Hin Daeng

Also known as: Red Rock

A pinnacle at the far southern edge of the Mu Koh Lanta Marine National Park that breaks the surface and drops in steep walls to well beyond 50 m. Named after its red soft corals, it is one of the best-known manta ray and whale shark sites in Thailand and is reserved for experienced divers.

Hin Daeng, Thai for Red Rock, owes its name to the red and purple soft corals that coat its walls and shallow ridges. Small tips of the rock show above the water, while the north and south walls fall away steeply, with drop-offs on the southern and western sides reaching more than 60 m. Between November and April oceanic manta rays visit its cleaning stations, and whale sharks pass through, most often from February onwards. Schools of trevally, barracuda, rainbow runners and fusiliers hunt around the rock, and a resident group of batfish keeps to the south wall. Because the site lies in open sea far from the coast, dive centres ask for deep-diving experience and warn of currents that are often strongest near the surface.