Scuba Diving in Myanmar

Burma is a Southeast Asian country bordering five other countries: India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. This country is therefore a place where many civilizations mix. This ethical diversity gives it a strong identity. This country has slowly opened to tourists to become an increasingly popular Asian destination. One of the strengths of Burma is the diversity of activities that can be practiced in this country: treks, visit remains of ancient palaces and Buddhist temples, visit monasteries, snorkeling and diving …

Bordered by the Bay of Bengal in its northern part, and by the Andaman Sea in its southern part, Burma has more than 1930 kilometers of coastline where many islands dominated by the jungle emerge. Today, practicing diving in Burma is not a common activity, due to the late opening of the country to tourism. Burma enjoys high quality seabed, and especially preserved from mass tourism that can be experienced by other destinations in Southeast Asia. Diving in Burma will give you the opportunity to see sharks of different species, cuttlefish, barracudas, manta rays, or mobula rays …

Where to dive in Burma?

The Mergui Archipelago

An almost unknown destination in recent decades, the Mergui Archipelago, located in the southern region of Myanmar formerly Burma, called Tanintharyi, is a collection of 800 almost completely deserted islands in the Andaman Sea. The archipelago was opened to foreigners only from the end of the 90s. With only some of the 800 islands that are populated and about twenty visitors each month in the whole region, the archipelago de Mergui remains one of the most preserved destinations on the planet

Navigation in this region is virtually non-existent during the rainy season, from June to September. The marine ecosystem therefore has a whole period, with almost no one at sea, to fully flourish. Practicing diving in Burma in the Mergui is like diving into the past where huge schools of barracudas, trevallies, sardines and mules so thick you can not see through populated our oceans. ’Added the multiple colors of corals, clown fish, lion fish and, possibly, whale sharks and manta rays from January to April.

When to dive in Burma?

To dive in Burma, the best time is from November to April. This period will offer in particular the best conditions of visibility to the divers.

If you want to cross manta rays and whale sharks, plan your trip between January and April. It is at this time that you are most likely to meet them.

Diving conditions

Visibility : In Burma, visibility varies easily with the seasons. However, when the best conditions are at the rendezvous, the visibility can easily reach 25m.

Currents : The majority of dives in Burma are drift dives due to moderate currents in the region, which intensify during full moon and new moon periods.

Difficulty : Due to the currents present at most dive sites in Burma, it is recommended that divers have some experience before diving there.

The water temperature in Burma varies between 25 and 30 ° C.

Diving Burma, the species to discover

In Burma, you will find most of the tropical species common to the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean clownfish, lion fish, groupers, barracudas, moray eels, scorpion fish, trunk fish, parrots … . Marine mammals and some pelagics cross in Burmese waters and are therefore occasionally seen by divers. We can find between January and April whale sharks, eagle rays and Manta rays.