The Similan Islands - Anita's Reef
Anita’s reef is located on the west side of islands 5 and 6 and begins with a shallow sandy shelf that quickly descends to 30m+.
There are many coral blocks and patch reef along the length of the dive site but the largest is found halfway on the site. The rock called “Hin Muan Daew” in Thai means whole roll of film rock when translated literally and is a very appropriate name.
You can spend most of the dive just in this one area and still not see all the life around it. The rock is surrounded by huge gorgonian sea fans and colourful soft corals are found all over it.
The site is one of the few here where long nose hawk fish can be found in a large gorgonian fan at the north end of the bommie. Any glassfish use the bommie for protection, which means large blue fin trevally come hunting around it all through the day. Also cleaner wrasses regularly find divers ears and attraction.
The bommie is the highlight of the dive, but a large variety of marine life can be found all along the reef.
In the sand areas fields of garden eels are common, also stingrays and flounders.
Look under ledges in the coral blocks for Jenkins cleaner pipefish, on the reef nudibranch’s, schooling snapper, lionfish, octopus and ghost pipefish can be found.
At the south end of the reef the topography changes from shallow reef to deep boulder formations. Here large pelagic are sometimes seen passing by.
