Myanmar lies north and west of Thailand, and while it isn’t as well known for diving as its easterly neighbor (it hosted only 2% of Thailand’s 10 million tourists in 2003), the beauty of it is, well, that it isn’t as well known as its easterly neighbor.
After years of isolation,
Myanmar is taking proactive, progressive steps to protect their heretofore largely unexplored reefs and archipelagos, including the
Mergui Archipelago. In fact, only a handful of dive boats – almost all of them from
Thailand – are allowed entrance to
Myanmar’s waters. Dive sites like Black Rock and
Shark
Cave feature outstanding marine life, delighting casual divers and underwater photographers alike.
The curious should check out Martin Young’s piece for the Asia Times in which he describes some of the diving opportunities this country has to offer. If you’re considering a trip to the area, you might want to take on a few extra days and visit one of the least visited dive sites on the planet.
See also:
Siam Divers
Burma Diving
Dive the World Burma
Santana Diving
And these excellent trip reports by David Maxfield and Jay Treat.
