Koh Bon West Ridge

Briefing

Entry point is near the wall in the small bay to the more southerly side of the ridge. We nickname this Nam Tok meaning waterfall in Thai due to the wash of water that swells through the limestone rocks. From here we descend down the wall and cruise out towards the ridge itself. If the current is with us, we can drift out quite nicely. If the current is against us, stay close to the wall and shelter behind the first part of the ridge. Making the way out onto the ridge take it nice and slowly, there are several areas of interest worth investigating. Patches of the purple coloured Dendronephthya coral are a good place for a little bit of macro hunting, but don’t forget to keep an eye on above and behind you. You never know what might be cruising by out in the blue at Koh Bon.

As we swim further along the ridge the water can move in different directions so its important to use the ridge as your point of reference for navigation. As we get out to the end of the ridge it’s a good place to just spend a few minutes and wait. Schools of snapper are often seen here and if you are lucky maybe a white tip reef shark or two can be cruising by.

If the current allows we can swim back along the north side of the ridge heading to a rocky, hard coral reef. This is a good place to shallow up and explore a larger coral bommie formation, often home to a few decent size giant moray eels and a good place to look to for reef octopus in the rubble. This area also provides a protection if there are strong currents so and you can see right along the ridge and out into the blue.

If we have time and air left it is nice to head back to the ridge at a shallower depth and head back to our entry point. There’s a nice colourful wall we you can spot interesting little critters and Koh Bon’s legendary sponge snails. Alternatively, if there is current you can just shallow up just drifting along. There is always the chance of a interesting marine encounter.