Lighthouse Pinnacle

Lighthouse Pinnacle rises from deeper water a short distance off Lighthouse Bay, at the northeast corner of Koh Tao, and is the deeper, livelier neighbour of the bay. Its specialty is the stacked boulder tower: large granite blocks reach from about 25 to 30 m at the base up to within a few metres of the surface, with swim-throughs, cracks and ledges between them. Soft corals, sponges and anemones cover the rock, and one guide also describes wide fields of staghorn coral and many kinds of hard coral. Yellowtail barracuda, fusiliers and trevally circle the pinnacle, giant groupers keep to the deeper parts, and moray eels, lionfish, scorpionfish and harlequin sweetlips hide among the rocks. Currents are mild to moderate and can set northward on the north side, so Open Water divers keep to the upper sections and the full depth is for Advanced Open Water divers; it is mainly dived during the southwest monsoon.