Kata Beach/Bay (Kata Noi)

Dive with leopard sharks, batfish and enjoy beautiful reef life on this relaxing shore dive.

To enjoy a good muck dive and get a really rewarding experience, be prepared to swim a long distance because Kata beach is popular among tourists, thus the visibility is not so good (10 metres per average). There's also active boat traffic, therefore the best sights divers will get further away from the shore. There are two dive sites located at each end of the beach. However, both of them suffered significantly during the 2004 Tsunami. Nevertheless, you can expect to find angelfish, turtles, seahorses, pigmy pipe-horses, fingered dragonets, Indian ocean walkman, cuttlefish, starfish, sea urchins, harlequin crabs, mimic octopus, frogfish, assorted snake-eels, morays, sweetlips, and variety of corals. This is also a great dive site for night diving when you can expect to spot critters, squids, cuttle-fish, shrimp, crustaceans, and morays. Generally, the sites are good for beginners but more experienced divers can also enjoy their dives as the currents can get strong and fun for drift diving.