Opinions on diving in Burma

 

Opinions on diving in Burma

Fish and species seen

Manta rayWhale 

shark Barracuda MeruMurene Clown 

fishScorpion 

fishEagle rayEagle

fishFlying scorpion 

fishFlying squidSurgeon 

fishButterfly fishSurgeon 

fishT trumpet fishParrot fish

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. The country has slowly opened up to tourists and is now an increasingly popular Asian destination. One of the assets of Burma is the diversity of activities that can be practiced in this country: treks, visits to the remains of ancient palaces and Buddhist temples, visits to 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 jungle-dominated islands emerge. Today, going diving in Burma is not a common activity, due to the late opening of the country to tourism. Burma benefits from high quality seabed, and above all preserved from mass tourism that other destinations in Southeast Asia may experience. 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?

Mergui Archipelago

An almost unknown destination during the last decades, the Mergui Archipelago, located in the southern region of Myanmar formerly Burma, called Tanintharyi, is a group of 800 almost entirely deserted islands in the Andaman Sea. The archipelago was only opened to foreigners at the end of the 90s. With only a few of the 800 islands populated and about 20 visitors each month throughout the region, the Mergui archipelago remains one of the most unspoiled destinations on the planet.

Navigation in this region is almost 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 develop. Diving in Burma in the Mergui is a bit like diving in the past when huge schools of barracudas, trevallies, sardines and mullets so thick that you can't see through them populated our oceans, to which were added the many colors of corals, clown fish, lion fish and, eventually, whale sharks and manta rays from January to April.

When to dive in Burma?

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

If you want to encounter manta rays and whale sharks, plan your trip between January and April. It is during this period that you will have the best chance to meet them.

Diving conditions

Visibility: In Burma, visibility varies easily according to the seasons. However, when the best conditions are there, the visibility can easily reach 25m.

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

Difficulty : Due to the currents present on 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, lionfish, groupers, barracudas, moray eels, scorpion fish, boxfish, parrots.... Marine mammals and some pelagic fish come across in Burmese waters and are therefore occasionally seen by divers. We can thus find between January and April whale sharks, eagle rays and manta rays.