Beacon Reef.

Beacon Reef is a fringed reef that borders the whole eastern side of island 8 (Koh Similan).

Beacon Reef features a steep drop off from a depth of 5 meters to a sandy bottom around 40 meters, with a striking diversity of hard corals.

The drop off has a great variety of healthy hard corals, including staghorn coral, brain coral, pore coral, bottlebrush coral and many more.

A landmark of this site is a shipwreck named “Rareung-Chon”, as known as “Atlantis X”, which rests in the middle of the reef.

The ship sank in 2002, and fortunately there were no fatalities from the incident.

The wreck lies on the reef slope at a depth of 30 meters at the stern and 15 meters at the bow.

On the south of the island are clusters of huge boulders and steep sloping walls that fall to the sea bed.

Corals are not as dense in this area.

 

 

Current:

Moderate current, running in a north to south direction.

Marine life:

Due to the lush coral, reef fish such as angelfish, butterflyfish, and moray eels are abundant here.

Large schools of pelagic fish such as blue fin trevally, snappers, fusiliers,

goatfish and longnosed emperors ca be seen here.

At the wreck, swarms of batfish hang around curiosity close to divers.

Lastly, in the shallow waters, turtles are frequent visitors.

 

 

This is a rather easy-going dive site, suitable as the second or third dive of the day or for a night dive wreck,

as walkways and corridors are narrow.

 

 

In August 2002, the Atlantis X, a liveaboard vessel, sank near Similan Island 8.

The Atlantis X (Rareung-Chon) was scheduled for a four-day trip to Similan National Park on 1 August 2002,

which is during the area’s low season. Unfortunately, bad weather delayed her departure until 6:00 am the next day.

After leaving port, there was a malfunction of the bilge pump, and the boat began to take on water.

Though the captain made an effort to return to port,

the rapid pace of water entry forced him to head back to Similan Island 8 while calling for help.

The Atlantis X sank that day, but luckily, all passengers and crew were safely evacuated to a nearby fishing boat.