should expect a wilder, emptier dive where silvertips still appear, singly or in small patrols, alongside dogtooth tuna, rainbow runners, and grey sharks on lucky days. The bank itself is a hard-coral prairie with nowhere to hide from the current and a horizon-less blue in every direction. It remains an expedition dive in the truest sense: reached rarely, guaranteed never.
The moment you come for: Silvertip encounters with honest odds, oceanic-plateau atmosphere, true expedition remoteness
Topography: Flat-topped oceanic seamount plateau beginning around 15-20 m
Current: Unsheltered oceanic bank; current and swell govern everything, including whether the stop happens at all.
Entry: Far offshore on the Burma Banks; only some itineraries make the crossing, and only in settled weather.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Strong current, blue-water ascents off a submerged bank, long swells, and extreme distance from assistance.
Conservation: Shark declines here are documented history, not rumor; treat every sighting as the valuable data point it is.
Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).
Who you'll meet
Dogtooth Tuna
Giant Trevally
Grey Reef Shark
Silvertip Shark
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★☆ · Macro: ★☆☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting