Christmas Point

Off island 9 at the archipelago's northern end, Christmas Point arranges its granite into ridge lines and a run of archways that divers thread with the current at their backs. Big gorgonians and bushy black coral decorate the deeper passages, ribbon eels flag from the sand between boulders, and Napoleon wrasse make stately rounds while jacks harry the fusilier schools above. Leopard (zebra) sharks once lazed on these sand flats routinely; sightings are scarcer now, an honest barometer of regional pressure, though the odd individual still appears. It is the north's classic final-morning dive before boats turn for Koh Bon.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Archway sequences, ribbon eels and Napoleon wrasse, northern-Similan granite at its prettiest

التضاريس: Granite boulder ridges with archways, sea fans, and sand channels

المخاطر: Current through the arches and depth on the outer boulders.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Standard park protections; the sand-resting sharks that remain deserve wide, calm berths.

نيتروكس: يستحق الأمر هنا: الملفات الشخصية تقع في النطاق الذي يُمدّد فيه الهواء المدعّم (نيتروكس) وقت الغوص دون توقف تمديدًا ملموسًا، مع التدريب اللازم لاستخدامه.