Shark Fin Reef

Shark Fin Reef runs like a half-submerged spine, its exposed crest suggesting the fin that named it, with two long faces of tilted granite slab sliding into sand past 30 m. The eastern side stacks hard-coral gardens and sweeping slab scenery; the west goes steeper and moodier. Blue-spotted ribbontail rays shuffle under ledges, garden eels stipple the deep sand, titan triggerfish excavate with their usual self-importance, and this southern corner remains one of the archipelago's better bets for a zebra shark flat out on the bottom. An unflashy, spacious dive that shows the Similans' scale without demanding anything exotic in return.

Il momento che aspettavi: Kilometer-scale granite spine, rays and garden eels on the sand, southern-sector calm

Topografia: Tilted granite slabs and coral gardens dropping to sand

Corrente: Flow runs the length of the ridge and the dive becomes a one-way drift along whichever face is in the lee.

Entrata: A long granite ridge southeast of island 3, its crest breaking the surface; often the first dive of northbound itineraries.

Pericoli: Length of the ridge can string groups out in current; agree on the drift plan before rolling.

Conservazione: Park rules apply; give nesting titan triggerfish their cone of territory in the warm months.

Nitrox: Vale la pena qui: i profili rientrano nell'intervallo in cui l'aria arricchita (nitrox) prolunga in modo significativo il tempo di non-decompressione (con la formazione necessaria per utilizzarla).