Chumphon Pinnacle

Chumphon Pinnacle is the jewel in Koh Tao’s diving crown — a series of granite pinnacles rising from 36 metres to 14 metres below the surface, encrusted with soft corals and sea fans, and surrounded by some of the most impressive marine life in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Whale Shark Factor

Chumphon is Thailand’s most reliable whale shark site, with encounters reported throughout the year but concentrated in March through May and again in September and October. These gentle giants — the world’s largest fish, reaching up to 12 metres in length — cruise past the pinnacles on their seasonal migrations, utterly indifferent to the divers who hang motionless in the blue water watching them pass.

No photograph, no video, no description prepares you for the first time you see a whale shark. The sheer scale of the animal, the leisurely pace, the way it fills your entire field of view — it’s a transcendent diving experience.

Beyond the Whale Sharks

Even on days when the whale sharks don’t show, Chumphon delivers. Enormous schools of yellowfin tuna circle the pinnacles in tight formation. Chevron barracuda — individually impressive fish — aggregate here in schools of hundreds. Giant groupers the size of Labradors lurk in crevices between the pinnacle rocks.

Leopard sharks rest on the sandy bottom between the pinnacles, and bull sharks are occasional visitors — sightings that electrify any dive and remind you that you’re in genuine open ocean.

Dive Profile

The dive typically begins at depth (28–36m) on the main pinnacles, working up towards the shallower outcroppings at 14–18m. The topography is dramatic — overhangs, crevices, and swim-throughs colonised by soft corals and gorgonian sea fans. Current can be significant, which is why intermediate experience is recommended: it’s manageable but requires good buoyancy control.

Getting There

Most Koh Tao dive centres offer Chumphon Pinnacle as a day-trip or on multi-site diving trips. The site is 40 minutes northwest of Mae Haad by dive boat.