Big Blue Dive Site Guide
West Of Eden
Day Trip Diving
Our Similan diving day trips will resume in November 2025
Location
West coast of Similan Island #7
Skill Level
Beginner to Intermediate
Depth
5 – 30m
Currents
Weak to strong
Topography
The site is characterized by large granite boulders that create canyons and overhangs offering diverse underwater scenery. It has a mix of fringing hard coral reefs, soft corals and giant sea fans along with rubble and sand slopes.
Highlights
This site is all about variety. You will find reef fish like angelfish, triggerfish and parrotfish, as well as macro life such as ribbon eels, scorpionfish and cleaner shrimp hiding in coral heads. Bubble anemones with resident clownfish are dotted throughout the reef and you might also spot octopus or a resting turtle tucked between the rocks. If you have a keen eye, frogfish are sometimes found at West of Eden.
Tips
Take your time and dive slowly, this site rewards a patient eye. Stick near the reef to spot macro life and use the boulders as shelter if current picks up.
Photography
West of Eden offers both excellent macro and wide angle opportunities with vibrant coral backdrops for reef shots. The mix of coral gardens and boulders allows for a range of compositions, while soft lighting and colourful subjects make this a great site for both beginners and more advanced photographers.
Briefing
West of Eden will likely be dive one or two on your Similan liveaboard with us, so we like to keep the entry nice and easy on these early dives. We enter the site at the southern end where boulders form a sheltered bay. Depth here is around 12m, so we’ll descend and explore this shallower area until everyone is feeling comfortable underwater.
Heading north, large boulders jut vertically out of the sand. This is our reference point where we enter the site, and we descend down a channel between these first boulders to around 24m. Following the wall north, we pass a steep wall adorned with sea fans and soft corals. The bottom, like most areas of the site, is rubble and home to smashing mantis shrimp, rock mover wrasse, and plenty of other bottom-dwelling critters. Continuing north, the wall ends, and after a short swim we come to a huge flat boulder sloping down to 30m+. It’s nice to start at the deeper, westerly edge of this boulder and explore the hard and soft coral gardens growing on the rock. Take your time as there’s plenty to see here. Following the contours of the rock will eventually bring us to around 18m and a great area to look for turtles.
West of Eden isn’t a huge dive site, so if currents allow we head back south but at a shallower depth, making our way back to the channel. Along the top of the wall are several hard coral bommies that host a multitude of colourful reef fish. Looking out into the blue, dogtooth tuna and trevally patrol looking for an easy breakfast amongst the large schools of fusiliers. Once we reach the channel, we shallow up to around 12m before turning north again. Diving the site this way creates the perfect multilevel dive and ensures you see everything West of Eden has to offer.
The last part of the dive is an easy drift north, ending the dive on a larger shallow boulder that juts out from the island. The top of this boulder has plenty of hard corals and table corals to explore whilst completing our three-minute safety stop.
Fish and Other Species Found at West Of Eden
Hawksbill Turtle
Hawksbill Turtle
Coral Hawkfish
Hawksbill Turtle
Flagtail Triggerfish
Golden Damselfish